Best way to remove wall tiles without breaking?
 

"guv" wrote in message
...

We've had a leaking shower, which is fixed on a tiled plasterboard
wall. We basically need to remove the tiles to find out where the leak
is to fix it and then put back a new plasterboard and re-tile.

Problem is, that whilst I do have some spare tiles, I certainly dont
have enough to do them all if I break them. Obviously I'd rather not
retile the whole bathroom if I can help it!

The wall the tiles sit on is probably pretty flakey (hence the reason
it needs replacing) so I am hoping this will ease the problem of
removing them. I am olso hoping that by soaking the tiles, I will be
able to remove the tile adhesive. (Ive seen adhesive completely
removed this way before - but it was "freshly dried". Will I have any
luck getting the adhesive off? (They have been up for about 5 years!)

So, what would be considered to be the best way to get them off?
Breaking one and then wedging them out? The one good point is the fact
the wall they sit on is plasterboard - so that hopefully will just
pull away through the damage the leak has done.

Any helpful suggestions appreciated.

Had a similar problem once, shower valve leaked onto plaster board in the
wall, eventually causing a tile to drop off. I tried to save the tiles, but
some broke during removal, soaking in water enabled them to be cleaned of
plasterboard and adhesive, but ended up just buying a new walls worth of
tiles and doing the job properly and certainly would have been much much
quicker if I hadn't arsed around trying to save the tiles.....

Best way to remove wall tiles without breaking?
 

Ian_m wrote:
"guv" wrote in message
...

We've had a leaking shower, which is fixed on a tiled plasterboard
wall. We basically need to remove the tiles to find out where the leak
is to fix it and then put back a new plasterboard and re-tile.

Problem is, that whilst I do have some spare tiles, I certainly dont
have enough to do them all if I break them. Obviously I'd rather not
retile the whole bathroom if I can help it!

The wall the tiles sit on is probably pretty flakey (hence the reason
it needs replacing) so I am hoping this will ease the problem of
removing them. I am olso hoping that by soaking the tiles, I will be
able to remove the tile adhesive. (Ive seen adhesive completely
removed this way before - but it was "freshly dried". Will I have any
luck getting the adhesive off? (They have been up for about 5 years!)

So, what would be considered to be the best way to get them off?
Breaking one and then wedging them out? The one good point is the fact
the wall they sit on is plasterboard - so that hopefully will just
pull away through the damage the leak has done.

Any helpful suggestions appreciated.


Had a similar problem once, shower valve leaked onto plaster board in the
wall, eventually causing a tile to drop off. I tried to save the tiles, but
some broke during removal, soaking in water enabled them to be cleaned of
plasterboard and adhesive, but ended up just buying a new walls worth of
tiles and doing the job properly and certainly would have been much much
quicker if I hadn't arsed around trying to save the tiles.....



Hot water and detergent makes a big difference if you are going to clean
them off. A 4" scraper behind them works best IME

Best way to remove wall tiles without breaking?
 

Stuart Noble wrote:
Ian_m wrote:
"guv" wrote in message
...

We've had a leaking shower, which is fixed on a tiled plasterboard
wall. We basically need to remove the tiles to find out where the leak
is to fix it and then put back a new plasterboard and re-tile.

Problem is, that whilst I do have some spare tiles, I certainly dont
have enough to do them all if I break them. Obviously I'd rather not
retile the whole bathroom if I can help it!

The wall the tiles sit on is probably pretty flakey (hence the reason
it needs replacing) so I am hoping this will ease the problem of
removing them. I am olso hoping that by soaking the tiles, I will be
able to remove the tile adhesive. (Ive seen adhesive completely
removed this way before - but it was "freshly dried". Will I have any
luck getting the adhesive off? (They have been up for about 5 years!)

So, what would be considered to be the best way to get them off?
Breaking one and then wedging them out? The one good point is the fact
the wall they sit on is plasterboard - so that hopefully will just
pull away through the damage the leak has done.

Any helpful suggestions appreciated.


Had a similar problem once, shower valve leaked onto plaster board in
the wall, eventually causing a tile to drop off. I tried to save the
tiles, but some broke during removal, soaking in water enabled them to
be cleaned of plasterboard and adhesive, but ended up just buying a
new walls worth of tiles and doing the job properly and certainly
would have been much much quicker if I hadn't arsed around trying to
save the tiles.....


Hot water and detergent makes a big difference if you are going to clean
them off. A 4" scraper behind them works best IME

Brick acid will clean cement and grout off tiles..but getting them off
whole is non trivial.

Best way to remove wall tiles without breaking?
 

Brick acid will clean cement and grout off tiles..but getting them off
whole is non trivial.

I find they ping off whole when removed with an SDS chisel, whilst hand
removing tends to disintegrate them. Whether you'd get enough off undamaged
is another thing, though.

Christian.