Removing ceramic tile & installing hardwood (laminate)

Three week project - includes includes before, during and after photos. I took up about 1300 square feet of 18" ceramic tile and about 200 square feet of hared wood floors. The tiles poped up pretty easy, but scraping up 1300 SF of thin set (by hand) was by far one of the most challenging projects that I have ever taken on...there really is no easy way to do it

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• ceramic
• tile
• remodel
• new
• floors
• hardwood
• laminate

[alyort]

great job...I'm considering doing the same...its just the thought of removing tiles that's keeping me back...lol...however these horrible 80s tile are also a motivator

[buckwheat6105]

@alyort Removing the tile was brutal, no doubt about it....but at the end of the day, well worth it. Good luck with your project

[CureStupidity]

Have you had any problems with water damage on the laminate? House looks great.

[buckwheat6105]

Thanks for the compliment. Christmas 2008: water leaked out of our christmas tree stand (we didn't know) and the laminate buckled a little. However, after about three weeks you couldn't tell anymore (literally). I'm not sure how/why the floors went back to their original condition, but they did.

[CureStupidity]

Would you do it again? We have forest green faux marble tile in the foyer, kitchen, and dining and are worried about resale. We'd like to rip up that tile, then tile the whole house except for bedrooms. But after looking at your mahogany...

[buckwheat6105]

Yes, I would do it again. We have two small children and a chocolate lab and the floors are very durable. Regarding resale, keep in mind how much your house is currently worth and what they are worth in the area. Where I live, my house is worth about 220k. At that price point in my market, laminate floors are a good option. If it was worth north of 275k, i would have put in hardwood floors (at that type of price piont in my city buyers would expect hardwood).

[lifecam99]

After removing the tiles....how did you clean the concrete floor before installing the underlayment? Thanks for the advice.

[CraftyTami]

What did you use to remove the thinset?

[balexco1]

why didn't use demolation(chipping)hammer to remove tile&thinset?

[HomDepoMan]

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