# Forum Home Renovation Tools & Products  Hammer Drill v Jack Hammer - removing tiles

## JDub

What is the best tool for removing wall and floor tiles?  
Hammer Drill (with the stop rotation setting) or a small jack hammer?  :Confused:  
Some examples on ebay: 
Small Jack Hammer: Brand New Model Jackhammer 1700W / 1600BPM Jack Hammer - eBay, Jackhammers, Hardware, Industrial. (end time 20-Jun-10 09:32:49 AEST) 
Hammer Drill: Jackhammer Hammer Drill 1kW -Tile/Brick/Air conditioner - eBay, Jackhammers, Hardware, Industrial. (end time 08-Jun-10 14:03:43 AEST)   :2thumbsup:

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## Bedford

I would go with the hammer drill rather than the jack hammer for tiles. 
There has been a couple of threads here lately referring to Ozito rotary hammers at less than $100 and should do what you want.

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## JDub

Thanks Bedford, yep have read those threads.... 
Anyone got any experience with the Baumr-ag drills sold on ebay? (linked above)..... otherwise the Ozito drill from Bunnies may be the go. 
Cheers

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## murray44

I have used one of the $89 Ozito ones from Bunnings. Excellent result.

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## Wombat2

I've used both and it depends on the job - 1st job was old tiles in the laundry - they were lifting by themselves and the hammer drill made short work of it Then when I can to lift the tiles in our entrance hall ( on a 1" thick bed of mortar ) the hammer drill didn't do a thing and I had to hire a small electric jack hammer - even that was hard work and took 2 days for an area less than the laundry  :Mad:

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## nberry83

For the large area of our house we hired a jack hammer on a trolley from Kennards. For the bathroom and ensuite we will be using a little Ozito hammer drill. Can't rate it high enough in regards to being able to remove the roman bath in 2 sittings - wall tiles, front edge and one side out in one 3hr sitting and then the rest in another 2hrs.

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## HigherPlane

I also used the jackhammer on a trolley for the large area of our house. I imagine it would have been back breaking work without that trolley. I was also really impressed with the level of service I got from Kennards. The jackhammer got up all the slate tiles and some of the mortar but far I left quite a bit of it and the next day I hired a diamond grinder (about the size of a small lawnmower) and it brought the surface back to perfectly smooth in no time. There's not much you can do about the dust with the jack hammer however there is an attachment for a shop vac on the grinder. As all it's doing is turning the mortar to dust it makes a lot of it! If you're on a concrete slab I would definately go the grinding option to remove that last layer mortar. Kennards threw in a big angle grinder with a concrete grinding disc to get into the edges and corners where the big grinding machine wouldn't go. 
I did the whole downstairs (~75sqm) in two days with my mate. From memory it was about $300 for the hire equipment and nearly the same again for a skip bin.

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## howhardcoulditb

I have both the ozito hammer and Baumr-ag jack hammer and both are excellent power and performance for the money. My ozito has demo'd 2 bathrooms. Hammer drill gives you better control to rip off wall tiles if your keeping the sheeting on, even if your re-sheeting its less of a mess if tiles come of first then pull big parts of sheeting off. 
However if your gonna rip up floor concrete/mud bedding on the floor you might need the jack hammer, heaps easier and quicker and your back will thank you.
For the price of hiring a jack hammer its worth buying the Baumr-ag and then its there whenever you need, even if just once more it's paid for itself.

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## Ricardito

I am about to embark in removing kitchen tiles set in concrete and I have read Aldi is bringing next week an SDS rotary hammer drill 1500W variable speed impact rate 0-3 600/min  for $79 with accessories. What do you think guys?

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## Ricardito

Bought and tried the above removed the tiles and cut through mortar and concrete like butter  the not so clera manual says to keep it clear of dust to prevent the carbon brushes for getting too clogged but so far is doing a great job is mighty powerfull and I keep the the cutting blade very sharp with a diamond filer.
Worth the investment in these Taurus tools BTW the shop vac does a gret ajob of scooping all dirt out and I also use it as compressor to blow dust away from tools and such . So far I am very happy with homebrand tools.

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## mark53

I know it's been a long time since the last post on this topic but for what it's worth-If you have at least 10 cfm of free air delivery from your air compressor go to super cheap and buy an air chisel. It comes with, I think 3 chisels' and cost is about $40. Make sure you oil it regularly or it will crap it's self and SC will jack up after the third replacement. I demolished 2 bathrooms and a toilet including brickwork with mine. When you sharpen the chisels or points (about once a day) have a large cup of oil handy to keep the point you are sharpening cool and stop it from bluing. Best of luck  :2thumbsup:

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## mark53

I forgot to mention wear earmuffs, goggles/ safety glasses and a good pear of gloves. Not only did it remove the tiles but also the bed of mortar down to the slab.

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