Removing builder-grade tile and laminate from a 1990s tract kitchen

Two people, one pry bar and about ninety minutes clears a typical laminate kitchen, while a tile top set in mortar takes the same two people most of a morning. The intervals countertop installation temecula say better things uses for tear-out in Temecula, CA are longer than most homeowners expect, because the countertop installation cannot begin until the cabinets underneath are bare and sound.

Cutting the caulk and shutting off the water

The first move is plumbing. The sink supply lines get shut off at the angle stops, the disposal is unplugged and the drain is disconnected. Then a utility knife runs along every joint where the old top meets the wall, because caulk and paint bind the backsplash to the drywall and tear the paper face off if the top is simply yanked up.

Laminate tops come off in one piece, mostly

Post-formed laminate from the 1990s subdivision era is glued and screwed up through the cabinet corner blocks. Removing the screws from underneath lets the top lift. Where the glue holds, a flat bar and a mallet work along the front edge a few inches at a time. The particleboard core often swells where it sat under a leaking sink, and swollen board crumbles instead of lifting cleanly.

Tile counters break into pieces

A tile top in a builder kitchen sits on a mortar bed over plywood, with grout lines that collect stains. Crews score the grout, break a corner tile with a hammer and chisel, and work across the field. The mortar bed comes up in slabs of its own, and it is heavy enough to make dust control and floor protection part of the job. Drop cloths cover the floor, and the cabinet faces get taped before the first swing.

What the crew finds underneath

Under old tile there is sometimes plywood that has softened near the sink, and under laminate there is particleboard that has swollen from steam off the dishwasher. Those substrates do not carry a granite or quartz slab. Uneven sections get cut out and replaced, and the cabinet frames get checked for sag before anything new goes on. A cabinet run that is out of level by even a quarter inch will show at a long seam.

Clearing the site for the new slab

Once the debris is bagged and carried to the truck, the cabinet tops are scraped clean of adhesive and swept. Tile adhesive left behind will lift a slab at one corner, so scraping is not skipped. The bare boxes are now ready for the reinforcement and levelling work, which comes before the stone is carried in.