How to remove cement type adhesive from overtiled floor

[Richard Edwards]

Very interesting info on the acid.

Where i used it i found it to be very effective but i did rinse well a number of times and then washed the tiles with an alkaline propietry floor cleaner with the intention of neutralising any remaining acid.

I'm glad i've not caused any irreparable damage, and yes i did wear suitable PPE.

My tiles appear to have no grout between them at all. They are just butted together.

Is that normal? Any further advice as to how i can lift a tile in the sunk area?

I'm making steady progress cleaning the floor of the adhesive at the rate of approx 6-10 tiles per night. But i'm concerned that the sunk areas might be more than i can take on. I'm pretty handy on the diy front and have done plenty of amateur tiling that i've made a decent job of but i really don't want to end up ruining the floor and having to lift and re-lay the whole thing!

Hi Lower - sounds as it runs together !!

This is very difficult if it dropped and not loose enough to lift. You have two choices here.

1 Break a tile in the middle of the 'bad' patch with a hammer and work away from there. Being in mind that you will need to replace it of course.
2 If you have any sort of gap - even really small, insert a fine knife blade and start to apply a lifting prising action to each side of the tile alternately to get it to move.

I have made tools for this purpose from old kitchen / dinning knives and refashioned them on a grind stone ..

Normal PPE Precautions of course - especially eye wear

When completing the job suggest you regrout even if not much gap - We use Butec rapido cemento as its only 50 microns and sets in 3 hours.

 

[easyt]

I have found, in the past that if you want to remove a tile without damage that it is useful to chain drill the grout around the edges and scratch it out.. Even using a fine bit for drilling steel. In this case it may be worthwhile running a stanley knife, or other finer bladed craft knife, around to make sure there is no cement bonding them together lower down.

I have found glass suction lifter useful in addition to prising but your tiles may be rather small for that.

 

[Rob Z]

Hello Rob

It will be 1890/1905 ish - They are a lot of late Victorian property in our area and this is fairly typical

Richard

Hi Richard, thanks....and you have some beautiful floors displayed on your website.

I don't get to see any floors like that here in my area, although I do know that there are some houses from that time period in Washington DC, and they still have the original floors.

 

[lower]

I thought that all of you who provided advice earlier in this thread might want to see the results of my efforts.

I managed to remove about half the tile adhesive but found a few sunken areas that (with a pregnant wife not that far off due) i didn't feel i had the time or confidence to tackle.

So i found and paid a professional to finish the removal of the adhesive, repair the damaged areas and then clean and seal.

It wasn't cheap and the 90 year old abused floor was never going to return to its as new state, but i'm very pleased with the results. Unfortunately the old tile adhesive has bleached and darkened the yellow tiles in places, but the colour restorer used has done a good good reducing the effect.

The work was done by Carr restoration and they did did use acid to clean the adhesive residue off the tiles. But their acid was phosphoric and in gel form so it didn't run down the gaps between the tiles.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

 

[Deleted member 9966]

that looks smashing now it's done lower :hurray: did you earn some brownie points with the wife for getting a professional in?

and who cares if it doesn't look as new. you'd only be annoyed if the new pushchair gouged a big scratch into the floor in a few months time.

I always buy cars (except my current one) with dents and scratches already on. that way, I don't get upset when it gets more scratched :lol:

 

[lower]

I didn't so much earn brownie points as not lose any by not spending two weeks of evenings chipping away the adhesive when my wife was trying to watch the tv as well as creating loads of dust!

We're very pleased with the results. Its cost about the same as i think it would have cost me in materials to lay a new version of the original over the top but obviously saved a lot of time and we keep the original 90 year old floor.

The rest of the house has been restored to how it would have been (reinstated fireplaces, picture rails, skirting, refurbished original sash windows etc) so its nice to keep the original floor.

that looks smashing now it's done lower :hurray: did you earn some brownie points with the wife for getting a professional in?

and who cares if it doesn't look as new. you'd only be annoyed if the new pushchair gouged a big scratch into the floor in a few months time.

I always buy cars (except my current one) with dents and scratches already on. that way, I don't get upset when it gets more scratched :lol:

 

[Richard Edwards]

I have found, in the past that if you want to remove a tile without damage that it is useful to chain drill the grout around the edges and scratch it out.. Even using a fine bit for drilling steel. In this case it may be worthwhile running a stanley knife, or other finer bladed craft knife, around to make sure there is no cement bonding them together lower down.

I have found glass suction lifter useful in addition to prising but your tiles may be rather small for that.

Hello Easyt

Another method that works well - similar to your chain stitch drilling is to use the Fein cutter - a 1.2mm semi-circular occillating tool to remove the grout. - I have one that I bought from David Neave - Tiletrader and have used it three times in the past month or so for undertaking this task - very handy

 

[JW RESTORATION]

Right.

I got myself a small, sharp bolster chisel and with that have been able to remove much more of the adhesive which gives me a much easier job removing the residue with a scraper (i already have one like the one in Dave's post). This is enabling me to get down to only a small amount of residue that hopefully the aquamix cleaner will remove.

I do seem to have got away with my use of the brick acid on the area i used it on. See photos below:

However, where the adhesive had been applied thickly to the yellow tiles it appears to have bleached them. Its not a result of the acid because you can see the bleaching in my original photos before i'd even tried to remove any of the adhesive with any chemical.

When the tiles are wet, the bleaching is invisible. Will the aquamix enrich and seal help reduce the bleached effect when the tiles are dry? I'm guessing that it gives more of a 'wet look' effect to bring the colour out of the tiles?

Apart from the bleaching i'm very encouraged with the condition of the floor and grateful for the advice i've had on here. If the bleaching effect can be reduced it will certainly be worth the effort to restore.

Hi,

I am very impressed with the elbow grease you have put in as it seems to be getting results.

I am a mosaic restorer with an Hons degree in restoration. My company specialises in the restoration of micro mosaics and Victorian tiles.

I do not agree about the use of acids in cleaning floors. We use acids on a daily basis as they work and as long as they are used in the correct manner and rinsed well are very effective.

If it burns some loose grout out of the floor then this a good thing and you should re-grout afterwards with a light grey grout. Make sure to clean off pretty quick as the pigment can hang around. The next day if there is still a grouty mist a small amount of acid in a bucket of water will sort it.

People are scared of acids and yes if you pour it all over the floor and let it soak and soak then this will have a negative effect but used correctly they are the only thing that will work.

Using a scraper as much as possible will be best then a black cleaning pad and acid will work miracles. After use a an alkali polish stripper to remove any other dirt and residues. Again don't go mad and rinse. The alkali will help neutralise the floor but don't throw lots of water at it as this can mobalise salts.

Let the floor dry for at least a week and then wax with a polymer wax like Fila long life wax.

DO NOT use impregnators or sealers as they are a pain to remove and no good.

DO NOT what ever you do use a sander or anything like that as you will ruin the floor forever.

If the bleaching goes when wet then it should go when waxed.

Good luck!!!!