Jackhammers and floor tiles...

[greenacc]

Has anyone used one of these trolley jackhammers ? I need to find something to break up a few rooms of floortiles without smashing through the floor boards:hmmm:

 

[c2105026]

duplicate post

 

[c2105026]

When I got my place retiled, the tiler just went over the top of existing tiles....was cheaper for me but if that option isn't available for you......hmmm...i imagine that any form of jack hammering would damage floorboards??

 

[Big-Al]

Get a spade and sharpen the edge. No **** it takes up tiles like Cookie Monster eating dope cookies. Plumber showed me this trick many moons ago. Drive the spade under the edge of the tiles like a wedge, and up they come, you might have to lift a few with a chisel to get things started.

Don't use the jack hammer as it will go through the wooden floor and also likely cause cracks in the walls from the harsh vibrations.

 

[greenacc]

That is my main concern, but if we put new floor over old tiles there will be a 30mm step between rooms which will look terrible and trip people over
I wonder if using a light jackhammer kinda horizontally wont place too much stress on the subfloor... it's actually that particle board flooring sheet crap not timber.

 

[wraith]

Yeah I wouldn't be using a jackhammer for that. One slip up and yeah. Use the method Big-Al suggest first.

 

[Big-Al]

They usually put down sheets of Masonite (dark brown) on floorboards before tiles go down so the grout isn't so prone to cracking and also you get a flatter finish. You might be able to lift the sheets up with most of the old tiles still attached and then put down new sheets as masonite doesn't cost much per sheet.

Does the particle board look like these sheets? One side is smooth and the other is rough.

 

[hotrod]

are the tiles on cement sheet or tile underlay or strait to floor boards which is odd , I imagine they be glued or liquid nailed down to timber boards and going to be a pain to get off , if they sitting on any kind of underlay sheet you can ply it up.

 

[greenacc]

Sounds like you know your flooring! But here's the thing, whoever put this floor down 20 something years ago laid a sheet of plastic over the particle board, then a sheet of chickenwire, then 20mm of cement...... then laid the tiles on top of all that. So the good part is the whole layer of cement and tiles is kinda floating on that layer of plastic like a huge biscuit, but is hard as #### and needs to be broken up somehow so i can shovel it all out.

 

[Big-Al]

Sounds like the floor might not have been flat or level and that is an attempt to correct it. Badly.

Can you put up some pics of the problem areas?