Slate flooring removal – WHAT A NIGHTMARE!

hire a exhaust fan from kennards?

 

Lots of water and a wrt n dry vac for the mess. Water is the only thing that will keep the dust down.

 

Looks like they could be tiles, and I've never seen tiles come up that easily......! Never!

 

@rico2011 - they're lino tiles not ceramic tiles.

 

Thanks for advice guys!

The guy who didn’t show up on Saturday morning was available on Sunday to help me. I think he really underestimated the job money wise ($900 to remove 40sqm slate, grind and dispose) as well as time wise.. he thought he would be in and out in a day.. no chance.. it’s a 3 day job.

So yesterday, this labourer and I start chipping away with our hammer drills and got through about 50% of the slate. We got pretty much to the slab so it was fairly smooth (see attached).

It recon it will take another day at removing the slate, then another day to touch up and grind down etc.

With regards to grinding down, the guy is planning to use a small hand held grinder. He tested a small area and it came out really well.. my main concern is the how much extra time it will take using a small hand held grinder opposed to hiring a proper one at Kennards. Anyways..

The guys helping me arent the brightest guys, so I might just ask them to assist with the jack hammering, then when the all the slate (and most of adhesive) has been removed, I’ll hire a proper grinder and do it myself. As im having my old kitchen removed, it would make sense to do the grinding when the old kitchen is out.

I will keep you guys posted!

Cheers,
Robbie

 

Have you looked into grinding and sealing?

 

Grinding and sealing is definitely what im looking at as a medium term solution.

As decent grinders are about $280 to hire (or $450 with a vacuum), I obviously only want to hire it once, which makes sense to do when the old kitchen is out.

So my plan of action..

1: Between the laborer and myself, removing the remaining slate / adhesive and dump
2: Remove old kitchen
3: Remove any slate / adhesive under old kitchen
4: Fill any small holes in slab
5: Hire the grinder for the day and grind the 40sqm
6: Seal the slab
7: Install new kitchen

The above seems the best approach..

Cheers,
Robbie

 

What floor are you going to put down in the kitchen? You will have lost some height getting the slate and tile bed off. Can you lay the new kitchen floor before you put the new kitchen in?

 

At this stage.. the idea is to lay down new tiles in the new year..

Would the loss in height (maybe 10mm?) really be noticeable?

My tiler seemed to think it was quite normal to tile around a kitchen?

 

My tiler also said tiling around the kitchen also saved you a bit, maybe a few hundred dollars as there are less tiles and less the tiler needs to do

 

How will you remove the sealant before having the new tiles laid - another quick grind?

 

There is no right or wrong way to do a lot of this stuff. I reckon it's a good idea to get the floor down and then build the kitchen, but others might prefer it the other way around.
I reckon if you do the kitchen first, use those adjustable feet and wait till the tiles are down before you get the kickboards so they can sit on the tiles. That will give a better result - Well, I reckon it will, anyway.

 

Just spoke to my tiler and he said there is no need to remove the sealer from the concrete floor... he actually seals the concrete before before he tiles.

 

Ask @darlinghurstsboy for the German boys phone number.

 

Yep. He would use a primer on the floor to help bond his tile bed to it. See if you can get some and put a diluted coat on the whole floor to keep the dust down. Vacuum the floor, then just put the stuff in a bucket and apply it with a broom. Really quick job. Then when he comes and tiles, he will likely put down another coat of primer.

 

Thats exactly what my tiler told me

 

Ah, cool, I thought you were referring to sealing it with a random polyurethane coat or something.

Good luck!

 

Myself and a hired guys went flat out on Saturday and got all the slate out

This weekend ill be hiring a grinder to remove adhesive, then going over the slab with another disk for a smoother finish,

I'll send some pics..

 

Before..

 

After..