How to Remove Tile
Learn how to remove tile with less dust and save some money. Are you like me and have received an astronomical bid for tile replacement? How would you like to save three dollars to five fifty per square foot on your tile job? That’s how much you can save if you do the demolition. You can do it using hand tools or power tools.
It’s a dusty, piece of work. But when you know how to remove it your wallet will enjoy the savings every time one of those tiles comes out whole. So let’s find out how to keep some money in your wallet.
Safety equipment needed
You are chipping away at the ceramic material. There will be plenty of small needle-like pieces flying everywhere. You definitely want to protect your eyes. Use safety glasses that have side shield type protection.
Wear leather gloves to protect your hands. Wear long sleeves to protect your forearms. You will be on your knees for this job so knee pads will help keep your knees safe from ceramic particles.
This job will be dusty so an appropriate respirator is needed to protect your lungs.
If you plan on using a power tool to speed up the job, use earplugs to protect your hearing.
Tools Needed
First, let’s talk tools you will need for the job. If you have a small job like a bathroom or a bedroom you can get by with hand tools. If you have large rooms(as in multiple) you may want to consider powered tools.
- Sledge hammer
- Chisel for brick or stone
- 5-gallon buckets
- Shop vacuum with dust bag
- 4″ Putty knife
- Paint scraper
- A flat pry bar
Large tile area tools to consider
- Air hammer with 2″ tile removal chisel
- Electric hammer drill(with hammer only mode) with 2″ tile removal chisel
- Long reach air scraper with 4″ wide blade
Prepare for lots of dust
Remove any furniture or appliances from the room. Seal up any HVAC ducts to prevent contaminating the rest of the house with dust.
Hang plastic to block dust
Hang plastic on any opening to other places in the house. This simple technique will help keep your house cleaner with less dust during the demolition period. The technique is covered in Prepping for drywall texturing. If you want to continue to use the opening during demolition overlap two pieces of plastic by several feet in the center of the opening to create a pass-thru opening.
Materials needed for hanging plastic
- cardboard strips
- stapler or hammer tacker
- 1/2″–9/16″ staples
- sheet plastic or drop cloths
Dust Control and floor grinding
How to remove baseboard
Baseboard in the tile area can be left in place if you plan on using a 1/4 round trim to cover the tile edges at the walls. If you don’t want to use a 1/4 round trim you will need to remove the baseboards.
Use a razor blade knife to cut the caulking from the wall and baseboards. You can use two tools(one scraper and one putty knife) to pry the baseboard from the wall.
“What’s the difference between a putty knife and a paint scraper? They both look the same, scrapers have a stiff blade that is too stiff for the application of putty. Putty knives have a thinner blade that is too flexible for scraping.“ |
- Insert the putty knife between the drywall and baseboard.
- Insert the scraper between the putty knife and the baseboard.
- The putty knife will protect the drywall as you pry the scraper against the baseboard.
- Once you have a gap between the wall and the baseboard use a flat pry bar against the putty knife to remove it.
- Number the back of the baseboards and create a sketch of the room(s) with their number locations on the sketch(so you don’t have to rely on memory).
Reusing Baseboards?
Pull nails thru the baseboards rather than pulling them out. There will be less splintering and a lot less patching and painting required.
This procedure covers how to remove ceramic floor tile. It will also work for other kinds of hard flooring.
Where to start
Look for a place where the bottom of the tile is exposed maybe a threshold or where there is a transition from a different flooring material. Use the hammer and chisel to break a tile or two to start. Then you should be able to get your chisel easily below the tiles for removal. Remember to use the chisel properly(bevel grind side down) so that it does not gouge the surface below the tile.
When removing tile it will be very easy to gouge the material beneath the tile with the chisel. Exercise caution as you will want to reuse this material to save even more of your hard-earned money. It is important to work the chisel as parallel to the floor as possible to minimize any gouging. Any minor nicks and gouges will be filled with thinset when the new tile is installed.
Using Power Tools to remove tiles
hammer only modewith a chisel added on will also be a good option for this job. An added benefit is that both these power tools, the air hammer and the hammer drill have a ton of other uses for future projects.
A word on chisel width
A Review
Chisel for Tile
July 25, 2017
Verified Purchase
Used to remove tile and backboard from a 12 by 20 kitchen. Has a slide offset in the bit to make it easier to work under the tile. Tired hammers, chisels, pry bars… this was to tool that got it done. Good metal, kept its edge.BTricke Amazon.com review
Disposal of Floor Tile
Now that you know how to remove tile from the floor, you’ll want to consider your disposal options. You will not have much physical material volume that needs to go to waste. The material you do have will be rather heavy for its volume. Weight is going to be the limiting factor at this disposal.
- The normal waste bins can only hold so much before they become to heavy for the garbage truck to lift. Do not fill a bin to the top. Your waste removal company will not be able to pick it up and you will have to empty it. Be prepared to dispose of your tile in multiple pickups if you choose this option.
- A local landfill location will take the tile but you will need to get it to them. You will need a pickup truck that can handle the weight and a good friend to get the tile there and help unload it quickly.
- A waste disposal bag is another option. The bag’s capacity of 3 cubic yards and 3300 lbs it is a good option for light debris but for tile it is limited to one cubic yard under their heavy debris rating for broken tile. There will be an added collection fee if the service is available in your area. The ad below has links to the bagster system where you can check if service is available in your area.
Related Article: How to Template for Diagonal Tile Cuts