A DIY Guide to Removing Tile Floor

Whether you’ve lived in your home for a decade or want to makeover the home you just purchased, removing tile is a project you can undertake on your own if you know what you’re doing. Jump in unprepared, though, and you’ll find it can be a difficult and time-consuming job. We’ve compiled a step-by-step guide for removing tile flooring and preparing the underlay below it for the tile’s replacement.

1. Assess the project

Before you commit to removing the tile yourself, take stock of the task at hand. Is the tile in a small guest bathroom or the family room? The more tile you need to remove, the longer it will take, and the more potentially disruptive the job will be. For example, if you’re planning to remove tile in the kitchen, it could make cooking nearly impossible for several days. Not to mention, dust from the job could get inside cabinets and on cooking surfaces.

Additionally, you’ll want to consider the type of tile you plan to remove. While ceramic and porcelain tile can be removed safely, that’s not always the case with vinyl tile, which may contain asbestos. To determine whether your tile contains asbestos and learn how to remove it if it’s safe, read the section below dedicated to removing vinyl tile.

2. Gather your tools

Once you’ve decided to tackle the project yourself, you’ll need to gather the right equipment to get the job done as efficiently and safely as possible. To remove tile flooring, you will want to have the following on hand:

• Hammer
• Chisel or air hammer with a chisel set
• Pry bar
• Scraper
• Angle grinder or oscillating tool (optional)
• Long-handled floor scraper
• Screwdriver
• Tarps and plastic wrap
• Blankets or cloths to cover unmovable items
• Painters’ tape
• Shop vacuum
• Trash can
• Shovel for scooping up debris

In addition to having the right tools, it’s important to dress for the job. This will protect you from unnecessary injuries. Besides a long-sleeved shirt and pants, you should wear the following:

• Knee pads
• Safety goggles or glasses
• Gloves
• Safety mask to filter the dust
• Ear protection if using power tools

3. Prepare the area

You need to complete several small tasks to prepare an area for tile removal. First, you’ll need to clear away any freestanding items that could get in the way, such as a towel holder in the bathroom or a table in the kitchen. Next, remove any fixtures you can. For example, you’ll want to remove the toilet before removing the tile. Cover any item you can’t remove, such as the vanity.

After the area is clear, take the baseboards off the wall using a screwdriver or a hammer and pry bar. Since baseboards typically go in after the tile is laid, it is easier to remove the tile if the baseboards aren’t in place. Take extra care as you remove the baseboards so you don’t damage them in the process. Otherwise, you’ll have to find and install a replacement.

Finally, seal the vents. Removing hard tile creates a lot of dust and debris, which can get sucked into your HVAC system. Before you start, seal off your vents by covering them with plastic wrap held in place by painter’s tape.

4. Find (or create) a starting point

To begin removing tile, you’ll need to locate a point where you can begin prying the pieces up. You’re looking for a place where the underlayment, the layer between the finished floor and subfloor, is exposed. This can be a spot where a semi-permanent fixture, like a toilet, was removed or a loose or broken tile that can be easily lifted.

Another option is to start in a doorway where the tile doesn’t continue into the next room. For example, if the bathroom tile butts up against the bedroom carpet, you may be able to slip a chisel or pry bar underneath the tile at that point.

If you can’t find a starting point, you may have to create it. One possibility is to use a hammer and chisel to start breaking apart the grout. Or, you can use a grout saw or rotary tool to cut along the edges of the grout, loosening it. With enough grout removed, you can pry up a tile to create your starting point.

5. Determine what’s under your tile

Once you’ve pried up a tile, take a look at what’s underneath it. The process of removing tile can vary depending on whether the underlayment is plywood, cement or a thick bed of mortar and whether you want to try to salvage the underlayment or not.

For example, if you have a plywood underlayment, one approach is to remove a single row of tile down the length of the floor and another in the middle of the floor. Then, using a reciprocating saw with a 12-inch-long blade, cut through the plywood in both directions taking care not to cut into the subfloor. You should be able to work a pry bar under the plywood and rip it and the tile out at once. (Of course, you’ll have to replace the plywood with new underlayment.)

The type of underlayment will also determine how careful you need to be removing the tiles. Cement will be able to withstand a little more than plywood. This is particularly important to know if you hope to salvage the underlayment.

6. Remove the tile

Once you have a starting point and have determined what’s underneath, you can focus on getting rid of the unwanted tile. The most common way to do this is by working a pry bar under the tile and pulling it up. Often, the tile will come up in pieces, but if you’re lucky, it may come up in one piece. You can also use a chisel and hammer or strike it with a center punch to break the tile into removable pieces.

If you’re still having trouble getting those first few tiles up, score the tile diagonally, creating an “X.” Continue to score until it is about a 1/16 th of an inch deep. Then, place a chisel along the score and hit it with a hammer. As you work the chisel along the seam, even the most difficult tile should begin to break up.

When you have enough tiles up, switch to a long-handled floor scraper or air hammer with a chisel set to remove the bulk of the tile. Not only will these tools make the job go faster, but they will reduce the amount of effort you have to exert to get the tile up. Be ready to return to the pry bar or chisel as you near walls or cabinets.

Chunks of tile accumulate quickly and create potential hazards. Make a point to throw large pieces in a trash can as you go, and regularly pause to give the area a more thorough cleaning. Because tile is heavy, empty the trash can no matter how few pieces are in it whenever you break. This way, you don’t have to strain taking it to your outdoor trashcan or rented dumpster.

7. Ready the underlayment

When you’ve finished removing all of the tiles, use a broom or shop vacuum to clear away all debris from the underlayment. Then, remove as much of the old mortar as possible by using a hammer and chisel to tap it away. Clean again, taking extra. Any dust that is not cleared away will make it harder for the new flooring to adhere to the underlayment properly.

This step assumes you can reuse the underlayment. You may not be able to reuse it if it is damaged or is not the right type of underlayment for the flooring you plan to install. For example, most contractors recommend using 15-pound felt paper when installing bamboo floors. Even if you intend to install a tile again, you may want to replace the plywood underlayment that you currently have with a cement board since it absorbs moisture and expands.

However, you can reuse your existing plywood underlayment as a base for vinyl and linoleum. Before you proceed, know what type of flooring you intend to replace your tile with and the type of underlayment it requires.

8. Or install a new underlayment

If you need to replace your existing underlayment, it’s a fairly simple process. First, get rid of the old underlayment. Using a pry bar, work the underlayment up, discarding any pieces that break off as you go. Watch for nails (there will be a lot) and wear thick-soled shoes to protect against one coming through your footwear.

Next, lay the underlayment panels perpendicular to the floor joists. These usually run parallel to the direction of the rafters. Leave the panels’ smooth sides up, and space them approximately ¼ of an inch from the wall. You want to position each panel next to the previous one so they are lightly touching but not pushing tightly against each other.

Fasten one side of each panel with nails every 2 inches. Then, fasten the other side. Repeat this process for each row until the area is covered. Use seam filler to fill holes above the nail heads and any gaps. Allow the seam filler to cure and sand the filler with a belt or floor sander until smooth. The underlayment is now ready for your new flooring.

How to remove a vinyl tile floor

Removing vinyl tile is usually easier than removing hard tiles like ceramic and porcelain. However, removing vinyl tiles can be very dangerous if they contain asbestos. Perfectly safe while intact, vinyl tiles containing asbestos release this dangerous material into the air when ripped up and pulled apart. Even if you think you’ve taken every precaution to keep your home safe as you remove these vinyl tiles, asbestos can get into your HVAC system. Asbestos is such a threat that it is illegal for a homeowner to remove it on their own.

1. Determine if it’s safe

It is difficult to tell whether the tiles in your home contain asbestos or not. A good rule of thumb is that if the home was built in the 2000s or later, the vinyl tiles are not asbestos. Homebuilders stopped using vinyl tiles containing asbestos in the 1990s, and consumers could not purchase them by this point either.

If you have an older home and a stash of replacement tiles, you may be able to look at the label on the back of the tile. Some labels will state outright that they are asbestos-free. At the very least, you should be able to find the brand name and a product number and research whether that particular tile contains asbestos.

The best way to determine whether your vinyl tile is safe to remove is to hire an asbestos abatement professional to inspect your floors. This professional will send a sample of your vinyl tile to the lab for analysis. Even if your tile contains asbestos, don’t despair. In some cases, you can put a new flooring directly on top of it or seal it with a coat of epoxy floor paint. The asbestos abatement professional should be able to advise you on the best course of action.

2. Gather your supplies

Once you’re sure the vinyl tiles you want to remove don’t contain asbestos, you’ll want to gather the tools you’ll need:

• Utility knife
• Scraper
• Hairdryer or similar device
• Boiling water
• Dish soap
• Citrus-based adhesive remover
• Trash can

3. Pull up the tile

Using the utility knife, score the middle of each tile. (This cut allows heat to get to the tile’s center.) With a hairdryer, heat the tile, loosening the glue underneath it. Slip the scrapper under the tile’s edge while still warm and work the tile up. Discard the tile and continue to the next.

Or, instead of using a hairdryer or similar heating device, you can pour a small amount of boiling water over the tile. Let it sit for 30 minutes to an hour to soften the glue. When soft, use the scraper to pull the tile up. If water alone doesn’t work, you can add a little dish soap.

Although you want to remove as much adhesive as possible when you pull up each tile, you can clean up any remaining adhesive with soap and water or a citrus-based adhesive remover.

Durable and easy to clean, tile is one of the most popular flooring options on the market, especially for bathrooms and kitchens. But like any other flooring, tiles can go out of style or become damaged and worn. Even when tiles are in good condition, they may not fit with the style you envision for your home. We hope this guide helped you take on the task of removing tile floor on your own.