Removing Ceramic Tile Is Easy And Fun
One of the most difficult jobs when renovating any house is removing ceramic tile. Most homeowners believe this process is time consuming, requires a lot of effort and is best performed by a professional. For these reasons, in most houses, when there is a need to replace ceramic tiles, the homeowner does not bother to put in the effort to repair his or her floors, walls or countertops, and instead hires a ceramic tile contractor. The job is as tedious as cleaning ceramic tile floors, but can be much more fruitful. There are steps that must be followed when removing ceramic tile, but if one follows these steps, the job is quite easy to do.
The tools and materials needed when removing ceramic tile include ball peens, hammers, cold chisels, floor scrapes, safety goggles, facemasks, sanders, circular saws and large sponges. These are the minimum tools required, and these tools, plus many others, are available at ceramic tile stores and retailers.
While removing ceramic tile, a homeowner or ceramic tile contractor should always be concerned with safety. Goggles should be used to protect the eyes from tile chips, and facemasks should be used to prevent dust from entering the mouth or nose. A cloth should also be placed on the floor area to prevent tile chips from scratching the underlying wood. Once again, these are the minimum precautions required, but store representatives will be able to offer more ideas for safety.
There are three main steps involved in removing ceramic tile from floors or walls. The first step is to chip out the grout along the grout lines. A ball peen or a masonry hammer is used for this job. A cold chisel is then used to tap the pieces free. While doing this, one should take all the safety precautions that are necessary. In some cases there is a need of heavy equipment to do this job.
The second step for removing ceramic tile is to break up the tile with a hammer and a cold chisel. A long-handled floor scraper is used to scrape away any tile fragments and adhesive residue from the floor. After removing the ceramic tiles, the subfloor should be smoothened by a sander and cut into sections with a circular saw. The homeowner needs to pry up the sections using a specialized bar. If the tile was placed on underlayment, homeowners should cut through the underlayment and mortar but not the subfloor. After these steps are complete, the process for removing ceramic tile is complete. The only thing left to do is purchase the new tile, install it and appreciate the new scenery and environment.
To remove ceramic tiles in bulk, like from a large floor or multiple walls, a homeowner should contact a local ceramic tile contractor to do the job. Removing ceramic tiles from a large surface area requires much larger machines, a lot more people, than a simple do-it-yourself home improvement project. Homeowners would risk damage to the tiles, their house and even themselves by attempting to complete such a job alone. Even with a few friends, it is still a job best left to professionals.
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