Hi all,

2 questions in one really, and rather lengthy ones, so here goes...

We've got some lino tiles in our kitchen that were probably laid when
the house was built in the mid 30's.

We've now knocked the kitchen and dining room together, and want to lift
these old tiles so that the floor is level throughout the new
kitchen/diner ready for us to lay a new floor surface.

Question 1
----------
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to lift these tiles? What ever
adhesive was used is very strong and all the tiles just break as you try
and lever them up. The adhesive itself is black in colour and leaves
itself behind on the floorboards. It's an absolute nightmare!
Could some sort of heat help? We've got a steam stripper with a large
plate that is used to strip wallpaper. Could this help, or will it
simply get the floorboards wet?
Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Question 2
----------
The new floor surface we're thinking of laying is a tile-effect laminate
(Quick Step Quadra Tile) throughout the kitchen/diner and also the
adjoining conservatory.
Has anyone any experience of using laminate in an environment like this?
We have a dog who likes running through the house and we're conscious of
claw marks on the laminate.
It says that the Quadra tiles are hard wearing, but how hard is hard?!

We had thought of using ceramic tiles, but they can't be laid on
floorboards without first laying plywood to stabilise them, am I right?
The conservatory floor is concrete however and so doesn't need this
plywood laid, but since we wanted one seamless level throughout the
laminate seemed the only option since it can be laid on a variety of
flooring surfaces.

Again any advice or personal experiences are very helpful.



Thanks for getting this far, and I look forward to getting any advice.

Tony.

Tony Carnell wrote:
Hi all,

2 questions in one really, and rather lengthy ones, so here goes...

We've got some lino tiles in our kitchen that were probably laid when
the house was built in the mid 30's.

We've now knocked the kitchen and dining room together, and want to lift
these old tiles so that the floor is level throughout the new
kitchen/diner ready for us to lay a new floor surface.

Question 1
----------
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to lift these tiles? What ever
adhesive was used is very strong and all the tiles just break as you try
and lever them up. The adhesive itself is black in colour and leaves
itself behind on the floorboards. It's an absolute nightmare!
Could some sort of heat help? We've got a steam stripper with a large
plate that is used to strip wallpaper. Could this help, or will it
simply get the floorboards wet?
Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Question 2
----------
The new floor surface we're thinking of laying is a tile-effect laminate
(Quick Step Quadra Tile) throughout the kitchen/diner and also the
adjoining conservatory.
Has anyone any experience of using laminate in an environment like this?
We have a dog who likes running through the house and we're conscious of
claw marks on the laminate.
It says that the Quadra tiles are hard wearing, but how hard is hard?!

We had thought of using ceramic tiles, but they can't be laid on
floorboards without first laying plywood to stabilise them, am I right?
The conservatory floor is concrete however and so doesn't need this
plywood laid, but since we wanted one seamless level throughout the
laminate seemed the only option since it can be laid on a variety of
flooring surfaces.

Again any advice or personal experiences are very helpful.



Thanks for getting this far, and I look forward to getting any advice.

Tony.

Lay over the old if you can - much easier, there are other ways of
getting it level.
If they really ARE that old they may have a significant asbestos
content.

Phil.

The adhesive itself is black in colour and leaves itself behind
on the floorboards.

Probably bitumen. Try using nitro-glycerine. If you can't find that, Semtex.

Christian.

We had thought of using ceramic tiles, but they can't be laid on
floorboards without first laying plywood to stabilise them, am I right?

Although ply is ideal, you may be able to lay onto floorboards, if they are
level and don't flex too much. You would need something like Ardex Flex 7001
Timber System adhesive. Don't go with the laminate, it looks pretty tacky
and your dogs will scratch it in no time.

Christian.

Tony Carnell wrote:
Hi all,

2 questions in one really, and rather lengthy ones, so here goes...

We've got some lino tiles in our kitchen that were probably laid when
the house was built in the mid 30's.

We've now knocked the kitchen and dining room together, and want to
lift these old tiles so that the floor is level throughout the new
kitchen/diner ready for us to lay a new floor surface.

Question 1
----------
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to lift these tiles? What ever
adhesive was used is very strong and all the tiles just break as you
try and lever them up. The adhesive itself is black in colour and
leaves itself behind on the floorboards. It's an absolute nightmare!
Could some sort of heat help? We've got a steam stripper with a large
plate that is used to strip wallpaper. Could this help, or will it
simply get the floorboards wet?
Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Question 2
----------
The new floor surface we're thinking of laying is a tile-effect
laminate (Quick Step Quadra Tile) throughout the kitchen/diner and
also the adjoining conservatory.
Has anyone any experience of using laminate in an environment like
this? We have a dog who likes running through the house and we're
conscious of claw marks on the laminate.
It says that the Quadra tiles are hard wearing, but how hard is hard?!

We had thought of using ceramic tiles, but they can't be laid on
floorboards without first laying plywood to stabilise them, am I
right? The conservatory floor is concrete however and so doesn't need
this plywood laid, but since we wanted one seamless level throughout
the laminate seemed the only option since it can be laid on a variety
of flooring surfaces.

Again any advice or personal experiences are very helpful.



Thanks for getting this far, and I look forward to getting any advice.

Tony.

Find the gaps in the floorboards and use a stanley knife to cut through the
tiles,lever up the floorboards and turn the floorboards over.
The quickest and easiest method. ;-)

--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

The3rd Earl Of Derby wrote:

Find the gaps in the floorboards and use a stanley knife to cut
through the tiles,lever up the floorboards and turn the floorboards
over.
The quickest and easiest method. ;-)

Dang! that won't help even the level though. :-(

What you want is a roofers burner to apply some heat to the tiles whilst
someone chisles them off as they go along using the widest paint stripper
blade you can find.

--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

My advice for what its worth is leave the tiles and increase the level
of the conservatory with floor levelling compound, if you are set on
getting the tiles up i believe there is a machine that you could hire
that takes up old linoleum and such like, give your local hire shop a
ring, all the best
Tel
Tony Carnell wrote:

Hi all,

2 questions in one really, and rather lengthy ones, so here goes...

We've got some lino tiles in our kitchen that were probably laid when
the house was built in the mid 30's.

We've now knocked the kitchen and dining room together, and want to lift
these old tiles so that the floor is level throughout the new
kitchen/diner ready for us to lay a new floor surface.

Question 1
----------
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to lift these tiles? What ever
adhesive was used is very strong and all the tiles just break as you try
and lever them up. The adhesive itself is black in colour and leaves
itself behind on the floorboards. It's an absolute nightmare!
Could some sort of heat help? We've got a steam stripper with a large
plate that is used to strip wallpaper. Could this help, or will it
simply get the floorboards wet?
Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Question 2
----------
The new floor surface we're thinking of laying is a tile-effect laminate
(Quick Step Quadra Tile) throughout the kitchen/diner and also the
adjoining conservatory.
Has anyone any experience of using laminate in an environment like this?
We have a dog who likes running through the house and we're conscious of
claw marks on the laminate.
It says that the Quadra tiles are hard wearing, but how hard is hard?!

We had thought of using ceramic tiles, but they can't be laid on
floorboards without first laying plywood to stabilise them, am I right?
The conservatory floor is concrete however and so doesn't need this
plywood laid, but since we wanted one seamless level throughout the
laminate seemed the only option since it can be laid on a variety of
flooring surfaces.

Again any advice or personal experiences are very helpful.



Thanks for getting this far, and I look forward to getting any advice.

Tony.