What is the opposite of ceramic?

What is the opposite of ceramic? That is, when I search for "How to remove floor tile", I get mostly hits on removing ceramic tile.

I have softer stuff., I don't know what it's made of. 12" squares, somewhat flexible, somewhat brittle with age. 32 years**

It's not vinyl; searching on asphalt came up with nothing,

So what's the generic word for floor tile that is not ceramic.

And would you use a hair dryer or a heat gun to soften tile adhesive to remove the tiles?

Thanks.

** (But only a couple are chpped, and I'm going to replace them with tiles from the back of the closet, whch no one can see anyhow, Others just need to be taken up and re"glued", because of the toilet leak I posted about before. They are still partly attached to the plywood floor.)
Reply to
micky
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How do you know it isn't vinyl? 12" 1979/1980 would probably be something from the vinyl family, since Linoleum was basically a niche product by then. Post a picture someplace with a link back here, and we can tell you more. A closeup of a chipped area would be useful as well.

Reply to
aemeijers

The old stuff was called VA tile. Now it is just called vinyl tile.

I take it off with a scraper. First a heavy scraper with a long handle, then a razor scraper to remove the residual stuff.

Reply to
Robert Allison

I just removed some glued down on a cement floor. No scraper would touch them. I tried.

I ended up using a heat gun.

It was a long hard job.

The real surprise was the huge electric bill.

Reply to
despen

LIKELY Vinyl Asbestos. If so be carefull of braking them and releasing dust. A lot of people are realy paranoid about the stuff. I'm not - but adequate precautions are in order.

Reply to
clare

I don't know what the cutoff year was, but I was always under the impression that asbestos went away when the 'standard' size switched from 9" to 12".

Reply to
aemeijers

It probably is.

Using heat like that is what usually causes a place to burn down.

You (and the OP) should use this:

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Tile Floor Strippers removes vinyl tile and ceramic tile tiles faster and easier than ever before with one our tile strippers. These units are very portable and make quick work of any tile removal job 3/4" HP - 110 volt motor. Cam-driven oscillating blade ? no belts or pulleys. Adjustable for many jobs. Blade not included. ==========

Rent one.

I've seen something at home despot that's about the size of a tool box on wheels with a handle that I think is heavy and has a blade for scraping floors. I can't find a picture of it anywhere on the net, but it might also be for scraping tile (a non-powered manual scraper).

Reply to
Home Guy

If they are 9" tiles, they are asbestos. What kind of adhesive do they have; is it black?

-zbob

Reply to
zxcvbob

Now you tell me.

Actually I did see one online but the price scared me off. Should have thought about a rental.

The job was really hard on my back. No way I would have burned the house down though.

I put down carpet tile.

Reply to
despen

Yeah it is hard work. My long handled scraper weighs twelve pounds. It will take off concrete. You just have to work at it.

And no electric bill.

Reply to
Robert Allison

Looks like cutoff date was about 1978.

cheers Bob

Reply to
DD_BobK

An alternative is a scraper blade for you reciprocating saw. About ten bucks at the BORG.

I can attest that the scraper blade works like you think it would, and better than you imagined. They can even be re-sharpened!

Reply to
HeyBub

"-ceramic"? Seriously, try searching on ["remove floor tile" -ceramic] (without the brackets).

Asbestos?

I seriously doubt you can remove them intact. I'd pull them up (be careful, they likely are asbestos) and tile ("+ceramic").

Reply to
krw

Assuming a 1000W-1500W heat gun that's about $.10 to $.25 per hour. How many hours did it take?

Reply to
krw

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