How to remove tiles from floors made of concrete: A DIY guide
Among numerous flooring options, tiles are one of the most prominent options. It has been ruling the flooring industry for a while now. Due to attractive colors, functionality, and ease of installation, people tend to highly lean towards these options. However, Like any other materials, it can get faded, stained, and lose appeal over time. Then you may need to remove and replace the tiles for installing new ones. Good thing; you can easily remove them effectively with a few precious steps. Today, we are going to discuss how you can remove the tiles all by yourself. So stay tuned.
Things to Consider Before Removing Tiles
Amount of Tiles that Needs Removing
Before removing tiles, you must determine how much of them needs to be removed. It may depend upon the size and shape of the space you are working with. While small rooms like washrooms may need less tile removal, it may be harder because of all the congested spaces. On the other hand, you either redecorating the whole space or just replacing the stained tiles. The workload highly varies in such cases.
Required Tools
With the right kind of tools, the tile removal process can be easier to handle. With the scale of the process, the required tools can vary a lot. However, the following tools are very crucial for maintaining your safety, reducing labor, and cleaning up after the process. The tools you may require are,
- Pair of gloves
- Dust mask
- Eye protection
- Kneepad and earplugs (optional)
- Drilling hammer
- Hammer
- Chisel
- Scraping machine (handy when dealing with the large area)
- Square point shovel
- Broom and dustpan
When you are armed with these tools, you are ready to wreak some tiles.
Removing Tiles
Before starting the tile removal project, the objects in the area need to be removed beforehand. It will enable you to work freely and give you more freedom to work. From as simple as the floor vent to the toilet and cabinets should be removed before start working. Once the place is prepped, arm yourself with those safety tools like protective eyewear, dust mask, and gloves. Now you are ready to remove the tiles.
Determine the starting place
If there are chipped, broken, or loose tiles, it’s often the best place to start working. However, there’s no perfect place to start removing your tiles, but starting from a chipped tile can make the first tile removal pretty easy if there’s no cheaped tile look where the grout is missing or damaged.
Remove a tile
Place the chisel into the seam at an angle and strike it with the hammer. It will loosen the tile, and if you are lucky, the tile may pop up. It can also make the adjoined tile loosen up. If you are going with a power tool, the process is almost the same.
Rinse & Repeat
Once you remove one tile, you can easily determine where to work next. You may notice a gap or edge that is ideal for your chisel to set up. Then start working there and repeat the process 2. You may likely give up on stubborn tiles. However, once you find an edge, the tile can be removed pretty easily.
Scrapping the Adhesive and Mortar
Once you finish removing all the tiles, you need to scrape off all the materials that were previously holding the tiles. Removing the mortars and adhesive can possess more challenges than removing the tiles. However, you need to follow the exact same process to effectively remove all the old materials. An automatic tool or air hammer can be your best friend in this process.
Some Things to Remember
Removing tiles is not too expensive, and you can effectively do it by yourself. However, this process requires time, patience, and elbow grease. You should consider setting aside some time to conduct your tile removal project for a few days and work your way up from there. Tile removing can be pretty dusty, noisy, and occasionally little debris can hit and injure you. So protective measures can be very important in such times. And you need to properly clean the area sooner or later. The pointy particles can easily destroy your vacuum cleaner. So, old-fashioned cleaning is always recommended.
As we have gone through the process, it is safe to say, removing tiles can be quite easy and cheap. Unless all of your home isn’t wrapped in tiles, you can easily remove it all by yourself. Just follow the procedure and keep the safety gear on. Set aside the time for your project, and you are golden.
