# Forum Home Renovation Tiling  Tile removal - concrete grinder??

## Stu

I am currently removing about 60 sqmtr of ceramic tiles. The tiles are coming up ok but leaving a very hard, ridged concrete like residue behind. This is proving almost impossible to remove with a small jackhammer. Would a concrete grinder be the way to finish these floors?? 
Any help greatly appreciated and any idea of cost involved?? 
Cheers Stu

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## Nigel2

Stu,  
What room are the tiles in? Bathroom, kitchen .. ? I am currently removing bathroom floor tiles and have found the screed is relatively easy to remove with a rotatary hammer drill that I purchased from bunnings recently - here is a link to it if you want to take a look - http://www.ozito.com.au/productinfo....odid=OZRH1100A 
Cost was $99, it came with a chisel bit which is perfect for the job. Hope this helps.  
Cheers,
Nigel

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## Cliff Rogers

I used the legendary $69 Ozito rotary hammer drill from Bunnies with the wide spade bit out of the $25 Medalist set also form Bunnies.
Took it off rotary & used just hammer tipped over at about 45°, pulled the trigger & followed it accross the floor.
It did a very good job of lifting the tiles & chipping the old tile cement off the concrete.  :2thumbsup:  
I had about 36sqM of ceramic & slate to get rid of.

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## Dean

Stu, 
I'm in the same boat here too. Dunno what the original builder used to glue these bloody tiles down but I had to use a heavy Hitachi jackhammer to lift them, and 90% of them just crumbled when touched making removal a nightmare. And in some case the tiles lifted off a small layter of the concrete floor in the process. I'm starting to think the builders skimped and used concrete instead of tile adhesive  :Tongue:   
Anyway all the "adhesive" or whatever they used is still on the floor, complete with intact notched trowl pattern  :Doh:  
I think we will hire a concrete grinder with diamond wheel to try remove it all and get the surface level for re-tiling. 
What a nightmare!

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## bitingmidge

The residue is probably a "flexible" adhesive, which is why it's such a cow to remove. 
If you are incredibly patient, it will scrape off with a sharp shovel, but hey, I'd go for the grinder myself! 
Cheers, 
P

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## Stu

I am retiling kitchen, laundry, hallway and dining room. The residue looks like concrete and is very hard and in ridges. Will try a wider chisel and see how that works.
Cheers Stu

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## Cliff Rogers

Are you tipping it over at an angle?
I found less than 45° was needed some times.
There were places that the wide spade bit actually dug into the concrete under the tile cement but the tiler didn't care about dents in the floor, he just filled the with glue. He was more worried about bumps than dents.

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## mic-d

Sounds like cement based tile adhesive to me.  The grinder may be one option but you can also get a floor tool attachment for the jack hammer that is designed for the job.  It is a wide steel blade maybe 150-200mm wide. 
Cheers
Michael

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## Nigel2

> Sounds like cement based tile adhesive to me. The grinder may be one option but you can also get a floor tool attachment for the jack hammer that is designed for the job. It is a wide steel blade maybe 150-200mm wide. 
> Cheers
> Michael

  
Where can I buy one of these?

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## Pulse

Hey Stu,
This is probably the residue from the old method of glueing tiles, sprinkle neat cement onto a damp bed of sand cement and place the tiles on top.  
I just used a very thin layer of self levelling compound to fill the depressions, you will have to thin it quite a lot though, a lot quicker than trying to get it perfectly flat with the rotary hammer. I filled the depressions so just a few peaks were visible, these were not a problem with a decent adhesive bed. 
Cheers
Pulse

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## Stu

Thanks for your help all, just spent three days solid on these floors and now have 60 sq mtrs cleaned up and ready to go. Looking forward to the tiling a lot more than taking the old ones up thats for sure.
Cheers Stu

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