We were able to find a floor refinishing company to do the work. They had some kind of long handled hard tile remover that chipped away at it pretty quickly. It was almost like a reverse garden hoe that allowed you to get under the tile without destroying the wood underneath (which I did when I tried to remove them without the tool) Once the tiles were up, they used a special attachment on their sander to get up the tar paper. It wasn't that expensive and it was worth EVERY PENNY.