Need Help Removing Self-Stick Vinyl Tile!

[poohs_hunny]

I am redoing my basement bathroom floor. It currently has self-stick vinyl tile, which was starting to crack and come up. Silly me, since some of the tiles were starting to peel, I figured I could pretty easily remove it myself - WRONG!! Some were pretty easy, but others still had every centimeter glued firmly into place. The tiles would crumble into a million pieces as they came off. I've been using a paint scraper and after over two hours and skinned knuckles from them scraping the concrete, I still didn't finish! Any advice on how I could make this easier? Is there something that could dissolve the adhesive or is there a better tool to use? Thank you!!

 

[MickeyMouseGal]

Use a hair dryer to warm up the tile. They lift up easier if the glue is warm. (I speak from personal experience!)

 

[of the seas]

Yep- hair dryer! Worked for us!

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

I second the hair dryer suggestion. If that doesn't put out enough heat then a heat gun should do it.

Another alternative is to leave the tile down, remove the ones that are damaged and can be removed, and go over the floor with a self-leveler. Whichever you do, you'll want to have the floor as smooth and level as possible.

 

[Robinrs]

Get your neighbor's cat to PEE on it.... don't ask me how I know...

 

[poohs_hunny]

Use a hair dryer to warm up the tile. They lift up easier if the glue is warm. (I speak from personal experience!)

I never would have thought of this - I will definitely try it! About how long?

 

[poohs_hunny]

Get your neighbor's cat to PEE on it.... don't ask me how I know...

No need for the neighbor - I have two of my own. Still, I think I'll pass on this suggestion...

 

[Disney Doll]

Does your local home improvement store have any sort of adhesive loosener? Something you would put on and then let it sit and then the tile would come up easier?

 

[MickeyMouseGal]

I never would have thought of this - I will definitely try it! About how long?

Aim the hair dryer at one corner for a few minutes. Then use the paint scraper to lift up the corner and then aim the hot air directly at the glue. It should lift up faster that way.

 

[ncmtnmom]

We just did this at my MIL's house. Had to get a heat gun. The hair dryer overheats pretty easily if you are doing a whole room. We got a cheap heat gun ($25 I believe) at Harbor Freight and a scraper and had the whole kitchen floor up within about an hour. Before we got those it was taking us an hour per tile.....lol.Just make sure the room is well ventilated when you do this. That glue is really strong and stinky when you heat it up!

 

[NJHOO]

Have to totally agree with ncmtnmom, get an inexpensive heat gun at the local home improvement center, those tiles will lift right up after that with just a scraper.

 

[poohs_hunny]

Thanks for your help, everyone! The floor is up! I used the hairdryer, and at first, it wasn't much faster. Then, I figured out the secret - instead of scraping at the entire tile, I stuck the scraper under one corner and gradually pushed it underneath the whole tile while aiming the hairdryer right above the tile. Once I started this, each tile came up in one piece - awesome! Of course, now I have a blister the size of Texas on my thumb...

 

[aprilgail2]

We used a blow torch to heat ours up, they came up nice and easy after that!

 

[Lanshark]

We just got all of the tile out of our sunroom. Home Depot has a scraper thingy with a handle. Be prepared that the floor underneath will be so sticky that you will have difficulty walking on it for a few days. Our carpet installers wanted to charge $400 to clear a 280 square foot room.