Removing ceramic tile from kitchen floor...

[Cindy]

Hope someone can help me here...

When we bought this house, the old owner redid the kitchen floor prior to selling the house because the old floor was in such bad shape. He decided to use something around 5" ceramic tile, which is very slippery when wet and my 9 year old falls constantly when he comes in the house. Now, when this guy did the floor, he did it himself with help from some of his friends. He never finished off the doorway areas and tile is coming up around those places, plus, the grout or whatever it is in between the tiles is just crumbling like crazy in other areas of the floor. It's a huge eat-in country kitchen with a lot of flooring. What I was wondering is...how can I get this stuff up? I see underneath in areas, the adhesive that is a mess underneath. I'd like to have someone come in and lay new flooring properly, with something less dangerous for a kitchen but I know they are going to charge a fortune just to take the tiles up and clean up the mess underneath. Anybody have any ideas on what I can use to get the adhesive off and get these tiles removed without damaging what is left of the flooring underneath? I don't mind putting in the effort to get it done right, I would just prefer to cut the cost of what the installers would charge to remove the old floor. The tiles were put down some time in 1999 or 2000, so it isn't that old. It's just a mess. Any suggestions would be appreciated...I can't stand having throw rugs all over the place to cover this thing.

Thanks,

C.

[SQLit]

Sledge hammer to get started then a hard scraper on a handle. This scraper is like a putty knife only a lot stronger. Approximately 10 inches wide. You could do it your self, messy, dusty, noisy. Once down to the old floor then you can decide what you need to do to do it right.

[Dick]

What was type of floor is under the tile? From what I gather it was laid over linoleum or something like that.

And, the adhesive. Did he stick the ceramic tile down with a adhesive.? They are supposed to be set in a mortar.

From what you say the tile will come easy. Removal of an adhesive may be a problem depending on what type it is. Then put down a good backer board like Hardibacker before laying the tile.