Bathroom renovation #1:Removing ceramic floor tile

[Scooter]

How do I remove the cheesy ceramic floor tile in our bathroom? We have a slab foundation.

Can it be removed without damaging the foundation?

Is there some kind of large chisel-like tool you can bang on with a hammer?

 

[NickDanger]

Rent an electric jackhammer with a spade bit and wear goggles and gloves. Ceramic tile is basically glass. You can ususally rent a 65 pound one for around $50 for a weekend.

 

[washparkhorn]

I did it on an older house. Started with a stripper (w/ a 5 ft handle). That was a back breaker. Went down to the tool rental place and was thinking about the electric jackhammer. They steered me to an "Electric Floor Stripper." It looked similar to this:

It made short work of the ceramic tile. I smoothed the surface with a "rub brick" that you can get at most home depots.

Good luck.

Edited to get rid of the huge picture.

 

[NickDanger]

Never seen one of those. Is it essentially an electric jackhammer just for ceramic tile? It looks more precise.

 

[K-Man]

I rented one of those tile strippers and it worked great.

 

[MrPhlegm]

That thing works on ceramic tile too?

I saw them using one of these on linoleum at the Wal-mart in Clewiston Fl about a month ago. They had one of the hand models and one that the guy was riding on and he was just flat tearing up the linoleum.

I didn't realize that they would work on ceramic tile also.

 

[horn4life]

That looks like the right tool for the job. However I might pop a few with a chisel first for a small area like a bathroom as depneding on who laid the tiles they may or may not pop up easily.

 

[Scooter]

That looks like an awesome tool. Thanks for the tip.

Unfortunately, I guess, that since it's an indoor tool it's not powered by a gasoline engine.

 

[NickDanger]

I actually own my own electric jackhammer for occasions such as that. I'd love the have the Bosch Brute, but settled on a well-priced used Hilti.

 

[washparkhorn]

It worked well on ceramic tile - popped them right up. There is a blade for ceramic tile, so make sure the tool rental guy gives you the right one. But this is for a bathroom, so the space may be tight. You can use hand tools (I did - once), but you end up doing sculpting, rather than demolition - and power tools make it so much easier.

The electric jackhammer definitely works.