Tearing Up Old Tile Floor
If you are upgrading your home, one of the top things to do is replacing your old flooring with something fresh and new. While picking out your new floor is an exciting time, getting rid of the old floor can be a bit of a pain. Many people choose to hire this task out because of the time and frustration involved, but if you are determined to remove your old flooring yourself, then you need to know how.
When the old flooring in question is tile, it can be quite the endeavor. Before beginning this type of project, you will need to don some protective gear. Grab a pair of safety goggles, some good quality gloves, and a dust mask to protect your lungs.
Tools You Will Need
In addition to your safety gear, you will also need a few tools to pry those tiles up from the floor. We recommend having the following items:
● Floor Scraper
● Handheld Chisel
● Paint Scraper
● Hammer
● Drop Sheet
Once you have gathered up all of these supplies, you are ready to remove the tile!
Getting Rid of the Tile
The tiles you have on your floor may be set in either mastic or mortar. If it is mastic, you are in luck! Your floor scraper should be enough to pop those tiles off. If they are set in mortar, you have a bit more work cut out for you. You will first want to break up your tiles by hitting them with a hammer. Aim for the center of each tile and use caution because they will be sharp.
Once you have broken all of the tile, you can use the chisel to chip away at the grout lines until you are able to pry up a few tiles. Once you have enough chipped away with the chisel to get your floor scraper underneath, you can switch over to the scrapper and get serious with it.
After you remove all of the tiles, there is likely to be leftover adhesive or mortar left on the underlayment or subfloor. You may want to simply replace the underlayment instead of trying to get the mortar up. However, if you don’t want to give up just yet, you can use your hammer and floor scraper to smash and pry it off. If the adhesive is sticky or more pliable, you may be able to use a heat gun to soften it up before scraping.
Ottawa Diamond Flooring Can Help!
As you can see, getting tile off of your floors can be a real chore. If it doesn’t sound like something you want to tackle all on your own, that is okay. At Ottawa Diamond Flooring, we can get you in touch with the professionals. You can let them do the smashing and the prying; all you have to focus on is picking our your new floor. We have plenty of options, including tile, vinyl, laminate, hardwood, bamboo, and carpeting. Let us worry about the demo and the installation; you worry about the style and the decor.
