
Removing Ceramic Tiles
According to top professionals, there is not universally best way of removing ceramic
tiles. As far as attachment strength is concerned, every tile requires different degree of force to be removed.
Still, some tricks from industry experts can help-
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A stiff-bladed 3-inch putty knife,
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A small hammer,
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A flat garden spade and
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Iron pry bar.
Put on your safety glasses. The best glove choices for you could be heavy leather gloves and extended sleeve
shirt or sweatshirt.
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The removal of tiles becomes much easier when tile is attached to cement boards. As a matter of
fact, your tiles are practically mortared to the concrete mix. Once it dried up, the bond between tiles
and concrete becomes so strong that they become a single entity. 4 lbs hammer can disintegrate them but
you need to hit very hard too. If you are a regular human being, you won’t love it!
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If you have a lot of time to waste, go ahead trying to remove the tile while keeping the cement
board safe. This is task next to impossible! Cement boards are inexpensive, so save your breath and do
the work with ease.
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It is a much better process to remove the cement board plus tile- simultaneously. You have to begin
the removal process from the tile edges. It is not a good idea to remove from the center of the ceramic
tile floor.
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For withdrawing the cement board and tile altogether, some of the tile and cement board may be
removed separately. Most people use little hammer and putty knife here.
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Another great idea of removing the tiles with ease is by getting rid of the grout around it. Simple
tools like putty knives are best here. This in tern, chops up and gets rid of the grout. Handy little
electric tools (that come with highly efficient grinding wheels) are also fit for serving the
purpose.
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If you are done with getting rid of the grout, a clever technique now would be to to pop the tile
off the cement board. You have to drive the sturdy putty knife beneath the tile. You get the best
results when you do it at a low angle.
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While doing this, make sure that the blade of your putty knife is as parallel as possible with
ground level. Use a hammer to hit the putty knife’s edge of gently- but be gentle with it.
This will make the tile to disintegrate into pieces. Sometimes your tile pop off making the job all easy for
you.
To make it easy for you, talk to someone who has done the job of removing ceramic tiles before.
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