Help!: Removing flexi adhesive from floor

[Chester2803]

Hi all

I am attempting to do up my bathroom and have taken the tiles off the walls and floor so far. My problem is that the floor tiles were put on with flexi adhesive which I'm finding very difficult to remove in preperation for laying the new tiles.

Does anyone know what is the best way to remove it please?

Many thanks

Chester

[diamondtiling]

What is the surface of the floor, concrete, wood?
If its concrete and the existing adhesive is sound then you could use a self leveller to achieve a good surface.

[enduro]

You need one of these from www.tradetiler.co.uk

Cupped Diamond Wheel


Fits standard type 115 mm angle grinders (100 mm x 22.2mm bore.)


Ideal for grinding away bumps in uneven concrete floors and keying old tiles or terrazzo before tiling

click picture to enlarge

weight 275g


Price: £18.88 £22.66 Including VAT at 20%

[Chester2803]

Its a newish house so floor isn't concrete or wood - don't know what its called ??

Sorry all new to me!

[Scott]

Chipboard?

[Chester2803]

Ha ha, just called my Dad - yes its chipboard!

[salmonfisher]

are the floor tiles up ? and is the adhesive like rubber?

[Chester2803]

Yes floor tiles are up and the adhesive is like rubber.

[tfs]

I used a hilti grinder that a friend owns. I used this on a chipboard floor and it left me with a smooth floor ready to be sheeted and tiled. The sytem used left only minor surface dust, didnt need to open any window or tape round any doors etc.

Here is a link to the system that I used Hilti designs new dustless grinder

Probably one of the best tools ob the market for this type of thing (dommestic)

[grumpygrouter]

Yes floor tiles are up and the adhesive is like rubber.

Sounds like Fastflex to me........you'll have fun getting that up!!!!

[Rich]

Once you have the old adhesive up are you planning to tile straight onto the chipboard? Chipboard really isnt any good as a substrate for tiles, you will want to over board with a backer board before re tiling the floor.

[Chester2803]

Was planning to tile onto the chipboard again, if I put backer board down would that go on top of the chipboard or do I need to take that up?

[Alberta Stone]

This is better than Hilti:
Makita Canada Inc
You can use a bag or a vacuum.
I am getting one once we get paid.

[tfs]

I dont rate bags at all, you realy need the vacuum to ensure minimal dust as this stuff can realy generate crazy levels of dust.

I havent used the Makita but the Hilti was very impressive, brush pile on the underside of the grinder allowed the grinder to glide over floor regardless of imperfections on surface. There was minimal kick back when starting and as mentioned when used with the dust extraction and the vacuum there was almost no dust (none that could be seen in the air) just a quick sweep of the floor to be safe prior to priming the floor and hey presto!

Like yourself something I am seriously thinking of getting, blades are pretty expensive though for the Hilti but, Standard grinding cups on a bsic grinder just dont cut it once you have used one these bad boys.

I have saw some attachments that you can buy and attach to the a standard grinder like hte one here



Perhaps worth some consideration if the price is right?

[Alberta Stone]

I have one of those and they work pretty good, except the front removable bit tends to get seized in place with a bit of dust and I broke one of the black plastic clamp pieces attempting to remove it one day.
I did manage to fix it with a piece of copper wire I found on the job site and managed to get my work done.
It cost about $100 or something around there.
Got it from GranQuartz.

[bootsmckiber]

Give your helper a scraper and lot's of blades,then go price or prep your next job,no muss,no fuss,no dust,and as we all know good helpers always work harder when left to a task on their own because they're trying to prove themselves worthy of more responsibility.

[doug boardley]

I'd be taking the chipboard up and replace it with 22mmwbp and hardibacker board.

[Rich]

As Doug says the ideal thing to do would be rip out the chipboard and replace with 22mm WBP ply and then over board this with a backer board. This would give you about the best substrate you can in that room.

If you cant do this then over boarding the chipboard should be ok as long as it is fixed down so that there is no bounce at all and you manage to get the adhesive off to give you a clean flat surface to lay the cement boards. Be aware that you must make sure that there are no voids under the backer boards.