# How to remove thinset residue after old tiles removed?



## hack911

Get a good 6" floor scraper(fresh blade) and go to town on it! It's hard work:sweatdrop: . If you sand you'll have major dust thoughout your house(wear a respirator!). There might be a way to wet it to sand? Try the scaper, it really might go pretty easy!
Good Luck to you:thumbsup:


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## Boz

> I plan to remove the old tiles in my kitchen. The tiles were set on concrete
> floor. I tested it by removing a few tiles off and it seems that removing
> tiles is not that hard, but the thinset residue is hard to clean out


What is your new floor going to be?


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## joasis

You can rent a power scraper also, but any way you go, plan on some work.


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## sz8

My new floor is going to be a better looking tiles. I don't want to lay the
new tiles on the old ones due the height differece to the adjacent wood
floors.

Thanks,

sz




Boz said:


> What is your new floor going to be?


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## sz8

Today, I went to Homedepot and rented a big electric hammer with a chisel.

It works!. I spent around 2-3 hours to basically clean the left thinset
(around 200 sqft). I like this thing since it does not require air compressor
and is quite powerful. I previously tried using scraper but residue is too
hard to get off and using hand chisel/hammer is too slow.

By the way, it is indeed quite dusty.

Thanks guys.

SZ



joasis said:


> You can rent a power scraper also, but any way you go, plan on some work.


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## Boz

There are very few occasions when you can safely go over exs. tile, that is not why I asked. For instance, if you were installing vinyl, the floor would need to be extremely flat and clean. If tile is going back down, you could knock off the high points and skim-coat, or use self-leveler. Removing the residue is the best way, IMO, and it looks like you got it handled. Clean up all that dust, and your good to go.:thumbsup:


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## federer

sz8 said:


> Today, I went to Homedepot and rented a big electric hammer with a chisel.
> 
> It works!. I spent around 2-3 hours to basically clean the left thinset
> (around 200 sqft). I like this thing since it does not require air compressor
> and is quite powerful. I previously tried using scraper but residue is too
> hard to get off and using hand chisel/hammer is too slow.
> 
> By the way, it is indeed quite dusty.
> 
> Thanks guys.
> 
> SZ


can you please tell me whats the name you ask for at home depot? electric hammer?


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## [email protected]

*Shower*

TEAR DOWN AND PUT NEW ONE WHAT DO I NEED TILE WAS PUT IN WITH NO BACKING:jester:


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## Jim F

[email protected] said:


> TEAR DOWN AND PUT NEW ONE WHAT DO I NEED TILE WAS PUT IN WITH NO BACKING:jester:


You should ask this question in a new thread and be a little more specific.


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## Skip_borders

*Surface grinder is the best*

After you get the tile up, best done with a rotary hammer of some type, get your hands on a surface grinder with a purpose built vacuum.











You can rent these for around 80.00 – 100.00 a day and generally come with an industrial vacuum to help keep the dust down. You will also need to buy the cup grinder wheel that goes onto the grinder and is what actually is the abrasive wheel that cuts into the material. If you have a lot of area to prep you may need more than one cup wheel, these cost around 80.00 each. 

The cost will run 160.00 to 200.00 to rent the equipment but it is money well spent. The labor to manually scrape a floor of any size is quite physically demanding and the end result is generally of less quality than when using a surface grinder.

Ear, eye, protection is a must and so is a respirator, skip the paper dust mask concrete dust is hard on the lungs and silica is hazardous.

Best of luck.

Skip Borders
G. Borders Home Improvement
www.gborderscontractor.com


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## Damon04

After hours and hours with a hammer and chisel and a brand new floor scraper, I found this website. I took the advice and rented an electric hammer from Home Depot. $50 (for four hours) and an hour later, I removed a layer of thinset that was on top of old linoleum which was on top of concrete. Worked great! I did about 150 square feet. It was really dusty even though we taped the kitchen up from the rest of the house. I wouldn't waste your time on anything else besides the electric hammer.

*** YOU SHOULD KNOW THE ELECTRIC HAMMER IS EXTREMELY LOUD. WE REMOVED THE PETS AND CHILDREN FROM THE HOUSE AND WORE EAR PROTECTORS.


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