Removing Floor Tiles Without Breaking Them
 

I am in the planning stages of remodeling my kitchen. The layout of the cabinets is going to change because I am removing a cabinet peninsula which will expose an area underneath that is untiled. The current tile is about 20 years old, a multi-colored slate look porcelain, that I only have a few of...certainly not enough to cover the exposed area. I have searched long and hard for a match, but simply cannot find them. I considered creating some type of pattern with a contrast tile, but that won't work either.
One lesson learned, buy a full box of extra tile from the same lot in case something like this occurs in the future!

I have an area in my entryway that has the matching tile (17" x17"). I am considering attempting to remove these tiles without breaking them for use in the kitchen. I have found some videos on YouTube and it seems like it is possible.

I will use a different tile for the entryway, so no problem there.

Any suggestions and/or ideas to remove the matching tiles without breaking them?

If the existing tiles are loose or the grout is cracking then you might and I mean might have a chance. I doubt you will be able to get just about any tile up without chipping or breaking them.

I have tried that twice in my day but never accomplished it. I'm no pro nor do I have training in such a craft but if they're properly installed, they're meant to stay put. A pro may have a technique to share.

I seriously doubt it .... if they were properly installed. I would also think that larger tiles like you have greatly reduces the odds....

But good luck! I have been known to be wrong :D

Edit: Do you have extras in the entry.... If you can break a few and still have enough.... that matters too.

If they are properly installed, it will be impossible. I wouldn't waste my time trying.

Yep, unless you have some leftover from the initial installation, now is the time to get a all new floor. It is a dirty nasty job to get tile off of the floor.

What Glen said. Time to upgrade the floor and leave the entry way alone.

Sledge hammer

I'd try an oscillating tool with as long of a blade as I could find. Go all the way around the perimeter of a tile and just hope the thin set in the center will let go. Throw some water on it to keep the dust down. Worth a try

^^^ I'm picturing a 17x17 tile that you can only access 1, maybe 2 sides.... I know the 12x12s I've installed ain't coming up that way :D.

What is the substrate? Cement floor? If the tiles are set on plywood( unlikely) then take a sledge and bang on the floor near the tiles. Sometimes that can break the bond but I’m betting they are on a mortar bed at minimum.

Yes, but then how do you get the thinset off the back of the tile?

Back at our last house Mrs. Carrera wanted new tile in the entryway, and we were doing new tile in the kitchen to replace Berber carpet the builder had put down. I was elected the manager of tile removal for a small entryway area. Eye protection, ear protection and a sheet of plastic to seal off the area and reduce dust too boot. I will never be doing that job again. It resembled real work. At our current house, we replaced the tile in the bathrooms and the laundry room by using a checkbook. Really easy. The workers came in with a small jackhammer and the appropriate blade and made short work of old tile and it turned it into rubble and dust. We have a concrete slab foundation house.

Grinder but also not easy

You just gotta get lucky. I've pulled up literally tons of tile mostly with a roto hammer. Better chance of full tiles popping up off a slab floor. Every now and then most of the tiles will pop up full, sometimes just a few out of a hundred. For removing thin set off the back I'd use my Fein oscillating saw with a scraper blade

Seems like a pry bar - one with a longer tapered pry - would be very useful once you get enough room to get it under the tile. Then maybe lightly hammer it forward and see if you can get any to pop up.

Here is a tool that might also be useful:

51 in. Carbon Steel Blade Ice Scraper

It would help to remove the grout from between the tiles- they make a hand tool and I think you can get one that goes in a sawzall to speed it up.

After that it will be luck.

I would break one up to get some room to work and then gently use a thin chisel and lightly tap under the tile.

Sometimes a big spud bar or a chisel and hammer works but they involve a forceful shock which can crack a tile. A roto hammer with a pry blade attachment is more gentle with a slightly better chance of tiles popping up intact. No sure way however you try. It all depends on how well the tiles are adhered.

Paging trekkor.

If there's a way, he would know.

My guess is it'll be really tough sledding.

I think its a waste of time trying. Some of the tiles will come out successfully then there's the other half that will be needed to be in one piece. We have torn up lots of tiles, our favorite is an air hammer with a wide chisel blade attachment, or a roto hammer in hammer mode to get under there. What will you do with 50% good tiles and the other crumbled up ones? If the tile is very important, keep in mind that only half will survive unless its a bad tile job or cheap thinset. Good luck with the demo.

^^^ totally agree.

It it was going to come up in one piece, it would have had to have been installed poorly to begin with. If it was installed poorly 20 years ago, in a high traffic area like an entrance, it would already be cracked.

In my first house, my kitchen was retiled right before we bought it, within a month the tile started to crack. By the time I replaced it, the tile was cracked in all of the traffic areas. It was put down with small dabs of thin set and came up easily. Most of the tile in the non traffic areas came up without breaking. I don’t think you are dealing with this.

It’s probably cheaper to retile the entire kitchen than to pull up tile in the entrance, replace it, clean the tile from the entrance, then put the tile back down in the kitchen.

I have done this, but it was challenging. I used muriatic acid to soften/remove the grout and was eventually able to get under them enough to free them. Some of the older materials comes up better than the newer ones. The tiles were much smaller than yours though.

Where I have needed to only save one or two, I was able to break/cut out some surrounding tiles and gradually chip away at the mortar underneath to save a few.

How old is the house David? On the older houses, they hack up the joist and pour a bed of motar on it over 1x6. If its original to an older house (1920-30s) it will be a bear to take then out without damage. but then in those days, tiles were smaller

The tile is set on a slab and I only need about 10 of the 40 or so tiles intact. I'm going to remove the grout and use an oscillating multi-tool to get underneath each tile. I have nothing to lose, but thousands to save.

Wish me luck!

That may be the best way. Once the first tile comes out, the rest becomes easier. Just think, you have 10 out of 40 chances:D Good luck. Let us know how it goes

How about a long, thin blade on a variable speed sawzall? Make the shallow initial pass with the multi tool and then gently, gradually get under it with the SA

https://www.amazon.com/EZARC-Pruning-Reciprocating-Lifetime-12-inch/dp/B07X471T34/ref=asc_df_B07X471T34/?tag=&linkCode=df0&hvadid=385272107002&hvpos=&hvne tw=g&hvrand=16946504836736007025&hvpone=&hvptwo=&h vqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9061079 &hvtargid=pla-820926574511&ref=&adgrpid=78829231656&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/Vearter-Reciprocal-20Inch-Concrete-Cement/dp/B09DJVGN79/ref=asc_df_B09DJVGN79/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=563715124049&hvpos=&hvnetw= g&hvrand=16946504836736007025&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqm t=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9061079&hv targid=pla-1595104617042&psc=1

Freud DS0930CGX Carbide Grit Reciprocating Blade, 9" (Single)

I would try to get under it with a long masonry blade on a variable speed sawzall, like the above. The oscillating tool will only reach in an inch or so.

Edit: herr_oberst beat me to the punch, while I was seeing if there was a blade available for sale......

Try this:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NiUOZYHw6RQ" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

There you go! Heat!
and a little patience.
Totally makes sense, heat expands the tile breaking the bond

From the sound of him knocking on the tiles, it sounded like it was ready to pop up by itself.

I wonder if dry ice would help someway?

Heat might work/help. I know my tiles pried up pretty easily by gently tapping a long putty knife under them after I removed the grout and soaked them pretty good in the muriatic acid. I mixed it a bit stronger and applied it much more heavily than I would normally use to clean tile before sealing and then wet it again really well with water when I mopped it up. I left the mild acid and then the water on for a while. Once the grout was gone (did not hold the water out), it leeched under the tiles and the mastic failed pretty easily. There was a lot of air under the tiles due to the troweling ridges.

With those odds, I'm betting YOU can do this....
"I" would only salvage 9 :D....

Good luck, take some pics, and keep us updated on the "score" ;).

I worked my butt off removing the 20+ year old tile. Out of all the tiles, I was only able to save 1! Because they were so large (17" x 17"), they always cracked about a third of the way up. When they were initially installed, the contractor did a great job. Live and learn!

That sucks. Sorry about the bum results. Merry Christmas!

Tough break! Merry Christmas!