What Should We Pay Attention When Remove Bathroom Floor Tile?
Remove the marble tiles without removing the substrate.If the material beneath the wall tiles is in good condition, you can save yourself some money and leave it intact. That said, this method is slow and often causes some damage to the substrate; use your best judgement. Remove the tiles design with a flat pry bar, placing the edge low against the side of the tile and striking the base of the knife with a hammer. An electric chisel is another option. Periodically scrape adhesive off the exposed floor with a putty knife or a floor scraper.
If the ceramic tile only breaks in tiny pieces, or if you want to maximize the chance that the small tile comes out intact, scrape out the grout lines around the flooring tiles first. You may use a handheld grout saw, a carbide blade fitted onto a rotary grinder or oscillating tool, or (less effectively) a utility knife with several spare blades. A little heat from a blow dryer or heat gun may soften the grout.
Saw through plywood or cement board substrate. Chip away a row of white tiles to expose this substrate. Fit a reciprocating saw with a long blade (wood-cutting or carbide-tipped masonry cutting, depending on the material). Cut into the side of the substrate at a low angle, making a long cut to free it from the floor beneath. You can now lift the material and tile up in chunks with a flat bar. Cutting through cement board may damage the floor beneath, and roofing nails may interrupt your progress. A safer, but slower alternative is to break through the cement board with a hammer. You can then pry the cement board off the floor beneath using a pry bar.
Remove the mortar bed. Floor tiles from the 1960s and earlier were often installed on a thick mortar bed. Mortar beds were typically installed in areas where the floor was sloped for drainage, e.g., in shower areas. This is a pain to remove, but chiseling out the tiles is slow and will likely cause cracks in the mortar anyway, so it’s best to replace it now if you can afford it.
Most mortar beds are made of sand mixed with a small quantity of Portland cement tiles, and are not particularly difficult to break up. Shut off the house’s main water valve before you begin. Removing the mortar bed may damage a water pipe. Break through a small area with a chisel and sledge to the surface beneath (usually wood). Using a rotary hammer with a chisel bit (from a tool rental company), chisel around a chunk of mortar about 1 foot (0.3 m) across. Use caution when approaching the base of the bed. Complete the job by using the hammer between the wood and the mortar bed, periodically chiseling the mortar from above.
