Taking off ceramic floor tiles.

[seany1]

Hi peeps any tips. I am currently smashing off some old floor tiles in my kitchen in readiness to lay a laminate floor. The tiles break off pretty easy but is there an easy way of taking off the tile adhesive that is stuck to the floor I dont want to screed the floor again as it would bring the level of the floor up to high and look a bit daft where two rooms meet. Someone told me to use a steamer to heat the adhesive and chisel it off. Would this work or is he choking my chain !!!!

[Colour Republic]

If the correct adhesive has been used i.e cement based then no steaming will not work. Where he has got this from is that if a ready mixed tubbed dispersion adhesive has been used for wall tiling, then yes you can wet/steam that off.

There is a possibility that the floor tiling was a ready mixed dispersion adhesive if it was a DIY job but more than likely it is not.

What is the sub floor made of? concrete? If so i'm afraid it's a hammer and bolster or an SDS wide chisel

[seany1]

The floor is concrete but because it was a bit uneven I skimmed it with some self levelling screed. I stuck the tiles with Wickes mix it yourself floor tile adhesive !!!

[m3 fitter]

a sds wide chisseler is the easiest and quickest see pic ( http://www.ascottiling.co.uk/services1.html ) it is laborious and time consuming, that's the nature of the beast. Alternatively, remove the high points and use a latex like wickes deep base self levelling approx £15.00 per bag which will cover approx 3 sq.metres based on 5mm ( compressed 10mm )of notched trowell marks. Hope it helps