Bathroom tiles stuck on plywood floorboards

JonnyCat

I hope someone can help. The previous occupant in our house has stuck hard tiles straight on the plywood floorboards in our upstairs bathroom (then put carpet on top!). They're old tiles and some have been torn when the electrics were done, so there are gaps in various places. They are firmly stuck so can't be removed, and are about 5mm thick.

Does anyone know what the best way to resurface this is? We only want cork tiles or lino, nothing fancy, but a flat surface would be a good place to start!

globalds

could you try a hair dryer ..see if it softens the glue enough to get a scraper on ..
I think it is going to be elbow grease on this job unfortunately ..
If the hair dryer works ..then maybe a heat gun would be even better ..but that will get much hotter so be careful ..

securityman

I have one of these just for that job
http://www.toolstop.co.uk/faithfull-floor-scraper-200mm-8in-p12354

ply over the top if you cannot get them all off.

keystone

Floor scraper is exactly what is needed (together with a bucketful of elbow grease). Just be careful you don't go through the top layer of the ply. Once you do that it will be knackered and require replacing. Not so sure about overplying though. Think of the size of step you'll create.

Cheers

muckybutt

When you say Hard tiles do you mean ceramic tiles or vinyl tiles ?

If vinyl be cautious as they may contain asbestos material, many vinyl tiles used to contain acm's not in huge amounts but never the less they did contain it.

JonnyCat

Thank you all for your help. They appear to be Vinyl tiles. Thanks for the heads up about asbestos! Sounds like it might be one to get a professional in for!