Ceramic Tile and Concret Floor

[C from NC]

My wife and I are searching for a home in Phoenix. A lot of the homes that we have found have ceramic tile on part / most of the floorspace. We would like to have concrete flooring throughout the house and are wondering how much difficulty we would have removing the ceramic tile. Is it possible, and if so how much pain and suffering are we going to experience in order to expose the concrete?

Thanks for your help!

[PixelPixie]

Look for posts by steve.n.stace and michaelv on this topic. Here's one, but there are several.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=5030

Didn't somebody blog about this about a year ago with extensive photos too?

[Carpenter]

This result can vary depending on the thinset that was used to set the tile. If your lucky the tile setters didnt properly prep the floor and the thin set will pop clean off the floor with very little work, but worst case it may be very hard to remove and you may even discover linolium flooring under your tile. It could possibly be an easy or very difficult job to get the floors looking good. The only thing you can do is get into it and find out what your dealing with.

[C from NC]

Thanks so much for the link; tons of great info there! Also, thank you for the helpful response.

Our initial bias (prior to these responses) was to consider houses with carpet and linoleum to be preferable to homes with substantial amounts of ceramic tile. However, based on the comments it seems like both linoleum and ceramic tile can be easy or difficult to remove, and ceramic can be really, really bad. It just depends... The thing that scares me about ceramic is that we could remove it and find that the concrete slab was aggressively prepped during the installation of the ceramic tile. I think that means that we would have to do some sort of grinding to smooth out the floor, which (I think) means hiring some professional help. All of that does not align with our DIY / minimalist remodel plans.

As we look at houses we are thinking not only of the purchase cost, but the amount of $ we will have to invest in the remodel process. We feel that we have a good grasp on things like sandblasting the exterior, kitchen appliances and interior paint. However, exposing the concrete floor is a question mark for us. Does anyone have a worst-case estimate that we can apply to our budget for exposing a concrete floor that has been covered with ceramic tile? Also, what are the chances that we will be able to do this ourselves? Based on what I have read, I am pretty confident that I can handle carpet and linoleum. However, ceramic really scares me!

Thanks in advance for your help. I promise to post pics and report on the process as we move forward.

[IbModSteve]

Push come to shove, there is a product that you can "pour" a new sub floor on top of the existing concrete. Not the easiest to apply, but in pinch situations works well. I wouldn't recommend this product for an entire house, but if you have trouble issues in the kitchen and entryways like I did, it works PERFECT! In the 4 or so years of its life, I have had no issues with chips, cracks, or anything of the sort........ Cohills in the best place locally for concrete flooring/finishing related questions.

[Na]

If you demolition the existing flooring yourself you will save some money but, for the cost of finishing a concrete floor (as the many, many previous posts show) the range of time and labor is great depending on the outcome you desire and the condition of the concrete.

PROFESSIONAL BUDGET
If want a budget for a professional to refinish the concrete, I have gotten quotes from professional sources in the past. The quotes have varied quite a bit from 4.50 a foot to 12.00 a foot depending on the aesthetics and the existing concrete condition. Variables include:

* if you actually live in the "work zone" or not
* how much moving of appliances,furniture other
* final "decorative color or finish" desired.
* finish sheen desired
* how much patch, fill & sanding of holes and cracks
* how many tight (hard to get to) corners need to be sanded
* asbestos removal required"? (some linoleum look tile was actually asbetos tile)
* leveling of floor required?
* how much dust control required

You have to ask yourself
* what budget makes sense for flooring for your pocketbook, particular home, neighborhood etc...
* what time and equipment is available to you for a DIY concrete floor project?
* do you have back up labor support if the sanding required becomes extensive?
* is the time and money spent on a concrete floor comparable to other material choices you like?
* is a concrete floor the only way to get the look and effect you like?
* is the inconvenience of living space being a work zone a factor?

If the answer is still that a concrete floor is the right choice for you then, go for it because, overall it is a pretty classic "modern look"!

[michaelv]

DIY....

You will probably need to pull up some tiles and see what it looks like underneath. If it is easy to get them up, lots of options. If it is difficult, you probably want to use a scarifier or grinder.

Look at the equipment you might end up using and determine if you want to do it.

Concrete Scarifier / Planer with dust removal

Concrete Grinder with dust removal

Concrete Shotblaster with dust removal

Concrete is dusty. dust removal is good.

Rentals will start around $100 per day and go up depending on the equipment. Try to A-Z Rentals, Home Depot, Sunbelt, etc. and see if you will be comfortable using the equipment and whether you think it will have the effect you are looking for. Scarifiers will leave lines, grinders can leave swirls.

Many folks on the boards have gone 'budget' and purchased a low rpm floor polishing machine with sandpaper attachment from Craigslist, done the job, and then re-sold the machine. This can be a lot of work, but much cheaper than many alternatives.