Mastic Cleanup

[LadyHilde]

We're remodeling our kitchen and we've just pulled up the old tile (10" x10"s) and now have a LOT of cleanup to do before we can lay the new tile & wood floor. We've tried the metal scrapers from Home Depot and they are not working. I've just had knee surgery so I can't get down on the floor for awhile and need to do this now before the cabinets arrive. I've heard about a product that you use on uneven concrete to "auto-level" the floor but I think this would raise it too high for the surrounding rooms and the tile I already have in front of the fireplace.
:bang:

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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[Steven Hauser]

Hi there,

How old were the tiles?

What color is the setting material?

Are you saying that you can't get down on the floor to scrape? Does this mean that you need a machine? Or-- you can do some scraping and you need to loosen up the the adhesive?

Thanks.

[mrjetskey]

get the 5' long scrappers and you scrape while standing.

[LadyHilde]

The tile is about 12 years old and the color is a dark grey. No I can't get down on the floor and I've tried using a scraper that I bought from HD but it's not going at all.

** :yipee: Rented an electric chipper (chisel?) It's getting the mastic (thinset) up and I'm slowly learning just how hard and at what angle to push. Starting to look like a backroad pothole pocked street at the moment LOL ... quick question:

Do I need to get all of it up or can I just get it as level as possible? We're putting down 18" porcelain tile.

[doitright]

Hi Hilde, Welcome! :)

Getting as much up as possible is a plus. What did you plan on using to set the 18 x 18 porcelain tiles with?

[LadyHilde]

Hello John :)

I have Gray Premixed Thinset from Home Depot. It says it's good for porcelain tile that size so I'm hoping it will be fine. (I believe Gray is the name of the company not the color of the thinset LOL)

On the funny side ... I feel like I'm on a horror movie set with all the plastic I have hanging in the doorways to contain the dust.

[doitright]

Hi Hilde :)

Please return that product and get your money back. We don't recommend using any premixed products. :shake:

[LadyHilde]

:uhh: Hmmm I've used premixed twice now. Once in the upstairs bathroom with 20" tiles and on my fireplace with natural slate (12") and it's worked wonderfully. Am I looking at problems down the road?? I used the premixed because it didn't dry out and we were able to seal the bucket and use it again later. Since we are new at doing tiling we weren't (still aren't for that matter LOL) the fastest at getting the thinset down before it dried out. :)

[Steven Hauser]

Hello,

Sorry to not have noticed this post.

The premixed thinsets don't completely dry out under your tile either. :eek:

Since you are removing the tile and are going to have to skim over some existing material, you need a different product.

Let us know what you can get in the dry bag variety and we'll tell you the best to use.

With the dry mix you can mix just a little at a time. My point is if you waste a little its not that expensive.

:)

[LadyHilde]

Well we bit the bullet and are going to have the tile installed by a professional. I have another question though. I've read in a "flooring" book that they recommend using mortar for cement subfloor for ceramic/porcelain tiles and not thinset or mastic. The thing is I'm also using a travertine border in some areas. Will that be ok for both?

[jay f]

"Thinset", as the pros term it here, IS a cement based product. Premixed, by it's nature, cannot be. Cement based products will set up even with the lack of air, even underwater.

[doitright]

Hi Hilde :)

You will want to get the concrete as flat as possible 1st.

For the large format tile, you may want to use a medium bed thinset.

[LadyHilde]

:) Thanks John. Part of the quote was that they would level the floor so I'm ok there I hope :) Appreciate all the responses it does help and makes it easier to talk to the contractors without too many "blonde" questions :crazy: I save them for here :)