Removing stubborn old tiles & lino

Hi All, My firstest ever reno is going along slowly, but surely. Presently, I am removing ancient floor coverings in the kitchen and bathroom. Under the lovely brown kitchen carpet, are lino squares which are stuck to the bare cement floor good and proper. I am slowly chipping away with a sharp-edged scraper, but it's slow work. I thought about some kind of solvent, but getting it under the tiles to the glue could be difficult.

In the bathroom, I have those ugly old poo-brown 1970's tiny little square tiles that are laid in sheets (coming back in style I'm horrified to see!) The only option I've thought of thus far is a jack-hammer. Only prob is, that means hiring a jack-hammer - AND someone to operate it - non-trade labour in this town is pretty pricey for some reason! Banging the crap out of it with a hammer is doing nothing. The floor is kinda melted, not at all even, but rather like the swell of the ocean. It's very weird, but those who have inspected it seem to think that the tiles were laid on the already uneven floor.

Any suggestions to make either job any easier/cheaper would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Hobbyhorse
 
Hobbled,

For the vinyl, check out http://www.somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=44319#post44319 - the floorstripper from Kennards was great. (There's even a piccy later in the thread). It cost me $85/day- but you can (I think) get a three hour rental starting 5PM and dropping back at 8AM, which cuts the cost back a little.

One option with tilers, uf they're in good nick, is to use tile paint (search for White Knight") or to have them reenamelled- say http://www.mendabathroom.com.au/. Reenamelling can also be used on baths, basins, toilet bowls- I understand for about half the cost of new items- but it's still not cheap.

Some people have suggested tiling over the top of existing tiles.
 
For the lino - Geoff's post explains all


For the tiles - don't take them out at all. Instead pour levelling compound over the lot, waterproof where you need to and retile. Don't forget to take the door off before you pour as you'll need to cut a bit off the bottom.

Jas
 
WE had same problem with the lino in a PPOR. the pros came in and said waste of time trying to lift it and just layed a new layer of "fibro sheeting" l think.. .made it all nice and even and so we then had a brand new floor surface to start with. we did relay a new lino over this so don,t know how it would go with carpet or tiles on it
cheers yadreamin
 
geofw
the floating floors look terrific but how has it gone as far as wear and tear ie scratching.would you put it in an IP.
How did it compare to the cost of tiles?
cheers yadreamin
 
yadreamin,

I haven't actually seen the floors for some months. After three months, they were looking really good, but I can't tell yet. The floors the sold were supposedly installed in the shop (about 2sm of each style in a medium use area))- and they looked pretty good.

I didn't cost tiles at that stage. The floating floors I think were just over $40 psm- I did the installation.
 
Hmmm...covering the bathroom floor with levelling compound and then tiling over sounds like a better option. No, these tiles are WAY beyond simply painting, they're all falling off the wall anyway, and the shower needs to be waterproofed.
As for the kitchen floor, underneath the ugll lino, is this really funky looking moroon concrete. I like the rustic look of faded, painted cement, and I want the Moroccan/Mediterranean look anyway. Am being rushed of the library PC. Damn this lack of technology in my life!!!!!!!!!1
 
Wandered through Bunnings last week. They have a 620 watt jackhammer / rotary drill for $99. Dynalink brand, made somewhere in China.

Bought it. Tested it on sandstone under house. Did OK. Action is real hammer, and has a 15mm wide chisel bit, and 3 rotary masonry bits included in box.

Hired a 2400W Hitachi H65SB jackhammer last month for $70/day. It chewed through sandstone way faster than the Dynalink, but the Dynalink did OK for the price. ( could buy a Hitachi H65SB for about $1150, but wife would not be happy )


Maybe worth getting a cheap jackhammer from Bunnings and having a go at the lino and bathroom tiles.
 
For the vinyl/lino tiles in the kitchen you might try a heat gun. I have removed many floors of vinyl tiles this way - heat gun to soften and hard paint scraper or flat nosed shovel pushing underneath. Wear a respirator as some fumes can be harmful. Good luck.
 
geoffw said:
yadreamin,

I haven't actually seen the floors for some months. After three months, they were looking really good, but I can't tell yet. The floors the sold were supposedly installed in the shop (about 2sm of each style in a medium use area))- and they looked pretty good.
Hey Geoff,
Have you seen the floating floors lately - how have they held up after a few years?
I am considering putting some in a unit I have vacant soon- but am a little conserned they won't last too well

Cheers
Mike
 
RichardK said:
Maybe worth getting a cheap jackhammer from Bunnings and having a go at the lino and bathroom tiles.
and being cheap china stuff, if you burn it out quickly bunnings don't ask any questins when replacing.

i burnt out a gmc belt sander in around 3 weeks, took it back and was immediately given a new one no questions asked - what i didn't tell them was that i had spent the last three weeks flat out ripping old exterior paint off a three bedroom weatherboard. by the time the sander carked it i had nearly finished - so got the job done and a new sander in the process.
 
I haven't seen if for a while. After 12 months it was looking good.

Sister in law has had it done, and two years afterward, despite young kids, it's still looking OK.

Except for the scrappy installation job they did :D
 
Beware of your vinyl tiles....they may contain asbestos.Best to have a piece tested before putting yourself in danger.

Tools
 
Before using self leveler over the existing tiles be sure to prepare the surface so that the self leveler will adhere. This can be done by scoring the tiles with a belt sander or grinder. There is also a product manufactured by Davco called Ultra Bond designed to create an adhesive bridge for contaminated surfaces.

Gerd
 
Mike F said:
Hey Geoff,
Have you seen the floating floors lately - how have they held up after a few years?
I am considering putting some in a unit I have vacant soon- but am a little conserned they won't last too well
I had a peek last week. They are holding up very well. I didn't have a chance for a close look- it was only to sign a new joint tenant bond form- but there were no obvious scratches or dulling.

The tenant did have felt on the chairs and table legs to help prevent scuffing.
 
Good point, Tools.

There is asbestos in lots of things apart from fibro sheeting.

When I pulled my old kitchen out, the old hot water piping behind the cupboards was lagged in a fibre product. I'm 99% sure it would have been asbestos. I didn't disturb it - just sheeted over it.

Scott
 
hobgoblin said:
Hi All, My firstest ever reno is going along slowly, but surely. Presently, I am removing ancient floor coverings in the kitchen and bathroom. Under the lovely brown kitchen carpet, are lino squares which are stuck to the bare cement floor good and proper. I am slowly chipping away with a sharp-edged scraper, but it's slow work. I thought about some kind of solvent, but getting it under the tiles to the glue could be difficult.

In the bathroom, I have those ugly old poo-brown 1970's tiny little square tiles that are laid in sheets (coming back in style I'm horrified to see!) The only option I've thought of thus far is a jack-hammer. Only prob is, that means hiring a jack-hammer - AND someone to operate it - non-trade labour in this town is pretty pricey for some reason! Banging the crap out of it with a hammer is doing nothing. The floor is kinda melted, not at all even, but rather like the swell of the ocean. It's very weird, but those who have inspected it seem to think that the tiles were laid on the already uneven floor.

Any suggestions to make either job any easier/cheaper would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Hobbyhorse

3 years ago we decided to take up the carpet and existing tiles in our PPOR. the carpet had been walked in to the point that that foam was a fine powder. and in places the carpet had bonded to the Vinyl.

The carpet was removed which was the least of our worries as we discovered that the vinyl had been glued over another layer of vinyl. so we had two layers of vinyl and two layers of glue. YAY!!

The glue had become like concrete it was that hard. We used paint scrapers and shovels and a screw drivers and it was hard going - especially where people had walked. in low transit area it was failry easy going. Anyway we ended up get scratching the vinyl with a sharp implement - not my wit :) and then poured boiling water on it a couple of time, wait till the water was absorbed and then proceeded to scrap 1" wide strips off. the ended up being the easiest.

As for the tiles we used chisels and an angle grinder to remover the tiles. The wet areas which had been exposed to moisture were the easiest to get up. We generally chiseled away the tiles and then used the angle grinder to make the area smooth. LOTS OF DUST!!! Word of warning beware of confined spaces. i masacred my leg big time beteen the chisel head and 8 lb hammer - nasty. One dead angle grinder, one sore leg and alot of cussing we had the tiles and vinyl up.

It took 3 weeks to do the ripping up and tiling. and the tiling took 2 days LOL: rolleyes:

Recently we did the bathroom - we had small mosaics. we got a wide blade chisel head ie a 1.5' - 2" wide and used them with one of those home style jackhammers (the chisel was in the hammer box). Beware of the power setting you use, if it's too much you will go into the slab and thats not good as then they have to rescreed the floor. Anyway the tile were like butter compared to the tile removal we did the years before.

have fun!

cheers keg75
 
Back
Top