removing old tile and installing new

I am having old 12 inch ceramic tile removed and replacing with 16 inch porcelin tile in the kitchen only. The hallway is currently going to retain the old 12 inch tile.

My question is how much of the old thinset is reasonable to expect my contractor to remove? right now, I will have about 1/4 inch difference between the two floorings because of old thinset still left on the concrete subfloor. Am I being unrealistic to expect that all the old thinset should be removed?

Also, when they were removing the old tile, they were using my water hose to spray it down. I had a pile of mud in my house. It was cleaned up. It this how this is usually done?

Thanks,
endkaos

 

Hi there,
just yesterday we had the ceramic tile in our foyer removed........it took the flooring company a total of 9 hours to remove the tile by chipping and then using a scraping machine for the thin set.....today we are left with the subfloor now being quite smooth, however, they are still going to lay another sheet of wood on it to ensure that it's as smooth as possible and as solid as it can be before laying the new tile. Hope that helps,
Meg

 

Well if removing the thinset makes the floors meet, then removing the thinset is the way to go.

Removing tile creates a tremendous amout of dust. They used water to keep the dust down. If not you would have had dust everywhere! I charge more to take up C-tile then I do to install it!!!! It is worth every penny!

 

Thanks Perry and et al.

Now I just need to convince my contractor that he needs to remove more of the old thinset. He seems like an alright guy, but doesn't seem to interested in "repeating" a job he thinks is done. However, your posts should help to convince him that I am not some "perfectionist" homeowner obsessing about details. A tile floor is only as good as it's subfloor. It's all in the preparation.

Thanks again.

~endkaos

 

He may have not bid it to remove all the thinset. Or at least in his mind. Now he has more work to get it up instead of floating over it. So instead of making for instance, $50.00 per hour now he is going to be making 10.00 per hour, and is going to be beat to death at the end of a long day.

This is the very reason C-tile take up is billed by the hour by me. If not, you could wined up making $3 per hour, if it gets under bid, and the reason many contractors walk off jobs never to finish them. When you go with the cheapest price corners get cut, for the sake to make a decent living. Who gets the real shaft in this situation. The customer does.


So, he may come back and expect more money for the extra take up, he hadn't intended on, because he wanted to cut that corner. Saying he didn't bid for that, is the going excuse. Say to him... What, you didn't bid the job to do it right? Watch the blank stair on his face!!!

 

He wasn't the cheapest bid, he was one of the highest. It was included in the bid for demolishing and remodeling a kitchen and family room.

He's also the foreman, not the owner of the company. The company specializes in doors, windows and kitchen remodels. This is one small portion of a $60,000.00 job. I'm not sure how he gets paid, but I do know that the boss doesn't like to get off schedule. The company is also installing new cabinets, coutertops, appliances, lighting and flooring. So I hope I don't have to worry too much about them walking off the job.

They had excellent references and are their licenses and insurance are up to date. I'm crossing my fingers.

 

So Perry, How do you remove thinset? I have a concrete slab that needs to have thinset removed. I am considering renting a concrete grinder.

 

An electric jack hammer works on the tile and bigger chunks of thinset, while a grinder with a grinding/cut-off disc, to hit the thinset.

Dust control has to be planned. The fine dust will migrate all over the house, regardless of how much plastic you mask off over doorways, or how many shop-vacs and fans going. It is a good idea to have 2 big fans in the doorways. One pushing and one pulling.