I recently had to remove some tile and thinset for a retiling
situation. I already had a Bosch 11224VSR rotary hammer that I
obtained reconditioned. Got a chisel bit at the local home center for
about $15. It worked fine for the few tile I had to do ( 10). Weighs
only 6.5 pounds.
You might want to rent a more heavy-duty chipping hammer, stopping at
the 35 pound unit, electrically powered. I would advise working at a
low angle to the floor so you just hit the edges of the tiles and do
not create divots in the concrete by removing more than just the
thinset. Over time, the steel wheels will break up the ridges in the
thinset created when the tile was laid.


On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 17:17:20 -0400, dave
wrote:

need to remove approx 900 sq feet of tile -and- the thinset* under it
from the top of a concrete slab. purpose being to turn a small apartment
into a workshop for myself. I have lots of -very- heavy wheeled
machines, and handle big steel in there all day long, so leaving the
tile on 'just wouldn't be workable'. I also have a "tree root chopper"
thing, a sort of huge 5 foor long inch-diameter long straight crowbar,
with a 'straight axe head' at one end....

so, how best to proceed? also got chisels, hammers of all sizes, a
pneumatic muffler chisel. I suppose there's no 'practical' way of saving
the tile (or is there?) the slab is approx six inches thick.

how are tasks like this 'ordinarily' done? using what tools? are there
huge electric jackhammers I can rent that might be 'way faster' for this
type stuff?

thanks for advice,

toolie

*don't have to remove ALL the thinset, just enough so that it won't be
forever 'breaking down into dust-sized pieces' all the time when I roll
iron-wheeled machines over it...and drop huge steel beams on it, and
stuff like that...