Remove Old Thinset From Concrete Floor

Thank goodness for my good friend chelsey who loves doing demo and is willing to get dirty and work hard in exchange for a good meal cooked by chef powell.

Remove old thinset from concrete floor.

Removing mortar from concrete slab floor can be tricky. Thinset is used to install tile to concrete while adhesives and epoxies are used to install tile to wood subfloors. Remove a section of the thinset using the hammer. Since i m putting down new large sized floor tiles getting the old tiles off was just the first step.

If we had known how easy it was to remove the thinset using this floor maintainer we would have probably just done it ourselves and saved the 500 we had to pay to have the work done for us. Today we learn how to take thinset off the floor with a nifty contraption i made. To prevent the tiles from cracking the floor also needs to be level. Mortar is a cement based paste that is used for binding building materials like bricks tiles and stones.

To remove thinset start by pouring boiling water over the thinset to weaken the material. As usual i googled for answers on what to do for this next. It was a little sad to remove the last one from it s place. The only negative to using the maintainer is that it created a huge amount of sand like dust on the floor.

The thinset on the floor. This was difficult and dusty but it was definitely a diy able task. I originally thought the task of removing tiles from concrete was a dirty thankless job but now that i ve moved onto separating the thin set from the concrete i have a renewed respect for the folks who do this sort of work for a living. Today we learn how to take thinset off the floor with a nifty contraption i made.

The last of the tile hicans. And it s great for creating durable surfaces. Put on protective eye wear. Yet when you need to remove it it can be a nightmare.

Leave it for an hour then hold a sharp putty knife at a 45 degree angle and hammer the back with a hand maul to break up the thinset. But if you pull up old tiles it may be something you will have to contend with.