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Removing a Ceramic & Vinyl Tile Floor--Any tips or suggestions?

15 years ago

Greetings!

I just bought my first house and I am in the beginning stages of a total kitchen remodel. I already have pulled the cabinets off of the walls. Now I'm working on removing one of those old hollow things covered in sheet rock they used to put up on the wall to fill the empty space between the cabinets and the ceiling.

The kitchen floor looks only so-so :( Plus, when I removed a base cabinet, I noticed that the flooring doesn't match. This problem will continue on because I'm going to take out the pantry and there will be "holes" where the old floor shows through. I really want to take up the tile because it's cheapy looking. So...do y'all know the best way to do this?

I can tell the previous owner of the house wanted to fix it up on the cheap. That's why he just laid cheap tile around the base cabinet. Also, that's why he laid out the ceramic tile over the peel and stick vinyl. As far as I know, that's a flooring no-no. So, I most likely will have to take up that flooring as well.

BTW I'm a novice at the home improvement gig, but I'm a quick learner!

Thanks!

Comments (5)

bill_vincent
15 years ago
I don't envy you. Matter of fact, my wife and I just went to look at a 100 year old home that looks like it was NEVER updated, and the first thing I looked at was the kitchen. The previous owner had begun to work on it, but the floor has asbestos tile on a pretty spongy subfloor. I have a feeling if we jump on this (it's a foreclosure priced at about 1/2 the value of just the property alone right next door to where we're living now) before we even move in, I'm gonna be seein the basement from the kitchen!!

Now, as for YOUR floor, the tile will be the easy part. Go to a hardware store, and ask them for a framing hammer (it's bigger and heavier than a normal hammer), a pair of leather gloves, and a pair of safety glasses. Then go home, raise that hammer, and take your aggressions out on that floor!! That takes care of the tile. Now, the question is, is there a 1/4" underlayment under that peel and stick tile? if there is, that's got to go along with the vinyl. That's actually a blessing in disguise, though, because it may be a huge PITA to try and remove the tiles if their just stuck right to the subfloor, and they DO have to go.

I'd say for right now get the tile up, and see if you can determine exactly what you have underneath, and we'll take it from there.
bill_vincent
15 years ago
I'd say for right now get the tile up

I mean the CERAMIC tile!! :-)
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You really need to get it down to the slab. There is a tool...I think it's called "The Black Widow," that fits into a Sawzall (reciprocating saw) that looks a bit like a 4" or 6" chisel. Used properly, it really helps to dig up the old vinyl. If you get it down to the cardboard-like material, sponge on a lot of hot water to loosen it. It should scrape up pretty easily after that.
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We rented an electric hammer from HD with a couple attachments to remove our foyer, which was tiled onto the OSB subfloor. We used the chisel bit to chip up the tile, and then used a rounded head attachment to beat on the remaining thinset to pulverize it. It took two of us 4 hours to demo and completely clean out a 10x14 floor.
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I'd check with the home improvement or flooring stores for some chemical agents that might help. We discovered that under the berber carpet throughout our home was indoor/outdoor carpet GLUED to the original hardwood floors. We pulled up that carpet ok, but it left the foam backing. We scraped and scraped and scraped for days in just one room, dreading the thought of doing the whole house. Finally we found a chemical dissolver that smelled like green apples. Applied (with windows open and wearing masks), let soak in, then it scraped up really easily. Maybe that is an option? As for the tile...chipping. Maybe a grinder? That would make a lot of dust, but might make it go faster.
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Doing this right now - 4 hours yesterday!! Mine is not coming up easily. Mine is on a slab and I am finding some areas I can get up in decent size pieces (up to 1 ft by 2 ft), others there seems to be so much more adhesive and I am down on the floor with a hammer and nice sharp wide wood chisel turned upside down. I have a hand tool like the attachment on the photo above and I bent the heck out of it working on my floor and slab so I switched to a wood chisel. I go after everything first with the long handled scrapper (bully tool) and then I get down on the floor and chisel up what won't come up. Then I am wetting the slab, letting it sit for a bit and doing another scrape of the left over adhesive. You will want to do this step because if it comes up with water, it will loosen with your water based thinset for the tile and you could have some areas where your tile doesn't adhere well to the slab. It is a lot like removing wallpaper on my slab!! And takes a lot of elbow grease (as well as a bruised left hand from getting tired and missing with the hammer on the chisel!!) I have heard you can heat it with a heat gun to loosen the adhesive and then pull it up easier. I opted not to do that because I really didn't want to worry about fumes from heated vinyl/adhesive.
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moderncucina
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the info!

I guess I should give you a few more details :)

Sounds like you're from up north because you've got basements. I live in Texas and we just don't have basements as a general rule. So, the vinyl floor is attached to the concrete slab as far as I know. Also, my house is 1 story. Therefore, the concrete is my subfloor. Right??? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks!
bill_vincent
15 years ago
Right. That just made your job 1000% easier!! If you go to a tool rental place, see about renting a power vinyl scraper. It's about the same size as a lawn edger, and will tear thru vinyl on concrete like a hot knife thru butter. The most work you'll do is lifting it in and out of your vehicle!
moderncucina
Original Author
15 years ago
Awesome! Thanks for all your tips...I truly appreciate it. :)

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