How to Re-Tile & Remove an Old Adhesive

Put on the safety glasses and the construction gloves. Hitting the tiles with the sledge hammer will cause pieces of tiles to fly in all directions.

Hit the tiles on the edge with the sledge hammer until they break.

Scrape the tile off with the flat, garden spade. Scrape the tiles hard and put pressure while you are scraping them off. If some of the tiles are too hard to remove hit them with the sledge hammer to remove them. Using the garden spade will remove the tile and the adhesive at the same time.

Remove all stuck pieces of tile and adhesive by hitting them with the sledge hammer. If the pieces are small, hit them with a regular hammer.

Clean the floor from dust and debris with the vacuum.

Put a coat of tile adhesive on the floor with the trowel, no more than the size of two tiles at a time. Spread tile adhesive on the back of the tile.

Place the tile on the adhesive on the floor. Put the remaining tiles level to the ones installed. Use the level to ensure the tile is leveled. If the tile is not leveled add more tile adhesive to raise the tile. Let the tiles dry overnight.

Mix the grout with water according to the directions on the grout packaging. Depending on the grout manufacture the water mixing ratio will vary.

Spread the grout between the gaps on the tiles with the grout float. Put the grout float at a 30 degree angle and, with a wiping motion, spread the grout. Wait 20 minutes before cleaning off the excess grout.

Add water to a clean bucket. Damp the sponge in the water and wipe the excess grout from the tiles. Let the grout dry overnight before exposing the tile to moisture and heavy foot traffic.