I’m bidding a small bathroom remodel which will include removal of tile laid on a concrete slab. I’m assuming that it was laid with thinset directly on the concrete.
What’s the best way to get the old tile up and are there any problems laying the new tile on the slab?
Thanks
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Replies
hammer
I have done it with a a Bosch SDS drill, equipped with a chisel. The tiles popped right off.
********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
I'd be real interested to know what model Bosch SDS drill (rotary hammer?) you used for chiseling.
I was all ready to buy the 7.5 amp 1 1/8" Bosch rotary hammer #11236VS (Lowes) and then read some reviews that the chuck doesn't hold up at all for chiseling. That's the one with the motor ninety degrees to the chuck.
6.9 amp 7/8" Bulldog? or 7.2 amp 1" Bulldog Extreme?
Thanks,
oldfred
Edited 5/25/2006 5:03 pm ET by oldfred
It is just the 7/8" Bosch Bulldog. I got it years ago for drilling holes, and I wasn't even aware of the fact you could use a chisel with it. When that tile thing came up, my tool guy suggested I try it, so I bought a 1" chisel (the biggest available for this size SDS), and it worked like a charm. However, this size is pretty wimpy if you have a lot to do (I had maybe a 100 sq feet). And if you want to use the tool regularly for this purpose, you should probably get one of the more powerful models. But for small jobs or occasional use, it's great.********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
Thanks, Nikkiwood for the quick reply.
I'm just going to use it to work on my own properties so that sounds adequate. I don't expect to be chiseling more than what you did at any given time, mostly drilling 3/8" - 3/4" holes in brick and cement for anchors.
Eye Protection.
Knee Pads or foam cushion.
Stiff 3" Putty Knife.
Hammer.
Hammer size depends on size of existing tile and your comfort.
Frankie
from Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas
I second the SDS with a 2or 3" chisel bit. That'll take off the tile and most of the thinset. You might have some stubborn spots that you'll have to do by hand but at least you'll have the majority done quickly w/ the SDS.
Frankie -
Believe me, I know ALL about knee pads - lol. I'm only bidding this job because it's small and they're good neighbors. Right after they bought the house, they had someone do quite a bit of work on it and they've been finding problems with it ever since.
Likewise on the breaker hammer. I have a crank neck 3" chisel for my Hilti and pulling tile is all it's ever done. That bend in the neck helps keep you from bending yours as much.
"Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am tempted to think -- there are no little things" - Bruce Barton
Just recently did a remodel and all the tile had to come up, did it with Bosch hammer thingy(I dont have the specific model no.) using a shovel end looking thing on it. poped up about 750 sq ft in 1 1/2 day, including all the clean up of the thin set.
Doug
Reading through all these posts Id say what we did was exactly what NIkkiwood mentioned
Edited 5/20/2006 4:56 pm ET by DougU
I 3rd the sds max with the 3" chisel. I did a whole basement floor like that.
Headstong, I'll take on anyone!
I did 900 sq. ft. on an existing house with the SDS and 3 in chisel bit which got 90 % of the tile and thin set up. the tile sub then put down his mesh slip sheet and rolled a liquid membrane over the mesh... smoothed the whole floor out beautifully, then he laid new tile in thinset over that. excellent job
Orbs
Ok, I guess my air chisel should do the job with a wider chisel.
Now, since all my tile laying has been on backer board, what's the best way to lay tile on cement? Spread my thinset and lay it, or lay something else first? There isn't much room to lay anything under the tile. It has to meet an existing hardwood floor.
Depends on how big the tile you are laying is.You could skim the floor just so you fill-in the craters. Depending on how experienced you are setting tiles, this may help - especially if the tiles to be set are small.This is a SKIM, not a veneer. Your trowel should scrape hard against the concrete floor.Frankie>P<!---->font color=#61B2E0<!---->B<!---->/B<!---->/font<!---->—Hunter S. Thompson
from Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas
If your slab is stable and old enough that you can tell its been that way, you might be safe just laying direct on it again. That seems rarely to be the case. Ditra is a pretty good call under tile to decouple it from minor shifts in the slab. Or you can just live with grout cracks. And its low profile, only takes up about 1/4", product plus thinset."Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am tempted to think -- there are no little things" - Bruce Barton
"I'm bidding a small bathroom remodel which will include removal of tile laid on a concrete slab. I'm assuming that it was laid with thinset directly on the concrete.
What's the best way to get the old tile up and are there any problems laying the new tile on the slab?"
Can't help but wonder...how small is "small BA remodel"?
and as to "assuming that it was laid wtih thinset directly on the concrete" - LOL!
I just learned tough lesson (AGAIN!) not to "ASSUME" anything...
I am tearing out the carpet and ~50 sq ft of 12" ceramic tiles which are on the floor surrounding the f/p.
I had "assumed" the ceramic tile was laid with thinset directly on the concrete slab...
Well - after pulling up the carpet and transition strip to the tile, I found from the edges I could easily pop up the tiles with a DASCO Pro 3# floor chisel...and got up INTACT over 16 tiles! (yup...they'd sounded pretty darn "hollow"ever since they were "installed" ~5 years ago when this house was built!). But back to that assumption part...
Ran into major headaches and tile breakage for about an 8 sq ft section - got the tile up and lo and behold - the adhesive used to put down that section of tile was some kinda plasticky construction adhesive! Aye carumba! (after good soaking with water, it softened up and scraped up with a 5in1 painters tool).
So yeah, I'm now ck'g into purchasing online (http://www.whitecapdirect.com) an SDS hammer myself since this little 50sqft of tile removal job is turning into a royal PITA!
Be careful what you assume others who installed did before you... and bid accordingly! GOOD LUCK.
(edited to add the "direct" into URL posted above)
DUM SPIRO SPERO: "While I breathe I hope"
Edited 5/21/2006 1:40 pm ET by mizshredder2
I'm way ahead of you, Mizshredder. All of my discussions with prospective customers includes clear explanations of potential problem areas and how we'll work around them if they show up. I've lost jobs when I've refused to give a fim price for things that can't be seen - lol.
This "small" job is in a combined half-bath/laundry room. So far, it's just replacing the tile, ripping out some really tacky wainscoating, replacing two interior doors, and prepping for paint. It may also grow to include some new cabinets in the laundry room. What's there is pretty shabby. She's seen quite a bit of my cabinet work and wants new cabs. He's still on the fence. The actual job is about a month out so she has time to persuade him - lol
I'm way ahead of you, Mizshredder.
Well that's good and... no surprise!DUM SPIRO SPERO: "While I breathe I hope"
Many moons ago - during my nuclear engineering days - I got my PhD in CYA. Today, the specifics are different, but the principles are the same - lol.
P.S. - I read your profile. Where in AR? I grew up near St Louis but have been in CA since the late 60's. Still a Cards fan, though - baseball and football.
Edited 5/22/2006 8:38 am by Dave45
I'm in White Hall area; live just outside the city's limits. Used to be a Navy employee of Uncle and work in Code 2300 for USN myself. Now I work for the grunts outfit <g> and play daily with WMD.
Congrats on your PhD in CYA. I got mine years ago in survival but still working on my BS in success. That's been a bit trickier though as it seems my definition of "success" keeps morphing as I age.
Anyway Dave45 - I hope you'll post some pics of your tile job.DUM SPIRO SPERO: "While I breathe I hope"
I was a Navy "employee" too for 7 years, 5 months, and 28 days (but who was counting?) in the late 60's and early 70's. I didn't mess with WMD, but I spent lots of time in the nuclear propulsion plants of Navy ships. One benefit of that is that I never need a night light............I still have a faint green glow - lol.
As for success, I've just started working on my fifth million............... (I gave up on the first four - lol)
I'll be glad to post a picture of the bathroom when I do it. Here's a picture of our bathroom that I did about seven years ago. Laying tile on the diagonal looks great, but it's time consuming. Almost every tile had some kind of cut.
Not sure if that pic is 7 y/o also...but...looks nice! and quit yer whinin' bout lotsa cuts when putting tile on diagonal - jeepers, with those big honking 12X12's - it's a breeze!
LOL!
Here's a chuckle for ya, in case the poking above didn't do it:
View ImageDUM SPIRO SPERO: "While I breathe I hope"
Whatever you attached came thru as a box with red "X" in it. I'll take your word that it was a funny - lol.
I guess that I need more practice, 'cause laying tile on the diagonal isn't a breeze for me. Just when you think you can get some tile laid, here's another "cutesy cut" that eats up a lot of time. That bathroom used ~50 tiles and only 9-10 of them went in without some kind of cut. It took me most of a day to get it laid.
Here are a couple of pictures of a kitchen I did last year. The countertop was a breeze, but the backsplash was a major PITA. Between the receptacles in the walls and the accent pieces, I spent lots of time measuring, marking, and cutting. To add to the fun, my tile saw was about 75' away and I had to contend with three dogs who thought that their job was to run thru the door whenever it was opened. I was sure glad that the job was T&M. Anyone have any cheese to go with my whine? - lol
You want Gouda or Edam?
<g>
Seriously tho - nice tile work. Sorry ya had travails but hey, it gave ya a story to tell tho.
Anyway - personally - I still cringe inside when I see tile on kitchen counters (or bathroom countertops) cause I find from living with them, that I hate hate hate dealing with groutlines on those horizontal surfaces. I know I'm an oddball but hey, there it is.
May ya have a good Mem. Day holiday dude - with no diag cuts, problematic doggies, or the like... DUM SPIRO SPERO: "While I breathe I hope"
If the existing tile is in good shape and properly bonded, why not tile right over it? I've done it many times with no callbacks. You will need to put a spacer on the closet flange (embedded in wax or putty), cut the door bottom and increase the size of the the threshold.
tc
this is the best blade for the job. just dbl nut, or use locking nuts(not nylock).
http://www.hilti.com/holcom/modules/prcat/prca_navigation.jsp?OID=-10965
Tmaxxx
Urban Workshop Ltd
Vancouver B.C.
cheers. Ill buy.
go with the chipping hammer (it doesn't rotate) and a chisel bit. Once I rented one, cost about 45.00. then I bought one from Harbour freight, about 60.00. Wouldn't use it forvever, but its good enough to pop up the tiles and clean most of the thinset. You may have to grind down some of the thinset. We used a small grinder with a backer pad and 36 grit paper. Made a fierce mess, but a smooth floor.
good luck
john