Tile Removal Sydney | Commercial & Industrial Floors

Blast Prep Grind operator on a ride-on scraper stripping tiles from a commercial shopfront floor

In Sydney, the access is harder than the floor

On a Sydney commercial floor the tiles are rarely the difficult part. A dock booking window, one service lift shared with three other trades, a strata schedule that only allows noise between 8pm and 5am, and a building manager who wants the route protected end to end — that is what sets the program.

Ceramic and porcelain bedding is largely silica. We run continuous H-class vacuum extraction off the machines, seal and negatively pressure the work area where it adjoins occupied space, and keep debris contained from lift to skip. It's the same silica control regime we apply to grinding and cutting, and it's what lets us work a tower floor overnight with tenants back in at seven.

Scraper blade lifting ceramic floor tiles and bedding off the concrete slab

What we take off Sydney floors

Ceramic, porcelain, quarry and terrazzo tiles. Bedding, screed and mortar beds. Tile adhesive and thinset back to a sound, bondable slab. The adhesive is where most tile jobs go wrong. Lifting tiles is the easy half — leaving a floor with ridged glue residue means the next trade either can't bond to it or has to price a grind you've already paid someone else to skip. We take the slab back to a surface the following system can key into, using the same concrete floor preparation equipment we'd bring to a standalone prep job.

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Sydney CBD and North Sydney towers

Floor plate changes on tenanted levels, worked to the building's after-hours access and dock booking rules.

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Strata retail and shopping centres

Tenancy strips and common area upgrades, staged around trading hours and centre management approvals.

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Hospitality and commercial kitchens

Quarry tile and epoxy grout taken back to slab in a planned shutdown, usually overnight so the venue trades the next day.

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Western Sydney industrial estates

Tiled amenities, internal offices and wet zones inside warehouses and distribution facilities.

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Health, aged care and education

Occupied buildings running around the clock, where stopping dust leaving the work area is the whole job.

Compliance

Asbestos in Sydney's older commercial stock

Sydney has a very large stock of pre-1990 commercial buildings — inner-city towers, converted warehouses through the inner west, older suburban retail and amenities blocks. If the building predates 1990, assume the vinyl tiles, the sheet backing or the adhesive underneath may contain asbestos until testing says otherwise.

If we suspect ACM during assessment, we stop and tell you. Licensed removal happens first, by a licensed asbestos removalist, and we come back in once clearance is issued. It costs you time you didn't program for, and there is no version of this where we keep grinding.

It's the only defensible way to run the job. See also our floor covering removal page for vinyl and sheet flooring.

How the job runs

Step 1

Site assessment

Tile type, bedding depth, slab condition, access and building age. On Sydney jobs the access survey matters as much as the floor — dock height, lift dimensions, after-hours rules and the protected route out. We flag suspected ACM and confirm what the floor has to be handed over as.

Step 2

Set up and containment

Extraction connected, work area sealed from occupied space, protection to lifts, doors and finishes along the route out. Dock bookings, security passes and out-of-hours approvals are confirmed before we mobilise.

Step 3

Lift and strip

Ride-on scraper across the open floor, walk-behind and hand tools to the edges and under fixed joinery. Debris contained and removed as we go.

Step 4

Adhesive and slab preparation

Residual adhesive and bedding ground back to a sound, bondable surface — see concrete floor preparation for the profile the next system needs.

Step 5

Clean handover

The floor is vacuumed and handed over ready for the following trade. Waste disposal is set at quote stage — into your bins, your waste contractor, or removed by us if that's what's agreed.

Services

Blast Prep Grind operator sweeping down a stripped commercial slab before handover to the next trade

What happens after the tiles come off

Tile removal is rarely the whole job. Once the slab is exposed you'll know what you're actually dealing with, and the floor usually needs one more thing before it's finished.

Most clients go one of three ways. If the slab needs work before anything goes back down, concrete floor preparation profiles it for new vinyl, carpet tile or timber. If the space needs a hard-wearing sealed finish — kitchens, plant rooms, warehouses, anywhere with washdown or traffic — epoxy flooring goes straight onto the prepared slab. And if the exposed concrete is worth keeping, polished concrete turns the slab you've just uncovered into the finished floor, which removes a whole floor covering from the budget.

Each is quoted separately, but doing the removal and the finish with one contractor means nobody argues about whether the slab was left in a fit state — because the same team is standing on it either way.

Where we work

Sydney CBD

North Sydney & Chatswood

Parramatta & Macquarie Park

Alexandria & Mascot

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FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Is dust free tile removal actually dust free?

No. No mechanical tile removal is completely dust free. What is achievable is capturing dust at the source with H-class vacuum extraction and sealing the work area so dust doesn't migrate into occupied parts of the building. That control is what allows removal in a trading Sydney centre or a tenanted tower.

What does commercial tile removal cost in Sydney?

Pricing is per square metre and depends on tile type, bedding depth, how much adhesive has to come back, access, and whether the work is in or out of hours. Thick mortar beds and epoxy grout cost more than thinset. A tenanted tower floor with night access and a shared service lift carries time a ground floor unit doesn't. Send us the floor plan and building age and we'll quote it.

Can you work while the building is occupied or trading?

Yes, and in Sydney most of it runs that way. Containment and extraction are what make it possible. Much of our work is at night, over weekends or in staged handover areas so the tenancy keeps trading. Access windows, dock bookings and noise limits get agreed before we mobilise rather than on the day.

How do I know if my floor contains asbestos?

Buildings constructed before 1990 may have asbestos in vinyl tiles, sheet backing or adhesive, and Sydney has a great deal of commercial stock that age. Visual identification isn't reliable — it needs testing to confirm. We flag suspected ACM at assessment, and licensed removal is carried out by a licensed asbestos removalist before we go back in.

Do you remove the adhesive as well as the tiles?

Yes, and it matters more than the tiles do. We take the slab back to a sound, bondable surface so the next flooring system can key into it, rather than leaving ridged glue residue for the following trade to grind off. Where the slab needs a specified profile, that is set at quote stage.

How long does a commercial tile removal take?

It depends on floor area, bedding depth and access. A single open floor plate with thinset moves quickly; a thick mortar bed on level twelve served by one service lift does not. We give you an area-per-shift figure with the quote and program it against your handover date, so the following trade isn't left waiting on us.

In Sydney, the access is harder than the floor

What we take off Sydney floors

Sydney CBD and North Sydney towers

Strata retail and shopping centres

Hospitality and commercial kitchens

Western Sydney industrial estates

Health, aged care and education

Asbestos in Sydney's older commercial stock

How the job runs

Site assessment

Set up and containment

Lift and strip

Adhesive and slab preparation

Clean handover

What happens after the tiles come off

Sydney CBD

North Sydney & Chatswood

Parramatta & Macquarie Park

Alexandria & Mascot

Book tile removal in Sydney

Frequently Asked Questions

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