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What is the best way to clean old vinyl tile floor?

What's the easiest way to tear out ceramic tile?

  • I am repairing the floor in my dining/kitchen area because the previous owner begain laying it with 12" x 12" ceramic tile and didn't finish the job. It's not been grouted, and the tiles are laid out completely wrong- and with much too large of a gap between the tiles. He did manage to do one thing right - he adhered them well to the subfloor. I intend to replace with vinyl flooring, but I'm wondering - what's the easiest way to get the old ones up/out?

  • Answer:

    The easiest way to remove them is to use a large flat bladed chisel, (think something like a crow bar with a flat blade on the end) place the edge of the blade under the side of the tile and use as heavy of a hammer as you are comfortable with to hit the back end of the chisel. Most of the tiles will end up breaking, but there's not much you can do about it. If there is any adhesive under the tile that doesn't come of, use a power sander to remove it. If you don't have one any tool rental place should have them. It will be well worth it. If any bumps are left they can show up though the vinyl. You will also want to make sure that you have good heavy leather gloves and safety glasses, the shards from the tile can cause nasty cuts so be careful. I am assuming that the tile is laid over a wood product subfloor, if it is over a cement type of subfloor you will need to be very careful not to damage the subfloor, if this is the case try starting in a spot that is hidden such as a pantry or corner, to see if the tile will come off without damaging the subfloor, if it won't you may want to consult a professional.

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try using a straight hoe. it works well for me with out all the bending over. when thats done you need to remove the leftover with a chisel with a 4" head and hammer away. it a tough process. as for the vinyl, id suggest you do something else . its not really durable and it looks tacky over a period of time. there are many diffrent floor products out there better than vinyl

joe citizen

There is no easy way. A standard installation on a floor would use thin set mortar, a cement product. Use a thin pry bar to pop up tiles, you will break some of them. Then have to remove the mortar that is left on the floor. For vinyl, the underlying surface needs to be perfect - any bumps removed, seams need to be filled with a patch compound and sanded smooth. That is a lot of work, good luck.

Evil Independent

All you can do is try to pop them up with a pry bar, or a big floor scraper. Its a messy job not fun prepping the floor for new tile once the thin set is down.

TheGeneral

From my experience dealing with demo of old houses, flooring, etc etc. Id suggest get yourself a pair of safety goggles, a chisel and a hammer. If there is no grout, then you should be able to tap the chisel on the corner of one of the tiles and repeat the process. Sometimes you will get lucky and the whole tile will come up in one piece, then there is those stubborn ones. Ive tried a lot of different things, and this seems the fastest and easiest way to do it.

It's not an easy job. Lots of people just tile right over them with the new tile. If the tile is vinyl and the old tile has dips and holes in it though you will need a smoothe surface. You can feel one small grain of sand under some vinyl. It's like it gets magnified. You'll have to chip away at it. Manual Labor.

J mom

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