One of the walk-behind kind. My wife wants to rent one to take up tile and wood floors. I'm thinking this isn't just a weekend project.

Depends on how good of a job the installer provided.

House built in 1985.

Tile probably original. Wood probably 15 years old.

Ceramic tile? I rented a small breaker with a chisel bit and cart from home depot to take up a living/dining room. Took a couple of days to get it really smooth.

Is the wood glued down? Same house, the rest of the house was various versions of engineered wood floors that were floating (not glued down) and all of it was pulled up by my son's wife in one day with a hammer and pry bar while we were working on the tile.

TexAg1987 said:

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Ceramic tile? I rented a small breaker with a chisel bit and cart from home depot to take up a living/dining room. Took a couple of days to get it really smooth.

Is the wood glued down? Same house, the rest of the house was various versions of engineered wood floors that were floating (not glued down) and all of it was pulled up by my son's wife in one day with a hammer and pry bar while we were working on the tile.

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yes ceramic

We're not sure about the wood floor. Thanks for the advice.

To be clear, this was all on a concrete slab.

We touched up some of the areas under the tile with a chisel and hammer. there were some spots that needed to be addressed that the breaker was just to large to be useful.

This house was under construction and we made a tremendous mess.

TexAg1987 said:

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To be clear, this was all on a concrete slab.

We touched up some of the areas under the tile with a chisel and hammer. there were some spots that needed to be addressed that the breaker was just to large to be useful.

This house was under construction and we made a tremendous mess.

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same. Total renovation and my wife wants to now take up the floors. SMH

Used a bit like this that we rented with the breaker

Vulcan 6 in. Heavy-Duty Floor Scraper for Breaker Hammers and Hammer Cart (1-Piece) 300 - The Home Depot

This was great for getting under the tile and popping it loose then chipping away the mortar bed.

Had to be careful with the angle or it would start to dig into the slab.

Looks like fun! I might hire it out. LOL!

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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Hire it out. It is a miserable job.

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Confirmed.

TexAg1987 said:

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Milwaukees Best Light said:

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Hire it out. It is a miserable job.

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Confirmed.

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I wouldn't be able to stand upright for days if I did that.

I haven't used a push behind but I have used a Bosch rotary hammer with a 6" floor scraper attachment and that thing destroys tile and tile cement good. But I'd limit its job size to a couple hundred square feet.

Its also a very dusty job. If you do it yourself you can limit the dust with a water bottle sprayer. If farming the job out I doubt they will do that so take precautions if you have any belongings in the house. Also wear dust protection.

Also, if you want a smoother surface there is another machine you can rent that basically rotary grinds the surface down - I forget what they are called. There are special abrasive discs you can attach to them for tile cement, etc.

Thanks

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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Hire it out. It is a miserable job.

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My back still hurts and it was nearly 6 years ago I did it.