How to Remove the Floor of a Walk-in Freezer

A walk-in freezer is an essential component to almost any business establishment that needs to store frozen food, such as a restaurant or a grocery store. Some homeowners may also have small walk-in freezers installed in their home if they need large amounts of frozen storage space. The floors of walk-in freezers are often built using ceramic tiles, as the tiles are fairly easy to clean, and are available with treads on them to provide more traction on the frozen, icy floor. If you're overhauling the freezer, you can remove the old tiles to install a new floor.

Gloves
Safety goggles
Full-length pants
Long-sleeve T-shirt
Dust mask
1-inch chisel
2 lb. hand maul
Shovel
Broom
Wet-dry vacuum

Instructions

- 1
  Empty the product out of the freezer. Turn off the refrigeration unit to allow the freezer to thaw, keeping the door open to speed up the process. This also allows any ice that has collected on the floor to melt, making it safer to walk inside the freezer.
- 2
  Remove any racks or other items that are on the floor inside the freezer to clear the floor space.
- 3
  Dress in the proper gear to remove the tile. This includes gloves, safety goggles, full-length pants, a long-sleeve T-shirt and a dust mask. Chipping away at the tile and grout creates small shards of material that go flying through the air.
- 4
  Locate an area on the floor where a tile is chipped or the grout between tiles is loose or missing. Work the blade of a 1-inch chisel into the floor to remove the loose grout or chipped tile.
- 5
  Place the tip of the chisel at the point where you want to begin removing the first tile, and tilt the top edge of the chisel as close to the floor as you can get while keeping the tip along the bottom edge of the tile. This allows you to apply the greatest amount of force to the spot where the tile rests on the mortar.
- 6
  Begin tapping on the end of the chisel with a 2 lb. hand maul, working the tip of the chisel underneath the tile. Keep tapping on the chisel until the tile pops out of the floor.
- 7
  Continue removing tiles in this manner until the floor is clear.
- 8
  Shovel the broken tiles off of the floor for disposal. Sweep or vacuum the remaining bits of grout or dust off of the floor.
- 9
  Chisel away any more chunks of grout or tile still embedded on the floor. Sweep or vacuum the floor again.

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