On Dec 10, 11:31 am, wrote:
On Dec 10, 10:22 am, "HeyBub" wrote:

wrote:
I will be installing laminate flooring in an area that is currently
covered by tile flooring set in a layer of mortar over a piece of 1/2
inch plywood. The tile comes off easy enough with some chiseling and
a hammer, but much of the mortar remains on the plywood. What is the
recommended way to get the mortar off of the plywood without too much
damage to the wood? More scraping or would it work to use a drum
sander and sand off the mortar down to the plywood?

Why remove the tile? It's flat, the laminate will stick to it, the tile
provides a vapor barrier.

Anyway, I don't think you can sand mortar, but it doesn't stick to the wood
too aggressively. You should be able to hammer most of it off, then get most
of the rest with a tile removal tool (big, heavy scraper).

The current tile actually isn't very flat. Its small 1 inch square
tile that is about a 1/4 thick. The floor already consists of the
original subfloor, a layer of vinyl flooring, then the 1/2 inch
plywood, and the the ceramic tile that I am removing. I didn't want
to put the flooring down on top of the tile because its already higher
than the rest of the flooring that is in contact with. I was hoping
to avoid scraping all of the mortar off because its a pretty large
area and I'm thinking its going to take alot of time and work to get
it smooth.

With a collection of mismatched junk layers like you have, it would be
far less work to simply strip it all down to the subfloor and lay down
some new 5/8" plywood. The other advantage is getting the floor
heights to match nicely. Dispose of the plywood/tile in neat chunks
without hacking apart except where you need to size it for the trash
pickup. Good luck.

Joe