Flooring Tile - Ceramic Floor Tile Removal

I am currently removing ceramic tiles from my bathroom floor. The subflooring is cement as I live in an apartment building. How do I remove the "mud" from the cement floor once the tiles have been removed? I find in some areas it chips off easily and in other areas it is stuck like glue.

Once the mud has been removed, should the concrete be treated with anything to ensure proper and even adhesion for the new tiles I plan on installing?

Thanks!

The concrete subfloor if it is on the ground floor shouldn't be a huge concern but the removal of the remaining thinset may be a challenge. Your best-bet is to buy a corborundum rubbing stone (with a handle) and work yourself silly until you have filed the thinset down to the concrete. It's going to take some elbo grease.:)

If this floor is on the second story that's a slightly different issue. The concrete there will (more-than-likely) be 'lightweight' concrete and in fact probably not concrete at all but a gypsum product and is not more than 1-1/2" thick in most cases. You want to be careful not to raise any divits in the subfloor during the tile removal process. Removal of the thinset will probably be a little easier over this subfloor product but basically it's the same procedure.:)

I should have known there'd be a "catch". :wall:
The tiles were coming up too easy.

Thanks for your help!

There's a reason the tiles are coming up easily.

There's more to what you are in for and I wouldn't expect you to abide by this but I'm now going to show-off a little bit for you just for fun.:)

The best-known gypsum-based lightweight concrete is a product known as Gypcrete manufactured by Maxxon Company.

Before setting tile over Gypcrete, Maxxon specifies that the floor surface be clean and dust free. Then it needs to be coated (primed) with Maxxon overspray, which is basically a sealer-bonding agent. TCA (Tile Council of America) methods then call for using a crack isolation - anti-fracture membrane. Maxxon recommends using Mer-Krete's "Fracture-Guard 5000". If it needs to be waterproofed, (bathrooms, wet areas, etc) then the right Mer-Krete product to be used is Hydro-Guard. Mer-Krete's website is www.merkrete.com. Maxxon and Mer-Krete jointly offer a 15 year warranty when their products are used and guidelines are followed.

So see? Nothing is ever easy these days.:)