Floor Tile Tear-Out

We're trying to do some DIY for our remodel to keep costs down. Since the carpet removal (see previous post) was pretty straightforward, we decided our next move was to attack the grey tile in the hallway and coat closet. We have the same tile in the kitchen and powder room but figured the hallway was a better place to "experiment."

Knowing that we'd have lots of dust flying around, we geared up appropriately with masks and safety goggles:

Mr. E took the first stab at the tiles with the scraper tool we'd purchased at Lowe's a few days before (see below), and I took the second shift about halfway through.

To help protect from the dust, Mr. E had taped a plastic drop-cloth to the walls and ceiling and brought our floor fan down from the bedroom to blow the debris out towards the front door as much as possible:

Removing the tiles was actually quite satisfying, and we managed to salvage two stacks of whole or almost-whole tiles for potential re-use. Removing the adhesive, however, was a different story... Here's the hall sans tiles, but the majority of the adhesive remains:

Mr. E took a chisel to the adhesive a few days later and was able to remove it all, but the process was very time-consuming, so we're now thinking it might be worthwhile paying the professionals to tackle this part of the demolition. We've got follow-up meetings with two potential contractors this week to discuss their bids, so we'll see what comes out of those conversations to help us make a decision about the remainder of the tile tear-out.