Cost to remove kitchen floor tiles?

Zither

Hello,

I'm thimking about changing my kitchen floor. Currently it is tiled but they are old and make the kitchen look/feel cold. I'm thinking about just replacing them with laminate planks. I'm on a bit of a budget so ideally I'd like to lay the planks myself. The kitchen is about 20 meters squared so I'm guessing about £20 m2 for some non-budget looking flooring so £400 flooring.

Could anyone suggest how much the typical cost/s to get someone in to remove the existing tiles and prepare the floor for laying the padding/ planks? In principle I wouldn't mind removing the kitchen floor tiles myself but...I think a bit too much of a big job for me alone.

Thanks!

Z

adandem

Not sure how well your tiles have been stuck down but we've just removed our bathroom tiles and it was a huge job, it took my husband days. Not sure if a professional would have special tools for the job which might help.

martinthebandit

Here ya go (other hire places are available)
http://www.jewson.co.uk/tool-hire/tiling/tiling-machines/products/5055/floor-tile-stripper/

Zither

martinthebandit wrote: »

Here ya go (other hire places are available)
http://www.jewson.co.uk/tool-hire/tiling/tiling-machines/products/5055/floor-tile-stripper/

Thanks! What does this tool do? Just remove tiles themselves and/or smoothen out the underlying grout? Just mindful of Adamdems point above about it taking days to remove tiles - does this mean it will just take hours instead?

Zither

adandem wrote: »

Not sure how well your tiles have been stuck down but we've just removed our bathroom tiles and it was a huge job, it took my husband days. Not sure if a professional would have special tools for the job which might help.

How did he do it? Chip away with a chisel or something else?

martinthebandit

Zither wrote: »

Thanks! What does this tool do? Just remove tiles themselves and/or smoothen out the underlying grout? Just mindful of Adamdems point above about it taking days to remove tiles - does this mean it will just take hours instead?

If your tiles are sound and you have enough space your best bet is to leave them be and put your new floor on top.

If you really want/need to take the tiles up then that tool will do the job, but you'll also need a bolster chisel and a 2lb lump hammer.

When you have the tiles up get yourself some floor levelling compound and put it down, unless you have a super huge room it shouldn't take you more than a day.

Going to a messy, dusty job though.

Personally I'd be flooring over the existing tiles.

Zither

martinthebandit wrote: »

If your tiles are sound and you have enough space your best bet is to leave them be and put your new floor on top.

If you really want/need to take the tiles up then that tool will do the job, but you'll also need a bolster chisel and a 2lb lump hammer.

When you have the tiles up get yourself some floor levelling compound and put it down, unless you have a super huge room it shouldn't take you more than a day.

Going to a messy, dusty job though.

Personally I'd be flooring over the existing tiles.

Thanks bandit, that's helpful. I've read that a lot of people say it's not possible to tile on top of existing tiles? All my current tiles are sound and in good condition, but they've got a slightly rippled texture so it's not a 100% flat surface. Would the underlay be enough to smooth the rippled tiles out to put laminate boards down over? Or, would it be just simpler to tile over?

One last question - if you tile/floor over existing tiles, how do you typically deal with edging around units already in place? Just some beading?

martinthebandit

Zither wrote: »

Thanks bandit, that's helpful. I've read that a lot of people say it's not possible to tile on top of existing tiles? All my current tiles are sound and in good condition, but they've got a slightly rippled texture so it's not a 100% flat surface. Would the underlay be enough to smooth the rippled tiles out to put laminate boards down over? Or, would it be just simpler to tile over?

One last question - if you tile/floor over existing tiles, how do you typically deal with edging around units already in place? Just some beading?

I would lay this http://www.screwfix.com/p/duralay-premier-wood-laminate-flooring-underlay-3mm-10m/48485 or similar down over the tiles then laminate on top.

Edges can be beaded

Wookey

You should be able to take the kick space boards of from below the kitchen units, most are just clipped in places these days onto the cabinet legs, run your new flooring in below the kick space then replace the kick boards which will need some trimming down to fit.

The one thing you should check first before anything else though is if you put the boards down on top of your existing tiles is if you will have enough clearance below an outside plastic door and the new height that your flooring will be at. With the depth of laminate plus underlay you are looking at around 1/2" of increase in the height of the floor and assuming you have a plastic exterior door then you would need to have at least that clearance below it for its entire opening radius.

Also if lifting the tiles its sometimes easier to use a spade as a chisel once you have a few up rather than battering away at them with a hammer and bolster, this will depend on whether its a cement or wooden floor that they are down on and just how well it was tiled.

adandem

Zither wrote: »

How did he do it? Chip away with a chisel or something else?

I think he tried everything to be honest. The tiles were splintering like glass and only came up in tiny pieces. We couldn't have tiled over the top due to the height.

Zither

Wookey wrote: »

You should be able to take the kick space boards of from below the kitchen units, most are just clipped in places these days onto the cabinet legs, run your new flooring in below the kick space then replace the kick boards which will need some trimming down to fit.

The one thing you should check first before anything else though is if you put the boards down on top of your existing tiles is if you will have enough clearance below an outside plastic door and the new height that your flooring will be at. With the depth of laminate plus underlay you are looking at around 1/2" of increase in the height of the floor and assuming you have a plastic exterior door then you would need to have at least that clearance below it for its entire opening radius.

Also if lifting the tiles its sometimes easier to use a spade as a chisel once you have a few up rather than battering away at them with a hammer and bolster, this will depend on whether its a cement or wooden floor that they are down on and just how well it was tiled.

Thanks. There are no external doors but there is an internal door between the kitchen and the hallway. Appreciate the door might need planing off a little bit I guess that should be it?