Thanks...but I has to go.

Massive job....does the slate run under the kitchen? Will mean removing and replacing kitchen as well.

You obviously hate it. Look at Pangea concrete veneer. It's expensive, but once you demo all the slate, then potentially have to replace whatever is under it because of damage the jackhammer will do, price will be at parity with Pangea anyway.

I love the texture of the slate. It gives your space a point of difference, rather than looking generic. It looks unique.

Timber to match the existing? Timeless and always looks great.

We don't like the existing timber or slate.

That looks great and might work for us. I called a company and it seems around $85 sqm plus delivery. That is pushing the budget for us as we have slate removal at $50sqm and then laying. looking around the $45 - $60 mark

I agree that travertine would be stunning. However, given your budget, polished concrete may be a great solution. I have used it in a couple of projects recently. Looks fabulous and is easy to maintain http://www.boral.com.au/productcatalogue/product.aspx?product=2772

I had slate, but the really dark one and I couldn't match the slate again, to tile the rest of the house. It would have been a nightmare to take up what was there, so I just used a contrast. Your tiles are quite neutral. Putting travestine down, is just another tile.

The tiler whom tiled the new section, was actually the tiler who tiled the first section. He said that they had been so well glued down, they would have been horrible to pull up. Your floors will need so much prep. People don't look at "just" your floors, they look at the furniture, the ornaments and the way in which you decorate.

You could get the most amazing rug for under the table or even a bigger area and perhaps a contrasting hall runner. It would look amazing and save you a fortune.

P.S I was a property manager for years and have seen hundreds of houses that really needed new floor tiles, but when I saw your room, I thought the look is very attractive.

I could not imagine not having timber floors. We have had tiles, carpet, lino etc in previous houses, but just love our timber floors. Solid/traditional blackbutt t&G inner main house, and engineered oak in our holiday house. Love both, but chose engineered for our last build.

I had all my slate removed recently. Was a huge job, took 3 days but I also removed my old kitchen. When they removed the slate, they needed to redo certain parts of the slab. The removal process damaged stairs and skirting as well.

However I chose a tile that looks fabulous in a grey/white with an almost woodlike finish, the area looks bright and a lot more spacious.

I love it now and certainly didn't regret removing the dated and dreary slate.

Lee-Ann - I'm wondering if it is possible to lay a floating timber flooring like laminate or vinyl over the top of the slate to save the cost and hassle of jackhammering the slate out. I'm just not sure of thicknesses and how much this would affect levels with adjoining rooms. If it was only a similar difference to the level of carpet and timber or tiles, then I feel it would be liveable.

I'm asking this question for myself too, as I'm looking to relocate shortly and so many homes now have tiled flooring in the living areas that are just too painful for me to live with.

Hi olldroo, I considered that option too but the slate was too uneven and would have needed resurfacing anyway.

Thanks Varinia - I haven't really gone exploring all options available these days but I know there is a cushioning that goes under the floating floors and I was wondering if this might come in different thicknesses to offset any unevenness. There also used to be a product that you could put over uneven flooring that found its own levels and provided a good surface for laying tiles.

The levels are too high to go over the slate. There are many adjoining rooms so it would not work.

:( :( That was the worry Lee-Ann. As slate tiles go, they are a nice slate ..... but. Looks like it is going to be an expensive fix, but on the positive side, it will give you a clean "slate" (pun not intended) to start over. Wonder if a Kanga hammer would work so you could maybe hire one and get them up yourselves to save some $$$ although by the time you dispose of them and clean up, having a pro is worth it in the long run.

Sorry can't be more help, but do let us know how you get on.

I would look at all the colours you already have in your slate and pick the colour that you think best suits your style and space. It is a pity to rip up slate. I hope you can reuse it somewhere else or donate it to a charity or similar.

It's going to be very expensive to replace the slate. I personally like the slate as it's a natural product, not like tiles or floating flooring which is man made. Tile and clothing fashions are much alike; where colours and styles change constantly. I've found that floating timber flooring scratches and dents very easily and great care must be taken not to use too much water when washing the floor. Any spills should be cleaned up immediately before it works its way under the flooring, causing damage.

If you want to use a flooring which is timeless, I suggest you have natural timber boards installed.

Have you considered vinyl planks?

How about this as a cost saver- rather than pulling up the existing slate tiles- just pour a whole bunch of concrete over it!

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I bit the bullet and paid to get my slate removed and taken away from open plan kitchen, lounge and dining area before getting the new kitchen installed - best thing I ever did although the process was painful - should have paid the extra to get the concrete slab levelled at the same time - anyway I then paid the floating floor company extra money to hire a concrete sander to level the floor before the bamboo boards went down. In the end it all worked out once I managed to clean up the concrete dust - very happy with the bamboo flooring so much better than the old slate.

If I was to do it again - I would pay a professional to get the slate up and floor levelled instead of just using the kitchen companies guy to remove the tiles - hopefully they would have a better method of dealing with concrete dust.

Not sure if, this is a possibility or not - but could you get the slate ground back - like they do to cement floors and relay a new product over that - if the slate is sound, then you could possibly spend a few more dollars on the product, if it is cheaper than the cost of the slate removal. I'm thinking you would prefer a lighter normal type tile - since you have mostly white around you could then choose any tile colour that you liked but I would choose something that complemented your favourite pieces of furniture. Good Luck - but I think you will know what you want when you see it.