Removing Carpet Glued to Tile

Has anyone here any good ideas on how to remove carpet that
has been glued to tile without damaging or discoloring the tile?

It's about 400-500sf of carpet. We're not worried about damaging
the carpet - the tile is what will be left down and it is in a very public
place, a restaurant, so the tile cannot be damaged during the removal.
It has to look good in the final stage.

I did one like that years ago. We soaked the carpet really well with very hot water to loosen the glue beneath and then just ripped out the carpet. We were able to get most of it to release pretty easy, but had to go back with wide putty knives to scrape off the remaining glue and backing. It was a pita and the tile was definitely not "show ready" at that point.

You should be able to do the same without damaging the tile as long as you are careful with your scraping. You will probably discover that the installer was lazy and only glued sections instead of the entire floor, so once you start pulling the carpet, there will only be a few areas that need scraping.

I dont think damaging the tile would be an issue as long as you dont scrape it off hard but getting it to look good is a whole nother deal.  

would bid high just in case and explain to them that the price is worst case scenario if the glue all needs to be manually scraped,   that glue could be a huge pain  

I would probably get a few bottles of adhesive remover from home depot and possibly just soak the carpet with some to help loosen,     or if you can get an area started just spray it underneath each section as you pull the carpet.    


I ripped out some linoleum from the concrete floor in my garage that was put down with the same commercial carpet glue and it was really tough

Linoleum glued down to wood is nearly impossible to remove without a lot of work and cursing. On concrete isn't much better...I can't imagine doing a garage sized area.

Adhesive remover like "goo gone" is probably a good idea and maybe a heat gun for the really stubborn areas. Bottom line is that it will take a fair amount of labor to accomplish what they are asking.

I would not expect to be able to do it a single night and be ready to open in the morning. If they are asking for that, it isn't going to happen.

One night to remove carpet and residue. One night to pretty up that tile beneath it. It is also not a one man job....3-4 on first night and 2 on second night if it was my company.

Use the thin putty knifes! if you use one that doesn't flex easy you will do some damage....I would pull any and all you could before using any scraper....they also have the scraper with the angle razor blade in it....as a matter a fact, that's what I would use...Home Depot has them. Get a long handled one...you can work it with more finesse.