By John Rippman
National Training Manager
July 13, 2007
Question: I need to remove approx. 400 sq. ft. of ceramic tile, but I am more concerned with getting the thinset off and FLAT due to installing 5/16 glue down hardwood. Would one of the 10 inch grinders work or do I need a scraper?
The local Home depot has a 10 inch grinder and an 8 inch shot blaster and a small scraper I plan on renting.
John Rippman: You can remove the thinset and level your surface using a grinder, instead of a scraper. Here’s what I would recommend:
1. To remove up to 3/8 inch thick tile I would use the
Blastrac BS-50 Walk Behind Scraper with ceramic tile bit.
The BS-50 is ideal for small and medium-sized jobs. It’s light weight and can be easily managed by a single person. The BS-50 also removes wood, VCT, carpet, sheet vinyl, and more.
2. For the next step, if you are working indoors and removing thinset on a concrete slab, I would use the
Blastrac 7" Grinder-Vac Handheld Concrete Grinder and
Blastrac BDC-1216 Vacuum.
The seven inch grinder will be more than sufficient for this size of grinding project and more cost effective than the 10 inch
BG250G11 Walk Behind Grinder, which is ideally suited for larger jobs. Though you are working on your hands and knees you can expect to grind at about 125 sq. ft per hour.
Be sure to use the
7” Turbo Cup Wheel (part number CG-725DTBLUE) on your grinder. It is ideal for thinset removal, cleaning concrete, and planing high spots. Your project will have better results and take less time with the right grinding wheel.
Finally, the
Blastrac BDC-1216 Vacuum is a dust collector that has been designed for use with hand tools. It is electric-powered and can hold up to 10.5 gallons of material. It is portable and provides superior suction power.
All of these products can be found for online purchase on Blastrac.com or at your local distributor. Find a Blastrac distributor near you.
