How to Remove Tiles From Floors and Walls (Check for Asbestos First)

Tiles come off with a chisel, a hammer and some muscle. The hard parts are what's behind them, and the dust they make.

This guide covers the safety checks first. Then it shows how to lift tiles from each kind of floor and wall. Last, it gets the surface ready for what comes next. That might be a new hybrid floor, glue-down vinyl planks or new tiles.

Removing floor tiles or wall tiles?

Each surface comes off a different way, and has its own risks.

Not sure what's behind your wall tiles? Old fibro can look just like plasterboard, especially once it's painted. If your home was built before 1990, have it tested before you start.

Can there be asbestos behind or under old tiles?

Yes, in older homes. If your home was built or renovated before 1990, it may contain asbestos. Asbestos was phased out of building products by then. Australia banned it completely from 31 December 2003.

In a tiled room, it can hide in four places:

• Fibro sheet behind wall tiles. Cement sheet lined many bathrooms, laundries and kitchens. Before 1990, it was often made with asbestos.
• Old tile glue and grout. Some old glues and grouts held asbestos too. Old black glue is a warning sign.
• Old vinyl or black glue under floor tiles. New floors were sometimes laid over old vinyl instead of lifting it.
• Cement sheet under floor tiles. On a timber floor, tiles may sit on a cement sheet. Older sheets can hold asbestos.

You can't tell by looking. Asbestos sheet can look just like plasterboard, especially when it's painted. Only a lab test can tell.

Newer tiles can hide old sheet too. Old fibro was sometimes left in place, with new tiles stuck over the top.

Read the national agency's pages on cement sheet inside homes, cement sheet under tiles and old glues. NSW has a page on grout and tile glue too.

What to do before you start

Treat it as asbestos until a test says it isn't. Here's the order to do things in:

1. Leave it alone

   Don't break, chip or drill it until you have a result.

2. Get a sample tested

   A licensed asbestos assessor takes it. A NATA lab tests it.

3. If it's clear

   Take the tiles off with the steps for your surface below.

4. If it has asbestos

   Leave it, cover it, or call a licensed removalist.

NATA is the national body that approves testing labs. A lab test costs about $40 to $140, says the NSW page on getting a sample tested. You can also post a sample to a lab yourself. Ask the lab how to take it safely first.

Old sheet in good condition is low risk while it stays whole and sealed. So leaving it in place, or covering it, can be the safest choice.

Can you remove asbestos sheet yourself?

It depends on your state, and on the kind of asbestos. Fibro is bonded asbestos, with the fibres locked in cement. Crumbly asbestos lets fibres into the air far more easily. In a tiled room, that could be the felt backing of old sheet vinyl under the tiles.

For scale, 10 m² is about one wall of an average bathroom, says the national agency. That's about four sheets of fibro.

In Queensland, taking tiles off a bathroom wall counts as non-removal work. You need no certificate for it, but you must still stop fibres getting into the air. Taking out the sheet itself is removal, so the limits above apply.

Even where DIY removal is allowed, the national and NSW pages advise against it. The national agency says a professional is easier, safer and often cheaper.

Read Queensland's tips for renovators and homeowner's certificate rules. NSW has rules for unlicensed removal and a page on asbestos in the home. The national agency has a guide for householders.

How to keep tile dust down

Tiles, grout, mortar and concrete all contain silica. Breaking, cutting or grinding them makes fine silica dust. Breathing it in can cause silicosis, a lung disease with no cure.

The worst of it is too fine to see. It stays in the air long after the dust you can see has settled.

Queensland's rules for tradies show how to keep it down. They make good sense at home too:

• Use water as you work. Keep a steady spray on the spot you're chiselling. Wetting the floor once beforehand isn't enough. Mop up the wet slurry before it dries.
• Or catch the dust at the tool. Fit a dust shroud joined to an M or H class vacuum. That's a vacuum rated for hazardous dust.
• Close off the room. Tape plastic sheeting over doorways so the dust can't spread.
• Wear a P2 mask that fits well. A beard stops it sealing.
• Never dry sweep. Wet sweep, mop, or use an M or H class vacuum. A household vacuum isn't made for this dust.
• Bag the rubble. Bag dusty waste before it goes in the skip, and keep it damp.

Read Safe Work Australia's page on silica dust, and WorkSafe Queensland's pages on construction dust and power chisels.

What tools do you need to remove tiles?

For most jobs, you need a wide chisel, a hammer and good safety gear. Here's the full kit:

• A bolster and a club hammer. A bolster is a wide, flat chisel. Together they lift most tiles by hand.
• A grout rake to clear the grout around the first tile.
• A demolition hammer for big floors. It's a power tool that hammers a chisel for you. Fit a wide tile chisel bit.
• A long-handled floor scraper for old glue on a slab.
• A grinder with a diamond grinding wheel, plus a dust shroud and an M or H class vacuum.
• Safety gear. Safety glasses, a P2 mask, ear muffs, gloves, knee pads and sturdy boots.
• Plastic sheeting, tape, a spray bottle and heavy rubbish bags.

Hire shops rent demolition hammers, grinders and dust vacuums. For a big floor, they can rent you a walk-behind floor stripper too. Only use power tools once a test says there's no asbestos.

How to remove floor tiles from a concrete slab

Tiles on a slab are stuck down hard, often on a thick bed of glue or mortar. Expect slow, heavy work, with lots of dust and rubble.

1. Test first. If your home was built before 1990, test what you'll disturb. That means old glue, grout and any vinyl under the tiles.
2. Clear and seal the room. Move everything out. Tape plastic over doorways, and cover floor drains so rubble can't fall in.
3. Take off the trims. Lift any skirting or scotia that sits on the tiles, and the strips at doorways.
4. Start at one tile. Pick a cracked or loose tile, or chip out the grout around one. Break it with the hammer if you need to.
5. Chisel under each tile. Hold the chisel low, almost flat to the floor. Tap it under the tile's edge, so you lift the tile and don't gouge the slab.
6. Keep the dust down as you go. Spray water where you're working, or use the dust vacuum. Wet sweep or vacuum often.
7. Get the old glue off. Scrape off what you can, then grind the rest. Check the slab is flat before the new floor goes down.

On a big floor, a demolition hammer with a wide tile bit is much faster. Hold it low too, and keep water or a dust vacuum at the tip.

In a bathroom or laundry, a wet-area membrane sits under the floor tiles. Lifting the tiles breaks it. In Queensland, only a licensed tradie may lay a new one before you tile again.

Can you lift floor tiles without breaking them?

Rarely. Tiles that are stuck down well tend to crack as they come up. So don't count on reusing them. Loose or hollow tiles are the most likely to come up whole.

To save a few spares, rake out all the grout around a tile first. Then work a thin, wide blade under it from each side, a little at a time.

How to remove floor tiles from a timber or sheet floor

In homes on stumps, and in many upstairs rooms, the floor is timber boards or wood sheets. Tiles on it usually sit on a cement sheet laid over the top.

Older cement sheet can hold asbestos. It was even sold for use under tiles.

1. Test the sheet first if your home was built before 1990.
2. Lift the tiles gently. Work the chisel under each tile instead of hammering hard. A timber floor flexes, and the sheet can crack.
3. Or lift the sheet with the tiles on it. If the sheet tests clear, unscrewing it and lifting it out whole can be quicker.
4. Check the floor is firm. Screw down any loose boards or sheets, and replace broken ones.

Then check it's flat for the new floor, the same way as a slab. Hybrid and laminate can go over firm timber and sheet floors. See how to install a floating floor.

How to remove wall tiles without wrecking the wall

Wall tiles often come off more easily than floor tiles. It's the wall behind them that suffers, so know what it's made of first.

Turn off the power at the switchboard if you're working near switches or sockets. Turn off the water too if you're working around taps.

Removing tiles from a plasterboard wall

Slide a wide scraper or bolster behind each tile, and lever it off. The paper face of the plasterboard usually tears as the tile comes away. So plan to cut out the damaged board and fit new. The new tiles need a flat wall.

Check it really is plasterboard first. Old fibro can look the same, especially when it's painted.

Removing tiles from fibro or cement sheet, including showers

In a home built before 1990, test the sheet before you touch it. Taking the tiles off can crack the sheet and free asbestos fibres. If it holds asbestos, talk to a licensed removalist first.

A shower has a wet-area membrane behind its tiles. Taking the tiles off breaks it, so it must be redone before new tiles go up. In Queensland, the QBCC says this is regulated work for licensed tradies only.

It's worth getting right. Bathroom claims under Queensland's home warranty scheme averaged almost $25,000 each to fix. That's for the 2024 to 25 year, says the QBCC. Read the QBCC's advice for home owners.

Removing tiles from a brick or rendered wall

Tiles on brick or render are stuck on hard, so most break as they come off. Chip out the grout around one tile. Then work a bolster behind each tile at a low angle.

Expect some render to come away with them. Patch the wall flat before you retile it. Keep the dust down here too, as brick and render contain silica.

Tiling again? Our Chroma wall tiles are $38 a m². Our tile calculator works out how many boxes you need.

How to get old tile glue off and the floor flat

Old tile glue and mortar leave lumps and ridges on the slab. They must come off before a new floor goes down.

Hybrid and laminate are floating floors. They click together and rest on the floor below, with no glue. Our installation guides need the floor flat to within 2 mm under a 1 metre straightedge.

Slide the straightedge around the room in every direction. A gap under it is a dip, and a rock means a hump. Grind humps down, and fill dips with levelling compound. Let it dry for as long as its bag says.

The floor must be clean and dry too. Check a slab with a moisture meter before you lay. Our guide to installing a floating floor gives the readings. Our guide to preparing your subfloor covers every step.

Glue-down vinyl needs a smoother finish, as it hugs the floor and shows every bump. Our vinyl's installation manual asks for no old glue on the floor, and all cracks filled. See our glue-down vinyl guide.

Should you remove tiles or cover them?

Often you don't need to lift floor tiles at all. If they're firmly stuck and flat, a new floor can go straight over them. That skips the dust, the rubble and the cost of lifting.

Cover them when the tiles are firmly stuck, flat and in good shape. Lift them when many sound hollow, or they're loose or cracked. Lift them too if a new floor on top would sit too high.

• Hybrid floats over tiles. It rests on its own attached underlay, with no glue. Re-fix loose tiles first, and fill grout lines wider or deeper than 3 mm.
• Glue-down vinyl can go over tiles too, if they're flat and firmly stuck. Fill the grout lines with levelling compound first.
• Old wall tiles can sometimes be tiled over. See can you tile over tiles for the checks.
• Check your doors. Hybrid adds 6.5 or 9.5 mm on top of the tiles. A door that catches can be trimmed, at $75 a door in our instant quote.

Covering also leaves whatever is under the tiles alone. Queensland lists covering with a non-asbestos product as one way to avoid removal.

Either way, levelling is $40 a m² where the floor needs it. Read can you install hybrid flooring over tiles and vinyl flooring over tiles for every step. Or compare the two floors in hybrid flooring vs tiles.

What does it cost to remove tiles?

It depends on who does the job, and what's under the tiles. Here are our rates, and what tilers typically charge.

Our rate includes grinding the slab smooth, ready for the new floor. Your full price is set at the free measure. Get yours from our instant quote.

Lifting 20 m² of floor tiles comes to $1,200 with us. Covering them instead saves that, as the table above shows.

Now take a standard bathroom of 2.5 by 2 m, tiled to the ceiling. That's about 25 m² of tiles. At a typical rate, a tiler charges about $870 to take them off.

Add a skip bin or tip fees for the rubble. If a test finds asbestos, a licensed removalist quotes that part. For the cost of tiling again, see tiling cost per m² and the cost to tile a bathroom.

How to get rid of old tiles and rubble

Tile rubble is heavy and sharp, so plan how it will leave. You can hire a skip bin, or take trailer loads to your local tip.

Check what your council's tip takes first. In Brisbane, council tips take no more than a ute load of concrete, bricks, rocks and masonry. Bricks, concrete and fibro sheeting can't go out for kerbside collection either.

Keep the dust down here too. Bag dusty rubble before it goes in the skip, and keep it damp. Put the skip outside if you can.

Asbestos waste has strict rules. Never put it in your household bin, or in a skip that isn't approved for asbestos. In Queensland, it must be:

• double-wrapped in plastic 0.2 mm thick
• sealed with tape and labelled as asbestos
• taken to a landfill site that accepts asbestos, usually run by your council

A licensed asbestos waste contractor can take it away for you instead. Read Queensland's asbestos disposal rules.

In NSW, phone the landfill before you go. Carrying more than 10 m² or 100 kg yourself? Tell the NSW EPA within 24 hours of dropping it off. Read NSW's page on disposing of asbestos waste.

Removing tiles: common questions