I'm trying to remove an old tiled chipboard hearth. Several of the tiles were cracked as well as being chipped at the edges and the chipboard itself had got chunks missing round the edges. The chipboard is screwed to the floorboards. (I hope it's just screwed and not glued too.)
I thought I might be able to pop the tiles off the chipboard but after
30 minutes bashing away with a bolster I've cleared maybe the equivalent of two tiles, as they're splintering into tiny shards rather than coming off in chunks. There's so much adhesive, I can't seem to get a thin bladed scraper in beneath them, and they've been butt-jointed so it's not possible to exploit the grout lines.I thought I might be able to get a crow bar under the chipboard and lever the whole thing up but I think whoever did it really went to town on the screws.
Any suggestions other than continuing with brute force and ignorance? (And ideally something that doesn't involve too much gratuitous noise since the neighbours have just had a baby.)
I've seen wall-paper strippers mentioned in the group before as a way of removing tiles form chipboard but I don't really how there'd be sufficient moisture penetration to do any good and anyway, if they've used waterproof adhesive, isn't it...waterproof?
Thanks for any advice.