5 years ago · admin · 0 comments
Removing Slate floors
Slate floors are tiles made of natural stone called metamorphic rocks that are using a grinding machine into fine grains. Now that you understand what slate tiles are and what they are composed of, I will be glad to take you through several steps you need to follow if want to remove the slate flooring tiles, possibly for renovation or change of flooring product. As you already know that slate is composed of natural metamorphic stones, then they should be stronger than the common ceramic tiles by far, which instituted from soil named as clay then cured by fire on the kiln. It is on record that slate tiles from metamorphic rocks are bound to last longer than any other flooring tiles available to date in the stores, though the installation procedures are similar to other tile type installation.
Tools you will require for the task
- Safety goggles to safeguard your face and eyes in particular
- Leatherwork gloves to safeguard your hands and fingers in particular
- knee pads safeguard your knees
- Cold chisel that you will use with the sledgehammer a 3 lb one
- The electric stripper
- Earplugs
- Electric outlet socket to connect the machine to power.
Steps you should follow when removing the slate floors
When you decide to remove slate floors, consider the fact that you may require to exert more effort in removing them than the effort you could require on common tiles. But don’t worry because I am here to highlight tools which are likely within your reach for you to accomplish the task within a few hours. Please make sure you follow the following steps to the latter. NB: Safety first! Important for your safety are;
- Relocate all the furniture to another room or outside the garden and other items on the floor before beginning your task.
- On to the real task now, place the tip of your chisel into the grout line in between the two slate and hit the top of your cold chisel hard enough with the sledgehammer to rip off the grout all around the slate.
- That said and done, hit the centre to split it using the same sledgehammer you used earlier, now remove the broken pieces of slate tile.
- Now move to the next adjacent slate tile removed earlier and strike hard the chisel using a sledgehammer to loosen the slate before you remove it. Do the same for the smaller slates, when you reach on the larger ones, you can remove as much tile using the hands before fitting the blade of the electric stripping machine that is against the sub-floor adjacent to your slate.
- Then flip over the blade on the stripping machine in a manner that it coincides with the sub-floor material. Ensure that the blade’s angle faces towards the ceiling with a cemented subfloor. In the case of the wooden sub-floor, the angle of the blade should face towards the floor.
- You are now ready to plug the tile stripping machine into the electric outlet and turn on the stripper.
- Now push the stripper across the rest of the floor and remove slate while still in small amounts so that they do not pile up beside the blade.
That is all there is to it! Following these steps will help you in successfully removing slate floors.
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