Yesterday was Ben’s birthday. His gift? No more kitchen tile. Pretty awesome of me, right? Actually, it was his idea. I was going to take him out to dinner; he insisted on removing the floor. Before the floor could come out, we had to tear out the cabinets. Yeah, our kitchen is no longer usable.
Ben unhooked the sink plumbing and faucet. Vincent helped.
Buh bye, backsplash! You and your swollen middle will not be missed.
After unscrewing the cabinets, Ben started hauling everything out. His dad wants the cabinets for his shop.
To keep the kitchen as usable as possible, we rotated the stove to the other side and put an old cabinet next to it. We’ve down graded from a full kitchen suite to a kitchenette.
Then the real demo work began. The tiles came up rather easily, but the cement board did not. And we have to tear the floor down to the subfloor.
Ben pulled up part of the plywood floor to see how difficult it would be. Turns out, one of the boards below had a small hole.
Then, Ben went back to tearing up the floor. What a mess. But it has to get worse before it can get better.
To tear out the tile, Ben used a pick axe. Pick axe plus muscle equals mega damage. In the best way possible, too.
Here’s what everything looked like after four hours. Tile anilihated. Mission accomplished.
And, things are looking up. Literally. Here’s what the ceiling looks like with three coats of mud.
Obviously I took these pictures before the demo began. Sanding still to come.
Do I get the best birthday giving award? I thought so. Now we have another long day of demo and work.
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Yikes, good luck! Were you guys able to salvage any tile? We’re having our flooring replaced soon and didn’t know if you have to completely destroy tile to remove it.
Hi Elisa,
We could have salvaged the tile if we wanted to, but part of the reason we’re replacing the floor is that we hate the tile. It was super cheap and we have no place to use it. And I don’t think ReStore uses tile if it’s already been laid down. Good luck with your floor!
Amanda
Sounds like my kind of birthday!
I know exactly how you feel since we just did the same tile removal in our kitchen. It was a beast. We’re doing cabinet demo this week- very exciting!
That looks like a horrible job, but glad you’re making such good progress! If you’ve got the will to get it finished you’ve won half the battle.
Wow! It seems like you are making some speedy progress (though speaking to someone with their house torn apart, I am sure you would say the opposite!). Can’t wait to see the new finishes you’ve selected!
I would like to leave an early birthday request for a new kitchen floor as well please. Actually, all of my downstairs. Just in case you happen to be in Vegas in April ya know? White carpet, white tile, supposed to be white grout, ugh. I think the cement would be better.
Thanks Amanda! We’re ripping up a ton of tile (I agree – pain!) and carpet and replacing it with high quality laminate. We do have a bathroom upstairs where I wouldn’t mind using the old tile, though! Just saw your hardwood post and it looks deeeeelicious!