Flooring Tile - Removing old tile on a concrete floor

How do I remove old tile on a concrete floor?
I want to put new Porcelain tile on the floor & continue it to include the existing tub/shower combo. The shower tile will be easy to remove but what treatment will be necessary on the sheetrock behind the old tile. I want to use 13x13" Porcelain tile. Is there a trick laying this tile on the shower walls?

Thank you,

SAKII

Loads of work, my friend. Break up the grout around the tiles with a hammer & chisel. Break the tiles with a sledgehammer. Slide a long handled floor scraper under the edge of the tiles to scrape them off. Scrape the surface very well & cleanup before you install your new stuff. Make sure to use backerboard made for wet spaces behind your tub tile. When you tear out tile off walls, it is highly likely you will need to take your wall board off completely and start from scratch, thus the reminder to get it for wet spaces. Biggest DIY mistake on installation of tile may be too thin of thin set or not consistent enough trowel strokes to get a good even coat of thin set prior to installation of each piece. If you leave a "hollow" spot beneath a floor tile, you will hear it when you walk on it. Final tip: be creative. You do not have to lay the tile in straight squares as you might have planned. You can do that on the diagonal to give it "upgrade" or add some decorator pieces. Highly recommend that for added value. Good luck!

What flipntx said, but be careful using a sledge hammer so as not to chip the concrete below. If the area is a large one, you may want to consider renting a pneumatic or electric chipper to help keep your rotator cuffs intact. As stated it is a large amount of work. And, too, we are assuming it is ceramic tile and not linoleum or square vct.

sledge hammer ? :confused::thumbdn:

use an electric chipping hammer with a wide flat bit. :):thumbup:

Agreed, a sledgehammer is gonna crack the heck out of the slab. A chipping hammer is definitely what you need here.:)

I'm no expert (more of a hack - at best) but I recently removed old ceramic tiles and I'm laying new Porcelain tile. I used a hammer and a chisel and found that to work very well.

The chisel ended up awfully dull though.

I plan to redo my bathroom floors. The floors are tile over a mortar base. Is there a problem removing the tiles from this type of base. Also the toilet tank in one of the baths leaked years ago and water came through to the downstairs. Would it be better to take up the mortar base and put down a water barrier and use some type of concrete board for the base?
Thanks