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About John Michaels
Expertise
All questions pertaining to all indoor floor coverings regarding best products to choose, proper installation techniques, and proper maintenance techniques.
Experience
We are a nationwide floor covering inspection service. We inspect all types of indoor floor coverings in every city and town in all 50 States and in all the Provinces of Canada. We see where errors in choice of product, improper installation, and improper maintenance lead to complaints being registered and we are then called upon to inspect those products and issue certified reports indicating from where those complaint issues eminate. We have done this type of work for over 40 years.
Publications
Floor Covering Weekly & Floor Covering News
Education/Credentials
Carpet, vinyl, and hardwood manufacturing, installation, and maintenance, prior to just inspecting, and a division of our Company specifies proper floor covering choices for residential and commercial uses.
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You are here: Experts > Style > Interior Decorating > Flooring and Carpeting > tile removel
Expert: John Michaels
Date: 5/16/2008
Subject: tile removel
Question
QUESTION: how many square feet per hour can I remove with airhammer
ANSWER: Hi Liz;Forget the air hammer. That is no way to remove tiles. First, how old are the tiles. Are they vinyl tiles, asphalt tiles, or, could they be older tiles and contain ASBESTOS. Find out their composition before you do any removal. If they are VAT (vinyl asbestos tiles), you may not want to remove them. If you do, you must call in a professional removal company that knows how to remove VAT and how to properly dispose of the tiles. What type of underlayment is directly under the tiles-concrete, plywood, lauan, etc.? What room(s) have the tiles and what are you planning to use for a new floor covering? What type of adhesive was used to install the tiles-water based,solvent based, etc.? Are the existing tiles level or cracked? These are very important questions you should answer before you start removing. When removed, are they recyclable so you can do your part in protecting the environment? Sometimes you can get a credit from the manufacturer of any floor covering you are planning to use for the new installation by recycling. Tiles are usually removed with a machine that has two wheels and a sharp edge on its front that is used to scrap up the tiles. If you had used an air hammer, that would not removed the old adhesive used to install the tiles and would make the removal of that old adhesive very tough. The scraping machine removes the tiles much more neatly and, depending upon the quantity and type of old adhesive, would leave a much easier adhesive residue to scrape up. Depending upon the type of tiles, their condition, what type of underlayment is directly under the tiles, are those tiles the only floor covering layer installed or is there another layer of an even older floor covering installed, etc. Please get back to me with as many answers to the questions above so I can give you some further information.
Cordially,
John Michaels
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: The tiles are on concrete, material used was thinset and grout, theres about 3100 sq.ft.in the kitchen area of a hospital, the tiles are ceramic.Can I rent the machine or is it more economical to just buy one
Answer
Hi, again, Liz;I know of no table that would give a sq. ft. per hour listing, however, it really depends upon how well the installation was done. The adhesive may have been applied sparsely, which would mean the tiles may come up easilly and quickly, or just the opposite. The grout may have been mixed with an acrylic based mixer or a water based mixer. Depending upon the mixer used, the grout could come up easilly or, just the opposite. My suggestion would be to get a short term rental and try a day's worth of work. Measure that area and see what percentage it is of the entire installation. Multiply that out and you get an approx. time frame needed. Then you can make the decision to continue renting or buying. If you buy, will you have more work for that machine, or will it remain in storage for years. You then have to make sure the concrete is clean and level to accept your new installation. Another thought would be for you to contact a reputable general contractor in your area, and ask he or she the same question about sq. ft. per day removal. You also should look into disposal costs to see if it is less expensive to hire a general contractor to remove and dispose of the debris, or to do the job yourself and hire a dumpster and a firm to remove and dispose of the debris. If you are doing any other construction work, can that debris be used for fill.
Cordially,
John Michaels
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