I just removed old vinyl tile adhesive from bathroom tiles like these. My tiles ended up being unglazed porcelain tiles from the mid 1950's. I used a wallpaper steamer to heat up and liquify the adhesive. I then scraped as much of it off with a razor blade scraper followed by scrubbing with some steel wool to get the glue out of the grout lines. Finally I wiped up the residue with a clean rag. It took me about 3 to 4 hours to do my 5ft x5ft bathroom. I also tried acetone and steel wool as a removal technique and it worked pretty well too, but ultimately I went with the steamer as it seemed less expensive and less hazardous than soaking the whole floor in acefone

Hi. I can't answer all of your questions, but I have gotten quotes to remove our ceramic tile in entry, kitchen and hallway. The quotes run from $2.00/sq ft to $3.50 sq ft. We live in the midwest, so not sure how it would be in your area. Unfortunately, it is pretty pricey and messy, but should be worth it!

I've been all through this...I've probably asked 50 people and gotten 5 different answers...here's how it plays out... The absolute BEST way to lay tile is to first make sure your subfloor is able to support it...there are a couple of websites out there that have an equation to help you figure this out...I'm sure someone here will refer you to that site eventually...just don't have it handy... but, if you know you are good to go and your floor can handle the tile without an extra layer of 3/4 plywood on top of whatever plywood you have down...then the following would be your best choice. 1. Buy hardibacker...don't just let them screw it in, but also mortar between the plywood and the hardibacker. You might get by with laying the tile on plywood in a small area like a closet or half-bath..but within 5-10 years it will probably crack (due to the stretching and shrinking in heat/cold)...if you renovate every 5 years, then go with it, if you want this floor to last more than 10 then stick to the hardibacker. Professional tilers say you must mortar between hardibacker and plywood, 80% of those I queried said "no way, we've never done that, the screws are plenty and they use too many anyhow, you can get by with half what they call for, and don't spend the money on their specialty screws made for hardibacker, just use roofing nails." I did not mortar between my hardibacker and my plywood, but I did use the specialty screws but only used 2/3 of what they were asking, those boards were screwed down and not moving! But, my rooms were small bathrooms and a laundry room...for a larger space like a kitchen, I'd first want someone who'd mortar and hardibacker and mortar again with the tile...or if that was too expensive, I'd at the minimum use hardibacker on the plywood and go from there...wouldn't do a kitchen floor without atleast the hardibacker or durock...whichever you choose... Oh, another issue was the debate over mortaring/taping the seams or just butting the hardibacker boards against each other, it never ends. Tara

It all depends on what they used to install the tile and the condition of the concrete. Best case scenario was very smooth/shiney concrete with a non-modified thinset mortal, which the tiles pop easy and the thinset can be scraped with a standard flooring scraper. Worse case scenatio was rough concrete installed witha modified mortar. Tiles come up in little pieces and the thinset is now a part of the concrete where you take off the high spots and feather it out with floor patch or you need to grind it. There is middle ground if the concrete was shiney and smooth and they used modified mortar. Do a test with a hammer and cold chisel to see how easy it will come up and scrape. If its very tough, go rent a small demolition hammer with a 3" scaling bit.