Hi all,

Looking for some LCB collective thoughts here!

My kitchen has rough cut black slate floor tiles with raised edges, and not only do they make the room very dark but they're hard to keep clean and horrible to walk on.

Ideally, I'd like to get rid of them. My kitchen cabinets however are on top of them, and I don't want to remove the cabinets. My current thinking is that if I remove the base boards from the cabinets, it's just the side panels that are the issue. I figure I can probably use an oscillating cutting tool to cut around them, and then butt the new floor up to them. My concern is damaging the side boards with the tool, and the amount of dust that this will undoubtedly generate. Does anybody have any better ideas? Removing the side boards isn't an option as they have a myriad of things mounted to them. Once the slate is out I intend to replace with wooden flooring, and so cutting around the boards shouldn't be difficult and I can adjust the base boards as needed.

Keen to hear your thoughts!

Thanks all!

[Edited on 13/3/23 by computid]

Personally I'd look at removing the tiles completely by chiselling/cutting them off the grout and sliding them out? Even if you have to crack the tiles and remove the shards. Obviously at some point the side panels would be unsupported so be ready with some wooden battens. Then the wooden floor can tuck under the side panels to take the place of the tiles.

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Originally posted by Slimy38
Personally I'd look at removing the tiles completely by chiselling/cutting them off the grout and sliding them out? Even if you have to crack the tiles and remove the shards. Obviously at some point the side panels would be unsupported so be ready with some wooden battens. Then the wooden floor can tuck under the side panels to take the place of the tiles.

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My approach would be to use self levelling over the slate and then lay click vinyl tiles. Much nicer than wood, and more durable. Taking the slate up will escalate to a big job.

Ideally they need to come up and yes it will be messy, then prep and use self level compound

I did a kitchen a few years ago in dark Grey tiles and it looked too dark until I grouted with light grey grout and it improved the whole look

*If* you do decide to use levelling compound over the existing slate, make sure you'll have enough clearance under opening doors etc as I've seen folks have to have carpet wells fitted or doors planed going down this route
Also you might have a step when entering from an adjoining room

If you do go for laminate in the Kitchen be aware that if you ever have a water leak you might be in for some pain
A mate fitted expensive water proof laminate and had a leak and although he thought he'd got away with it, 3 months later he hadn't as it started to lift

[Edited on 13/3/23 by perksy]

I have the same problem with my kitchen tiles they're a bit of a faff to keep clean and they're cold as they're bonded straight onto the concrete base. But for me they're worth it. If I were removing them, I'd be ripping them out entirely and putting in an insulated flooring of some sort.

If the tiles are generally good condition and just a bit too dark then one thing to consider is whether its the sealer making them darker. My kitchen has oyster slate flooring and when I moved in was a bit dark, as well as being a bit grubby and I couldn't clean it whatever I tried. Eventually I realised that the sealer that had originally been used had discoloured with age (and also the tiles hadn't been properly cleaned before they were first sealed as witnessed by the plaster snots under the sealer!). Most of the grout looked dark grey but after stripping I found it was actually beige. I used Aquamix sealer and coating remover but not sure if its still available as last time I looked I couldn't find any. It goes on a bit like paint stripper but not quite as nasty. After about half an hour the original sealer turns into a sticky goo that after lots of scrubbing and rinsing comes off to leave a clean and unsealed slate floor several shades lighter than it was before. I re-sealed with LTP matt colour intensifier sealer and when dried the colour hardly darkened from the unsealed clean tiles and stayed quite matt. Might be worth trying a small area to see how much lighter it goes. If you hate the slate this won't help though! It'll probably come back into fashion in another few years. If you hack them up it'll come back into fashion straight after!

Just a thought...

Any chance of laying the new flooring over the tiles and not having to remove them?

If they're sound (as in not cracked and well bonded) it may be an easier solution. Just room door clearances to consider with the change in floor height.

This ^

I had the same issue. Whole downstairs was tiled, straight onto a concrete floor. I laid floorboards over them. I removed the unit kickboards, fitting the new floor and then cut the kickboards down to fit.

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Originally posted by contaminated
This ^

I had the same issue. Whole downstairs was tiled, straight onto a concrete floor. I laid floorboards over them. I removed the unit kickboards, fitting the new floor and then cut the kickboards down to fit.

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Originally posted by coyoteboy

quote:

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Originally posted by contaminated
This ^

I had the same issue. Whole downstairs was tiled, straight onto a concrete floor. I laid floorboards over them. I removed the unit kickboards, fitting the new floor and then cut the kickboards down to fit.

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What about internal door heights etc?!

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