Tile Floor Removal — Ceramic Tile and Thinset Out, Floor Ready for New
The kitchen, bath or entry tile is dated, cracked or in the way of a new floor, and it does not come up without a fight — we break it out, get the thinset off and leave a floor ready for the next thing.
JMB Builders does tile floor removal across the Twin Cities metro: ceramic or porcelain tile broken out, the thinset chipped and scraped off the subfloor or slab, cement board pulled if there is any, and the floor left flat and swept for whatever goes down next. Dust is contained and the debris is hauled away. Priced per project, quoted from your photos within one business day.
- Priced per project
- Thinset and cement board removed, not just the tile
- Dust contained, debris hauled away
- Quote from photos in 1 business day
- Licensed MN contractor BC809005
Taking up a tile floor is the part of a flooring job most people underestimate. The tile is the easy half. Under it is a bed of thinset, and often a layer of cement board screwed and glued to the subfloor, and all of that has to come off before a new floor can go down flat. Leave ridges of thinset behind and the new LVP clicks apart at the humps; leave the old cement board and the new tile sits higher than the hallway.
We do it with a demolition hammer and a floor scraper, the room sealed off with plastic and a fan pulling air out a window. Then we look at what is under it. Kitchens and bathrooms with old tile often have a soft spot at the sink or the toilet, and this is the moment to fix it. When the removal is ahead of a new floor we are installing, the two are quoted together.
What you supply
- The room cleared of furniture and the toilet or appliances that sit on the tile, or tell us and we pull them
- A window we can put an exhaust fan in, if the room has one
- A word on what floor is going down next, so we know how clean the subfloor needs to be
What JMB supplies
- Plastic off the doorways and registers so dust stays in the room
- Demolition hammer and floor scraper work to break out the tile and chip the thinset
- Removal of cement board or old underlayment screwed under the tile
- Nails and screws pulled, the subfloor swept and vacuumed
- A check of the subfloor for rot or soft spots, with a photo and a price if we find any
- Debris bagged, carried out and hauled away
- Pulling and resetting the toilet with a new wax ring when the tile runs under it
How it is priced: per project
Quoted in writing from your photos within one business day. What moves the number:
- Square footage and how many rooms and closets the tile runs through
- What the tile is set on: thinset over plywood scrapes faster than mortar bed or tile glued to a slab
- Cement board under the tile, which roughly doubles the layers to pull
- Tile that runs under the toilet, a vanity, or the dishwasher and range
- Stairs down to the room, or a walk-out where a wheelbarrow can roll straight out
- Whether we are also installing the new floor, which combines the trips
- Subfloor repair if the demo turns up rot or a soft spot
Send a photo across the floor, one at a doorway where the edge of the tile shows, and one of any cracked or hollow-sounding area. The edge photo tells us how thick the layers are.
How long it takes
A bathroom: half a day. A kitchen and entry: a full day. A mortar-bed floor or a whole basement: two days.
How your project works
- 1
Send photos, get a written quote
Send three photos of the space and a sentence about what you want. You get a clear, itemized quote within one business day. We only come out to measure first when the job needs a tape measure — no pressure, no games.
- 2
Pick materials, or bring your own
We help you choose profiles and materials that fit the house and the budget, or match your existing millwork exactly — or you buy the door or trim yourself and we install it. Everything is confirmed before the crew is scheduled.
- 3
Clean, precise installation
The crew shows up on time, protects floors and furniture, and installs with tight joints and consistent reveals. Photos of the finished work go in your job folder.
- 4
Walkthrough and invoice
We walk the finished work with you. If anything is not right, we fix it before we call the job done. Then one invoice, paid by check or direct deposit — no card fees, no payment links.
Situations and options
Tile over plywood subfloor
The common case in kitchens and baths. Tile breaks out, thinset scrapes off, and the subfloor is either fine or gets a section replaced where water sat under the tile.
Tile on a concrete slab
Basements, garages and slab-on-grade entries. The tile pops but the thinset is bonded to the concrete and has to be ground, not scraped. Slower and dustier; we run a shroud and vacuum on the grinder.
Mortar-bed tile
Older bathrooms in the metro sometimes have an inch or more of mortar on wire lath under the tile. It comes out in chunks and weighs a lot; the floor under it is usually in good shape once it is exposed.
Removal plus the new floor
Tile out and LVP, new tile or hardwood in, one crew and one quote. The subfloor gets flattened and repaired between the two so the new floor goes down on something right.
Tile Floor Removal — Ceramic Tile and Thinset Out, Floor Ready for New: questions, answered
How do you remove a ceramic tile floor?
The room is sealed with plastic, then we break the tile with a demolition hammer fitted with a tile chisel and work the sheets and pieces loose. The thinset under it is chipped and scraped down to the subfloor or ground off a slab. Cement board comes up with its screws. The floor is swept and vacuumed and the debris carried out.
Does the thinset have to come off too?
Yes, if a new floor is going down. Thinset ridges are hard and uneven, and vinyl plank, laminate and new tile all need a flat base. Over plywood it scrapes off; over concrete it is ground. Leaving it is how new floors end up hollow, rocking or cracked.
How much dust does tile removal make?
A lot, and we plan for it. Doorways and registers are taped off with plastic, a fan pulls air out a window, and the grinder on slab work has a dust shroud on a vacuum. It is still a demo; move anything you care about out of the room and the next room over before we start.
Can old floor tile have asbestos in it?
Ceramic tile itself does not. The concern is vinyl tile, sheet flooring or black adhesive from before the mid-1980s that is sometimes found under old ceramic. If we open a corner and see a vinyl layer under the tile in an older house, we stop and have it tested before disturbing more of it.
Will removing the tile damage the subfloor?
Some marks from the chisel are normal and do not matter under a new floor. What we watch for is plywood that was already soft from water under the old tile, usually at the toilet, tub or sink. We show you the spot and quote a section replacement before the new floor goes down.
Do you remove tile from walls and showers too?
Yes. Wall tile in a tub surround or shower comes off with the backer board behind it, since the old board is never worth saving. It is priced separately from the floor because the wall is a different kind of work, and it is usually quoted together with the new shower tile.
Get a written quote for this job
Three photos and a sentence is enough. You hear back within one business day. Or text the photos to 763-204-2099.
Related jobs we do
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Read moreCracked Tile Repair — Replace Broken Tiles, Reset Loose Tile, Regrout
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Read morePage reviewed September 24, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All tile pages
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Based in Zimmerman, scheduling across the Twin Cities metro. Closest first: