I am going to be removing ceramic tile in my kitchen and was wondering what the easiest way to go about it was? I was going to use a hammer and a flat ended screw driver, what do you think?
the thing i have found about removing tiles is that you i am never able to remove them without breaking them so i think just go with your insticnts and get the hammer and chizzel to it.
The screw driver will be destroyed and unworkable a few tiles in. You would be better off using a wide chisel bit with your hammer. You can get a concrete chisel for about $20. it’s a long round piece of metal with a wide flat sharp head. You could also use a normal wood chisel but you will need to sharpen it often on a bench grinder. Removing tiles is hard work. If it’s a large area you would be better of getting a small jack hammer with a sharp flat chisel bit.If you tap a wall to hard with the jack hammer it can damage the plaster in the other room on the other side of the wall your tapping. If you’re talking about floor tiles then get a jack hammer or rent a tile removal machine. It’s like a jackhammer on wheels with a wide sharp blade at the bottom. You might be lucky though. Sometimes depending on the previous glue work they just fall off with a couple of taps.
Removing them will be hard and dusty work so be prepared for both. How you remove them depends on the substrate below them. If they are on cement slab, then a large chisel and hammer can be used to take off the tile. Then you must scrape off the thin set used to hold it down If your tiles are on a cement board or added wood substrate , then a crow bar ( or 2) and an extra body is recommended to get under that and pry it up and take it all up at once. The tile will pop and come up as you get the subflooring up. You can rent electric ( small hand held ) hammers w/ a chisel on the end but I ve had better luck and am faster with a hand held 3# hammer.. The dust will be bad either way so block off door ways to prevent dust in the whole house. Dust mask, ear, eye protection is a must. Along with long sleeved shirt and gloves.. Any questions you can e mail me through my avatar. I ve done this to many times over the years so I know. GL
