Remove hardwood floor in area anticipated for tiling?

Good morning. New to tile, but have done my homework and read 100s of forums on this credible site. I have a room that i restored the hardwood flooring (oak) and it is beautiful. I was unable to restore a 8x4' area by the entryway from the garage and have decided to tile as it had black tar looking stains that could not be brought up by the rented sander. The floor in that area slopes 1/2inch difference down into room where it evens out. I understand completely that tiling over exisitng hardwood has a very negative longevity, what about removing the 8x4' area of hardwood, and assessing the subfloor underneath? How big of a job would that entail? What tools do i need? What new subfloor is recommended? Thanks so much for your time and expertise! J

 

I think removing the hardwood would be a good idea. The first step is to decide how you want to handle the transition from hardwood to tile. I think it looks best if you can run a border strip of hardwood perpendicular to your hardwood planks but would be more work and would require saving some of the wood you remove. You can also just end your hardwood at the tile.

Do you know the thickness of your hardwood? If so set the blade depth on a circular saw so you only cut through the hardwood area you want to remove. You will need a reciprocating or hand saw to finish the cuts where it meets a wall. Then use a pry bar to pull up the flooring. The next step depends on what you find for subflooring and it's condition.

One thing to keep in mind is the thicknesses of your materials to try to get the tile to end up flush with the hardwood. You will need to install 1/4" or 1/2" cement board or Hardie Backer on top of the subfloor as a proper base for tile. Then you also need to allow 1/16-1/8" for the thickness of the thinset and then the thickness of the tile.

 

I dont know the thickness, i will pull up register and see if i can estimate the thickness or take up the door threshold and look there. Thank you for your generous input it helped a ton!

 

All going to come down to what is under the hardwood. Bare minimum is 5/8" plywood. Although you may find 1x6 oak set on the diaginal which will present the same issues as tiling over hardwood. You would need to add a layer of Plywood to separate the two, then cement board, then tile all with a layer of thinset between them. To remove the 1x6 you would have to take it to the nearest joist and split it so your 8x4 area may grow substantially.

Is this an issue that a well placed area rug would take care of?

 

Ok, that makes sense. Yes, a rug could go there, however i think for the space, it would give it a high end appeal (not that i have to tile it, i just have a drive to do it, envisioning the upgrade to look awesome). This particular area is very high trafficked as it is the entryway to and from detached garage. Thanks for your input!!