# restoring hardwood floors buried under tile and the cement sheets tiles are on



## Mudd (Dec 29, 2008)

Destroyed.

Probably was destroyed before they tiled over it... probably why they tiled over it.


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## JJThwaites (Apr 10, 2010)

Hi Bobblehead. What ended up being the case when you took up the tile? We are about to start a similar project and I am curious if they were really destroyed. I have heard that it is possible to save them, but have also heard otherwise. The woman we purchased our home from said the hardwoods were in great shape before she laid the tile down.


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## lazzlazz (Mar 29, 2010)

JJThwaites said:


> Hi Bobblehead. What ended up being the case when you took up the tile? We are about to start a similar project and I am curious if they were really destroyed. I have heard that it is possible to save them, but have also heard otherwise. The woman we purchased our home from said the hardwoods were in great shape before she laid the tile down.


So why did she cover them with tile?


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## JJThwaites (Apr 10, 2010)

Hi Lazzlazz,
Yes that was my question too! Some people just don't like hardwoods I guess. So, we took all the tile up this weekend and discovered..... hardwoods that are NOT ruined! :icon_cheesygrin: So next step is refinishing!


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## kreel (Mar 5, 2012)

We are also thinking about trying this (removing tile from hardwood and refinishing). It looks like the tile is laid on concrete with a wire mesh in it.

JJThwaites - Was your tile laid on concrete or adhesive? How difficult was it to remove? Any tips?

bobblehead - Did you ever get around to trying this?

Thanks!


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## JJThwaites (Apr 10, 2010)

Hi Kreel,
They were laid using concrete/ wire mesh, and if memory serves me right we took them up using a sledgehammer to crack the tiles, then a crowbar to lift them up in chunks (a lot of sweat!!). Just be careful not to damage the hardwoods with the crowbar. Obviously you can put some scrapes on them that will come out when you refinish, just don't make any large holes. It was well worth the effort though, we refinished ours and they came out beautifully! Have you started trying to remove them yet? Sorry for the delay in responding- we just had a baby so it is chaos around our house!


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## mnp13 (Jan 16, 2007)

I did the same thing in my last house. The idiot... oops, I mean owner... used cement to attach cinder blocks to the quarter sawn oak floors, then painted them red, then put a ginormous woodstove in the center of the room. He also painted the original yellow brick fireplace the same awful red. 

The cinderblocks came up relatively easily, the floor was burned in a few spots from the cement, but refinished nicely. If you're patient it's possible to save the hardwood from stuff like that, you may have to do some patching, but it was worth wile in my case as well.


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## cylentj (May 14, 2013)

*getting started on restoring floors*

We are about to embark on this restoration. If anyone has any tips let me know. Right now the crow-bar and the sledge hammer are a lot of work - I am wondering if there is any other tool you guys recommend. Thanks, JM


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## lazzlazz (Mar 29, 2010)

So far it looks like the floor has potential. Can you get something thin & flat between the wood & cement board (?) & try to pull it up (after doing some breaking up of the tile). They did a nice job on the tile. Too bad it was in such an inappropriate place. Was it a rental? (they had a lot of tile!)


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## cylentj (May 14, 2013)

lazzlazz said:


> So far it looks like the floor has potential. Can you get something thin & flat between the wood & cement board (?) & try to pull it up (after doing some breaking up of the tile). They did a nice job on the tile. Too bad it was in such an inappropriate place. Was it a rental? (they had a lot of tile!)


I am using a flat "shovel" that I bought at HD and a screw driver for the nails. The cementitious sheets are quite stuck to the wood and it is taking me a while but it is well worth it. The whole house (2300sf) has tile. I guess that some people like it better than hardwood floors... 

There is not much to the technique: shove and pull.
Once it is done, I will rent a sander and finish them with some stain.

I am assuming that there will be 20% of it that I will have to replace from damage, but I am hoping it will be less.


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