Removing old tiles & putting up new ones

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Gordanus

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thought I had asked this before, must have dreamt I did....

Is it a big job to remove tiles? All the DIY books I consulted say 'paint over them'. But I've seen this done and it just looks awful. Is it really such a big job that the DIY books don't recommend doing it? Will I have to employ a tiler? They're from the bath up about 3 feet.
 
You would almost certainly have to re plaster the wall as the tiles are bonded to the wall behind.
 
very simple to remove I find that a paint scraper is the best tool or a flat chisle if they are really fixed well to the wall.You will have to do some filling in where the plaster comes off with the tile but if you intend to retile you don't need to be too particular about the finish as it will be covered up by the new tiles
 
use a hammer drill with a chisel atachment. aim the chisel at the "side" of the tiles and the tiles will literally fall off the wall. i took all my tiles off the main bathroom in 30 mins...
 
Its only a beeatch of a job if the tiles are fixed to plaster board...might have to replace the plaster board too....been there done that...but survived!
 
Mommah said:
Its only a beeatch of a job if the tiles are fixed to plaster board...might have to replace the plaster board too....been there done that...but survived!
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Soooooooooooo true Mommah! Had to do exactly that in our old house and I thought the whole wall was going to come down! But like yourself, I came out the other side and ended up with a beautiful job.

I recently had to chisel tiles off our downstairs loo (sloid wall) as we were replacing them and they came off no problem at all but the wall would definitely have had to be plastered if we weren't putting up new tiles.
 
best thing to do is to cover up the damaged plasterboard completely with plywood. even 6mm ply will do. it is a pure pleasure to tile onto a flat smooth sheet of plywood later on when tiling and it has the added bonus of making it easier to hang stuff on the wall later.
 
Remember to wear protective goggles to protect your eyes from any tile chips that might fly.
 
Lex Foutish said:
Soooooooooooo true Mommah! Had to do exactly that in our old house and I thought the whole wall was going to come down! But like yourself, I came out the other side and ended up with a beautiful job.

I recently had to chisel tiles off our downstairs loo (sloid wall) as we were replacing them and they came off no problem at all but the wall would definitely have had to be plastered if we weren't putting up new tiles.
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Absolutely agree, had to replace some plasterboard when I did it recently.

It's really just brute force with a hammer and chisel. Actually very theraputic if you've had a bad week!!!!!!!
 
Thanks very much everyone, the wall is solid so that's no roblem and Watersprite thanks for the recommendation fo the REaders Digest DIY book - I'd been wondering which one to get!
 
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