How to Remove a Ceramic Tile Countertop
- 1). Place the heavy canvas or plastic tarps on the floor. Lay newspapers on top of the tarps to absorb any impact from falling tiles.
- 2). Remove the doors and drawers from the cabinets. Falling tile and grout will scratch and damage the finish of the cabinets.
- 3). Remove trim tile from the edges of the countertop by first scoring and removing the grout. Once all the grout has been removed, carefully take a small chisel and place it in the grout groove. Hammer lightly to remove the trim tile.
- 4). Remove the grout along the wall carefully with the either the small chisel or the scoring knife.
- 5). Score the line of tiles closest to the wall with the knife. Put an X in each of the tiles along the edge. Continue to go over the X's to deepen the score marks.
- 6). Use the grout extraction tool (chisel or knife) to chip out grout from between the row of tiles with the scored marks.
- 7). Place the chisel point in the center of the first tile and hit the end with a heavy hammer. This should provide enough pressure to break the tile.
- 8). Continue breaking each tile in the first row. Remove tile and grout as each tile is removed.
- 9). Move to the next row of tiles and follow the same procedure as above.
- 10
When all of the tiles are removed, examine the countertop for Wonderboard or plywood. (Wonderboard is a cement product insert that resembles a dense wallboard.) If either type of board is present, determine how it is attached to the countertop. Some installations will use adhesive or nails attached to the supports of the cabinets. The board may have been simply sitting on top of the countertop, held in place by the weight of the tiles. Remove any attachments holding the top board. - 11
Use the scoring knife to cut the tape, if pieces of the countertop are held with tape. - 12
Dust any grout or tile pieces off the countertop with a broom. - 13
Lift the countertop board sections from the cabinets.
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