Service
Tile removal and preparation
Lifting a ceramic tile floor costs about £13 per m² on average in Checkatrade's 2026 removal guide, around £208 for a 16 m² room, with about £6 per m² more to prepare the floor for new tiles. MyJobQuote's guides price removal by the hour at £15 to £30. Old vinyl or thermoplastic tiles are a different matter.
What this covers
What it costs. Prices per square metre and per job, and what moves them, are in the cost guide. Full cost breakdown.
Typical jobs
- Lifting a ceramic kitchen floor and grinding off the old adhesive
- Stripping bathroom wall tiles and making the wall good for re-tiling
- Taking a floor back to the base and levelling it for new porcelain
- Bagging and disposing of old tiles as part of the job
- Checking a pre-2000 floor with the owner before anything is lifted
What is involved
Taking tiles off is quick; leaving a surface that can be tiled again is the slow part. On floors, tiles are broken out with a hammer and bolster or a powered breaker, then the old adhesive is scraped and ground back until the base is flat. On walls the tiles often bring the plaster finish with them, and the wall then needs making good or lining with board before re-tiling. A quote for removal should say what state the surface will be left in, and whether bagging the waste and taking it away is included.
Sometimes the tiles can stay. If they are firmly bonded, flat, and the extra weight and height are acceptable, new tiles can go over old ones with a suitable primer, which saves a messy day. A tiler will tap them for hollow spots first. Where tiles are loose, cracked across several, or in a shower that has leaked, they have to come off.
One caution before anything is lifted in an older home. Vinyl and thermoplastic floor tiles, the black bitumen adhesive that often sits under them, and textured wall and ceiling finishes put up before 2000 may contain asbestos. Ceramic and porcelain tiles themselves do not. If your floor is one of those older types, or you are not sure what it is, have a sample tested before anyone breaks it up. If a test finds asbestos, lifting it is asbestos work: under HSE guidance it is done by someone trained and equipped for that work, or by a licensed contractor, and most tilers are neither. This site does not list anyone for it. A tiler can lay a new floor once that is done.
Choosing someone for the job
Taking tiles up is quick; what you are paying for is the surface left behind.
- Will the floor or wall be left ready for new tiles, and is making it good included?
- Is the waste bagged and taken away?
- Could the existing tiles stay and be tiled over instead?
- If the floor is vinyl or thermoplastic, or the house is pre-2000 and nobody knows what is down, will you wait until it has been tested?
Read next
Common questions
Do tilers remove old tiles?
Most do, as part of a re-tiling job or on its own. Ask what the price covers: lifting, scraping back the adhesive, making the surface good and taking the waste away are often priced separately.
Can you tile over existing tiles?
Sometimes. The old tiles must be firmly bonded and flat, the extra weight must be within the wall's limit, and the extra height must work at doors and fittings. A primer for glazed surfaces is used first. Loose or hollow tiles must come off.
Can old floor tiles contain asbestos?
Ceramic and porcelain tiles do not. Vinyl and thermoplastic floor tiles, and the black bitumen adhesive often under them, laid before 2000 may. Have a sample tested before anyone lifts them, and follow HSE guidance on who deals with it.
Will taking off wall tiles damage the wall?
Often, yes. Tiles bonded to plaster usually pull some of it away. The wall is then patched, or lined with board, before new tiles go on.