How to Remove Floor Tile Adhesive in 8 Steps

Before you learn how to remove floor tile adhesive, you’ll want to protect the area from the inevitable dust that comes from this job. Cover counters, tubs, light switches, baseboards, and any other surfaces and crevices that you want to protect from dust.

Similarly, put on all your safety gear (including a mask, goggles, and work clothes) to protect yourself. Consider wearing knee pads since you’ll be kneeling on hard tile for several hours.

Next, it’s helpful to know what type of adhesive is on the floor since certain types may require specialized removal tools. If you don’t know the type of adhesive, call in a tile specialist to inspect the area, determine the adhesive type, and help you decide on the next steps for removal.

Roll up your sleeves, grab a hammer and a chisel, and prepare to chip away at the adhesive little by little. This works best in small areas of tile. Angle the chisel with the edge of the chisel against the adhesive. Then, use the hammer to apply pressure to the chisel and lift the adhesive.

If chiseling doesn’t seem to be working or is leaving behind chunks of adhesive, it’s time to move on to soaking and scrubbing away the floor tile adhesive. Apply warm or hot water to the adhesive, and let the adhesive soak for one to two hours. This alone may help loosen and lift the adhesive, but if it’s still sticking, you can move on to the next step for further removal.

You can use a solvent (such as soap, laundry detergent, or acetone) or purchase an oil-based adhesive or mortar remover at a home improvement store to remove floor tile adhesive. After soaking the adhesive in warm water, apply the solvent to the floors for at least five minutes, then use the chisel to lift the adhesive and remove it.

After soaking the adhesive and applying a solvent to remove the specific type of adhesive on your floors, you can use steel wool, a scrub brush, or a scouring pad to remove the loosened adhesive. This may require multiple passes over the floor to fully remove the adhesive.

If you need to cover a large floor area in a spacious kitchen, you may be better off using power tools, such as a floor grinder or even a chisel attachment on a power drill. This process works best if you have previous training and experience in using the equipment. You’ll need to follow the instruction manual for the power tools, working in small sections to remove floor tile adhesive.

If you aren’t sure how to use the power tools or they are out of your budget to buy or rent, you’ll want to hire a tile specialist to come remove the adhesive for you.

For smaller areas, you can use sandpaper to manually sand down the adhesive or use a tool, like an orbital sander, to buff away and remove floor tile adhesive. This step can either be done on its own as a way to remove the adhesive or as a finishing step (following other efforts like chiseling or using a solvent) to fully sand and smooth out the surface of the floor.