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In a few thousand years, once the lawyers have managed to sort out a relatively simple, chain free, property purchase,I hope to be moving into a house with a tiled over concrete kitchen floor.
I want to remove the tiles and the grouting so I can lay laminate underlay then laminate flooring. I'm assuming I'll need to achieve a pretty smooth concrete surface, so what's the STW recommendation for a tool for the job (other than a contractor 🙂 )?
Depends how well they are stuck down. Sds hammer with a cranked tile chisel and a pointed to get started. If they break and shift easily a heavy duty shovel and just smash along the floor level.
You can always smooth over any damaged concrete using that self levelling compound stuff, sold in most DIY sheds / builder's merchants.
A garden spade rather than a shovel. The blade is flat as opposed to the slightly curved blade of a shovel.
Hire a scabbler, use it, dust your entire house 20 times and then pour a self levelling latex screed.
Or just laminate over the top?
Just been through the same in our house, whole dining room / kitchen floor. Used an SDS drill and chisel attachment then went round with a flat shovel. Then laid green tile underlay then put your flooring over it. Took a few days though, harder work than it sounds.
Thanks for the advice folks.
I can't laminate over the top, as the potential house has a knock through kitchen diner type of arrangement; the kitchen is tiled and the diner carpeted. I also want to extend the laminate into the large hallway so it all needs to be on the same level.
Given that, does that mean if I have to resort to self leveling screed stuff, I will have to do the whole area I want to laminate in order to get it level? The hall, in particular, is massive (for a hallway).
you really wont know till you start.
some forward thinking chap might have laid it on hardboard which means itll come up cleanly and you jsut fill the holes where the few hundred hammer hits were with latex screed and alls good ....
if the tiles are bonded to the concrete youll be in for a fun time.
Time to break out Big Mutt!
[url= http://www.screwfix.com/p/roughneck-big-mutt-pro-multi-use-building-decorating-tool-9-x-7/36715?_requestid=277466 ]Big Mutt at Screwfix[/url]
Awesome kit...if you are any where near Reading let me know.
Depending on whats left on the concrete floor, you could always diamond grind off the grout/tile remnents.
It looks a horrid task to do, but actually its really easy. I'm planning to do it in my bathroom, once i get round to it with my small 125mm grinder
Just make sure you hook it up to a vac otherwise you'll spend the next 10 years coughing up dust
Or if it's the same crap my old kitchen tiles were stuck on with a crowbar will pull them up in minutes. Grout onto concrete though. Ouch.