Popping up the tiles was the easy part. I tried renting a demo hammer to get the thinset up but it was tearing up the floor underneath too. Thought I was gonna see the ceiling of condo below...
Someone put thinset on some old brick on my fireplace hearth. I'm hoping to remove it to restore the brick. I'm so glad I found this video, hopefully water and a light scrape will take it off! Thanks for posting!
It really keeps the dust down but I used a demo hammer with a special wide thin blade meant for this and its hard ass work. No way it could be scraped as easy as yours did. Tile has been there since 1991 when the house was built so maybe fresh concrete caused such a strong bond?
Holy smokes! I pulled up a 5x5 area if tile in front of my front door and have been fighting two days trying to get the thinset off the foundation so I can lay down laminate.. tried chipping it away with a hammer and chisel which work but only an inch at a time.. also tried a angle grinder but that was a nightmare, poor results and alot of dust. Just came across this video awhile ago. I just happen to have that exact same scraper tool. Poured water on the thinset and waited about 15 mins - came up like peanut brittle. What a game changer! thanks! I'm wondering if boiling water would work even better..
Thank you for the great video. Do you think this method will work when the substrate is fibre cement sheet / board? We want to remove tiles and thinset, level out the surface as much as possible, and then place a masonite board and viny floor over it. Looking to renovate a floor area of approx 3 square metres. Oh, should have read more of your comments below. Looks like there should be no problem wetting fibre cement sheet for this purpose. Might try the wet towel approach and see how it works out. Final result won't have to be perfectly level for our purposes and I would rather not have to replace the substrate in this situation. Cheers from the Land Down Under.
I'm in the flooring Business and have taken up many floors. Of all the know how videos he is the first to wet the floor to keep dust down. You can also use a treated sawdust that will grip the dust.
Awesome! ty for this, question, will the water method be ok it’s not concrete under the tile? Our bathroom, on second floor I tore up the tile, I belive it’s sheet rock under the thin set. I just don’t want to ruin what is there for a base. We’re putting vynal flooring down next
Dude! Thank you fort this and your other video about removing tile with the sledge. This morning, my wife and I were totally daunted and as of this afternoon we're back to a beautiful concrete slab where the ugly tile and thinset used to be. I'm so glad you made this so simple.
This is the way to go if you haven't done this much. 15 years of experience, and I'd walk from the job if someone expected me to do this goofy shit, lol.
I discovered, actually somewhat to my dismay, that I was able to clean dried thinset in my mixing bucket by filling with water, waiting a bit (5-10 minutes), and it rehydrated and wiped off pretty easily.
I have used wet towels spread out and let it soak for about 20 minutes and it came off rhe wood pretty good. I did a set of stairs and took a couple hours
Would this work on a slate walkway? Our brick layer left two giant gobs of mortar on the slate of our walkway 5 years ago. Now I’m repointing his mess . I tried muric acid . I tried TSP, I tried sanding it down with a masonry bit for my all purpose tool. I think the bit removed 3/8 of an inch but there’s more , he really must have dropped a huge plop. I also tried softening with dabs of hydrogen peroxide. I think the mortar must have had some adhesive because there was some yellow that I was able to sand off with the masonry bit. At this point I’m wondering if there is some kind of dye I can use to at least blend what looks literally like vomit (yellow bile and now gray mortar ). At least it’s not brown & yellow anymore 😌 but I sanded one dime size part for 2 hours and it seems bottomless. My mortar bit is course .
heck yes I’m going to try . I’ll tape off the surrounding slate so I don’t etch the whole piece of slate . I think I have a stubborn remaining 3/8 of an inch remaining. The same guys that did this installed a chocolate marble in my basement bathroom. They cleaned up with some type of acetone to clean up the grout the laid I suspect and Etched the marble ! It turned white! I brought him back and he wanted to charge me to rip 7 marble tiles he destroyed! Alas I invented a miracle and was told it couldn’t be done and never had been done . Literally Old English ( light wood) scratch remover sucked up all the color and looks like new ! I was shopping for masonry dye for the outdoor slate and thought I’d experiment on the basement 😂 I was told marble couldn’t be dyed they were wrong . I had the wood stain ready but for some reason thought I’d try the scratch remover first . It matched perfectly and I didn’t have to use vinegar to etch the entire marble floor to match . Just the bits my drunk ( not exaggerating) masonry guy etched . Wow etched marble will suck up any stain you put on it . I will seal it but it dried to a high polish to match the rest ! and it’s been 24 hours . Wiped it up and it doesn’t wash off. I probably don’t need a sealant , but I have PTSD from the white stains they left all over my marble . My God! It looks like new . I’m going to use your method on outside slate (taped off) then try a small patch test with a blue concrete dye and then seal the whole piece. If it doesn’t come off. I know where this guy lives 😡I’m on day five of chemicals, chisels, paint scrapper (not sharp enough), masonry bits and now a scalper (blade scrapper). Hoping by some miracle I’ve loosened it . Hoping it doesn’t tear off the slate with it but it’s never chipped after 50 years , so a small chip , flake , or indentation won’t kill me at least it will return to its natural color beneath the mortar. Whatever is left looks flush , but obviously there’s a stubborn thin set layer now because I have not gotten down to the blue stone Yet . Feel like I’m digging to China . My hand is bruised. I will let you know the results because I’m sure I’m not the only homeowner with masonry disasters. My husband says I’m stubborn this is not going to beat me . Maybe I’ll hand him the blade scrapper for extra muscle 😅 Thank you Still can’t get over my marble dying experiment.I may need a patent . Secret marble formula . I uses for light wood even though the marble is dark chocolate brown . ( I did experiment with test pieces first . Wow that high gloss left still dazzles me .
Thanks for the video. Do you have the manufacturer name for this blade? or a link? How long is the handle? 18" or 24" or? is that about a 4" blade? Want to make sure I buy the correct one
Cement board is intended to be semi-waterproof. I’d say depends on what the underlayment is. Is there a concrete slab? No need for concrete board. Is it plywood? If it’s plywood underlayment then you need to replace that regardless when taking up tile flooring
My mother did seashell art with thinset and it is a nightmare to get it off. Some of it is near wood trim. She probably wouldn't have done it if she knew it would be so difficult to remove it
Saved $1,500 doing this. Seeing as I only needed 200 sqft, no one else would take the job because it was too small. Every Company I called had a $1500 minimum.
It's not you. He has very little thinset in this video and it doesn't look very old. Thick thinset that's a few decades old will not peel up this easy. Especially if it's layed over leveling compound. It sticks to that stuff better than concrete.
Your the first guy who wet the floor! Now get a ridged sawsaw it's smaller and strong, then go to Lowes and buy hardend steel spider brand removal blades use a dab of liquid soap with your water and yor done.
Next time dont comment because you have no idea what your talking about. Its either modified or unmodified thinset. Mastic doesn't get used on floors. Or in showers. Mastic is just a glue thinset that has 0 concrete/mortar properties and is used mainly for backsplashes
You may have saved me a great deal of time, exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for sharing, brother!
You are a gem sir. Saved me so much time!
Thank you! My husband and I are about to dig into our bathroom. This is super helpful!
Popping up the tiles was the easy part. I tried renting a demo hammer to get the thinset up but it was tearing up the floor underneath too. Thought I was gonna see the ceiling of condo below...
Worked like a charm. Best vid for non mechanical thin set removal. Saved me a lot of work. Thanks a bunch.
Took me a while to figure out, but it’s my go-to now. Glad it helped!
Exactly what I needed to know. Well done
Thank you. I already have that tool so it saved me money and time!
This video confirms my thoughts on using water to cut down on dust and to soften thin set. Thanks for this video.
Works like a charm 🤌🏼
Great video! Thank you for the advice.
This LITERALLY makes the most sense. Omg thank you!!!
Took me a while to find it, but it’s my go-to now. Glad it helped!
Someone put thinset on some old brick on my fireplace hearth. I'm hoping to remove it to restore the brick. I'm so glad I found this video, hopefully water and a light scrape will take it off! Thanks for posting!
Thanks for sharing worked perfectly
Great tip, thanks buddy!
Worked like a charm!! Thanks for the tip 🙂
Beautiful, love to hear it! Thanks for watching!
It really keeps the dust down but I used a demo hammer with a special wide thin blade meant for this and its hard ass work. No way it could be scraped as easy as yours did. Tile has been there since 1991 when the house was built so maybe fresh concrete caused such a strong bond?
Holy smokes! I pulled up a 5x5 area if tile in front of my front door and have been fighting two days trying to get the thinset off the foundation so I can lay down laminate.. tried chipping it away with a hammer and chisel which work but only an inch at a time.. also tried a angle grinder but that was a nightmare, poor results and alot of dust. Just came across this video awhile ago. I just happen to have that exact same scraper tool. Poured water on the thinset and waited about 15 mins - came up like peanut brittle. What a game changer! thanks! I'm wondering if boiling water would work even better..
Love to hear it! It’s a game changer for smaller areas for sure 🙌🏼. Thanks for watching
Thank you for the great video. Do you think this method will work when the substrate is fibre cement sheet / board? We want to remove tiles and thinset, level out the surface as much as possible, and then place a masonite board and viny floor over it. Looking to renovate a floor area of approx 3 square metres.
Oh, should have read more of your comments below. Looks like there should be no problem wetting fibre cement sheet for this purpose. Might try the wet towel approach and see how it works out. Final result won't have to be perfectly level for our purposes and I would rather not have to replace the substrate in this situation.
Cheers from the Land Down Under.
I'm in the flooring Business and have taken up many floors.
Of all the know how videos he is the first to wet the floor to keep dust down.
You can also use a treated sawdust that will grip the dust.
Thank you for showing me how to bring the heat broseph! 🤙🏽
Go put some cool water on it 😎💯
Awesome! ty for this, question, will the water method be ok it’s not concrete under the tile? Our bathroom, on second floor I tore up the tile, I belive it’s sheet rock under the thin set. I just don’t want to ruin what is there for a base. We’re putting vynal flooring down next
It's been a year since your post. I'm now in the same predicament, what did you end up doing?
YES! EXACTLY WHAT I NEED! THANK YOU!
Good luck! Thanks for watching!
How do you get it off OSB?
Dude! Thank you fort this and your other video about removing tile with the sledge. This morning, my wife and I were totally daunted and as of this afternoon we're back to a beautiful concrete slab where the ugly tile and thinset used to be. I'm so glad you made this so simple.
Love to hear! It’s hard messy work but can be made a little easier!
This is the way to go if you haven't done this much. 15 years of experience, and I'd walk from the job if someone expected me to do this goofy shit, lol.
I discovered, actually somewhat to my dismay, that I was able to clean dried thinset in my mixing bucket by filling with water, waiting a bit (5-10 minutes), and it rehydrated and wiped off pretty easily.
I'm doing one now...600 sqft.
1/2 inch bed with a 1/2 trowl.troll.. HOLY SHIT!! It's down like concrete!!!
Do you recommend doing this with thinset on a wood subfloor?
Generally with wood subfloor you have to tear it up and lay new subfloor down
I have used wet towels spread out and let it soak for about 20 minutes and it came off rhe wood pretty good. I did a set of stairs and took a couple hours
Would this work on a slate walkway? Our brick layer left two giant gobs of mortar on the slate of our walkway 5 years ago. Now I’m repointing his mess . I tried muric acid . I tried TSP, I tried sanding it down with a masonry bit for my all purpose tool. I think the bit removed 3/8 of an inch but there’s more , he really must have dropped a huge plop. I also tried softening with dabs of hydrogen peroxide. I think the mortar must have had some adhesive because there was some yellow that I was able to sand off with the masonry bit.
At this point I’m wondering if there is some kind of dye I can use to at least blend what looks literally like vomit (yellow bile and now gray mortar ). At least it’s not brown & yellow anymore 😌 but I sanded one dime size part for 2 hours and it seems bottomless. My mortar bit is course .
Well if you’ve done all that then I don’t see why not try it? It is outside after all. Another option is a demo hammer to chip away at it
heck yes I’m going to try . I’ll tape off the surrounding slate so I don’t etch the whole piece of slate . I think I have a stubborn remaining 3/8 of an inch remaining.
The same guys that did this installed a chocolate marble in my basement bathroom. They cleaned up with some type of acetone to clean up the grout the laid I suspect and Etched the marble ! It turned white! I brought him back and he wanted to charge me to rip 7 marble tiles he destroyed! Alas I invented a miracle and was told it couldn’t be done and never had been done . Literally Old English ( light wood) scratch remover sucked up all the color and looks like new ! I was shopping for masonry dye for the outdoor slate and thought I’d experiment on the basement 😂 I was told marble couldn’t be dyed they were wrong . I had the wood stain ready but for some reason thought I’d try the scratch remover first . It matched perfectly and I didn’t have to use vinegar to etch the entire marble floor to match . Just the bits my drunk ( not exaggerating) masonry guy etched . Wow etched marble will suck up any stain you put on it . I will seal it but it dried to a high polish to match the rest ! and it’s been 24 hours . Wiped it up and it doesn’t wash off. I probably don’t need a sealant , but I have PTSD from the white stains they left all over my marble . My God! It looks like new .
I’m going to use your method on outside slate (taped off) then try a small patch test with a blue concrete dye and then seal the whole piece. If it doesn’t come off. I know where this guy lives 😡I’m on day five of chemicals, chisels, paint scrapper (not sharp enough), masonry bits and now a scalper (blade scrapper). Hoping by some miracle I’ve loosened it . Hoping it doesn’t tear off the slate with it but it’s never chipped after 50 years , so a small chip , flake , or indentation won’t kill me at least it will return to its natural color beneath the mortar. Whatever is left looks flush , but obviously there’s a stubborn thin set layer now because I have not gotten down to the blue stone Yet . Feel like I’m digging to China . My hand is bruised. I will let you know the results because I’m sure I’m not the only homeowner with masonry disasters.
My husband says I’m stubborn this is not going to beat me . Maybe I’ll hand him the blade scrapper for extra muscle 😅
Thank you
Still can’t get over my marble dying experiment.I may need a patent . Secret marble formula . I uses for light wood even though the marble is dark chocolate brown . ( I did experiment with test pieces first . Wow that high gloss left still dazzles me .
I hate doing tile so much
Thanks for the video. Do you have the manufacturer name for this blade? or a link? How long is the handle? 18" or 24" or? is that about a 4" blade? Want to make sure I buy the correct one
Not sure tbh. I got one from Harbor Freight and one from Lowes
@@hammershomereno no worries. thx for the video
Will the water destroy the cement board underneath?
Cement board is intended to be semi-waterproof. I’d say depends on what the underlayment is. Is there a concrete slab? No need for concrete board. Is it plywood? If it’s plywood underlayment then you need to replace that regardless when taking up tile flooring
My mother did seashell art with thinset and it is a nightmare to get it off. Some of it is near wood trim. She probably wouldn't have done it if she knew it would be so difficult to remove it
How do you remove simple set if the bucket spills on bricks?
If it has dried, then I’d try water and a wire brush
Saved $1,500 doing this. Seeing as I only needed 200 sqft, no one else would take the job because it was too small. Every Company I called had a $1500 minimum.
This is what I like to hear and why we do this! Awesome news! Go use that money on something else! Thanks for watching
I tried sanding and grinding. What a dusty mess! After watching this, success without the mess!
@Frank Uvalde not in my situation.
🙏🙏🙏🙏 thank you
My pleasure!
In a small area may work, but in whole house it will take you ages
And that’s why I stated that a couple of times in the video. Thanks for watching! Have a blessed day!
Easiest!!??
Get a demo hammer with the 3 inch flat bit, work smarter not harder
Yet again, Watch the video and it talks about when it helps to use this method. This was discussed
Probably shouldve skim coated that thinset and made a new surface
Na
No thanks, I’m renting a grinder made just for this!
Thanks for watching! Have a blessed day!
Mine is not coming up like this magic
You should ask to speak to the manager..
Chisel is easier. Thanks
There are better ways but that scraper he used I have used it on very tough removals
This guy is putting me to sleep
😴😴😴
I tried this method and it did not work. I must not have enough upper body strength
It's not you. He has very little thinset in this video and it doesn't look very old. Thick thinset that's a few decades old will not peel up this easy. Especially if it's layed over leveling compound. It sticks to that stuff better than concrete.
Your the first guy who wet the floor!
Now get a ridged sawsaw it's smaller and strong, then go to Lowes and buy hardend steel spider brand removal blades use a dab of liquid soap with your water and yor done.
don't do this. That is a paint scraper, it'll take all day, you're supposed to hook that tile scraper up to a demolition hammer
If you watched the video you’d see I discussed about how this is only for small areas, and larger areas need a demo hammer. Have a blessed day
That is not thinset mortar. that is plan old mastic
Actually yes it is Thinset mortar. Thanks for watching
Next time dont comment because you have no idea what your talking about. Its either modified or unmodified thinset. Mastic doesn't get used on floors. Or in showers. Mastic is just a glue thinset that has 0 concrete/mortar properties and is used mainly for backsplashes