Removing tiles from plasterboard wall

bonzos

Hi folks,any tips on how to remove tiles from a plasterboad partition without wrecking the slab.....I have taken tiles off a block wall loads of times with a small kango but not sure how to remove them from a slab without causing too much damage

Carlow52

not possible IMO, u are looking at a new slab

King Mallie

Way quicker to just take slab down with tiles and replace with new one.

twowheelsonly

+1 on removing the entire slab.
Much faster and cleaner and you'll be starting again with a new flat surface, something you won't achieve any other way.

Buford T Justice

I'm with the above. Re-slab. Much easier and you simply won't get a decent finish if you pull tiles off the slab.

bonzos

Thanks guys,I was just hoping that there might be an easy way around this....no such luck:rolleyes:

Davy

bonzos wrote: »

Thanks guys,I was just hoping that there might be an easy way around this....no such luck:rolleyes:

How much is their? Have you tested a bit of it?

It is doable, just slower and requires more effort and you will end up patching sections. You will also have a job of cleaning back the old adhesive

Joey the lips

Take the tiles down...

If it wrecks the plaster then replace it...

provided your retiling all you will have to do is re sheet it.

An easy job not requireing too much skill...

Make sure you cover your bath with marine ply....

No matter how carefull you are a tile will come away and make a lovely mark...

Sparkpea

exactly what joey said

its not impossible to remove the tiles on a plasterboard wall depending how well they were put on etc. I use a wide bluntish old wood chistel and a hammer. once you get half a dozen or so off you might be able to scrape them off with a short handled spade, if u get in behind them they should come off ok. obviously in places you are going to get the odd small hole or weakness whatever way you take them off but if your tiling over the top it shouldnt be a problem, tiles hide alot of sins

sheed the shower area/bath area in marine ply as joey said so take the plasterboard off in those areas..

if you're re-boarding and tiling then no need to skim

antiskeptic

bonzos wrote: »

Hi folks,any tips on how to remove tiles from a plasterboad partition without wrecking the slab.....I have taken tiles off a block wall loads of times with a small kango but not sure how to remove them from a slab without causing too much damage

Couldn't you tile over the existing tiles?

youtheman

When I took tiles off my shower I used a wide 'paint scraper' and a hammer. I tried to keep the scraper as flat as possible so that I was not 'levering' the tiles off the wall, more 'shearing' the adhesive.

It still damaged the original plasterboard, but in most cases it was confined to removing the paper type outer layer (rather that creating large gouges). I then used a 'stud detector' to locate the studs under the plasterboard so that I could drill marine ply directly onto it. I then stuck a waterproof membrare over the ply, and tield over that again.

Badda Boom, Badda Bing.

Radiotower

youtheman wrote: »

When I took tiles off my shower I used a wide 'paint scraper' and a hammer. I tried to keep the scraper as flat as possible so that I was not 'levering' the tiles off the wall, more 'shearing' the adhesive.

It still damaged the original plasterboard, but in most cases it was confined to removing the paper type outer layer (rather that creating large gouges). I then used a 'stud detector' to locate the studs under the plasterboard so that I could drill marine ply directly onto it. I then stuck a waterproof membrare over the ply, and tield over that again.

Badda Boom, Badda Bing.

Why spend so much time been careful if you were just going to sheet it out with ply afterwards?

Joey the lips

antiskeptic wrote: »

Couldn't you tile over the existing tiles?

Its a terriable bad job and can actually cause problems when you arrive at the bath taps. The gap at the back is not enough sometimes to slot a tile over tile.

My competitors use to do this when fitting bathrooms. It was one reason i was more expensive.

I cannot understand why someone would not save an extra 500 euro at most to get a job done propperly that will be there years..

Joey the lips

Radiotower wrote: »

Why spend so much time been careful if you were just going to sheet it out with ply afterwards?

My thoughts exactly... Would have been easier to pull it down resheet it and tile away...

youtheman

Radiotower wrote: »

Why spend so much time been careful if you were just going to sheet it out with ply afterwards?

The tiles had to come off, and I reckon the method I used was the quickest. And my philosophy in any job is to plan it beforehand and do as much damage and mess as possible. 'tis the way I was dragged up !!!.

antiskeptic

Joey the lips wrote: »

Its a terriable bad job and can actually cause problems when you arrive at the bath taps. The gap at the back is not enough sometimes to slot a tile over tile.

Assuming that there's enough space for bath taps (which might well placed against an outside, strippable wall)? And if there isn't, just stripping that wall and tiling over all others?

My competitors use to do this when fitting bathrooms. It was one reason i was more expensive.

I cannot understand why someone would not save an extra 500 euro at most to get a job done propperly that will be there years..

I think you mean to say that it will cost an extra 500 euros to rip out and reboard. In which case I can think of 500 reasons why someone would want to avoid this step if it wasn't really necessary

Joey the lips

antiskeptic wrote: »

Assuming that there's enough space for bath taps (which might well placed against an outside, strippable wall)? And if there isn't, just stripping that wall and tiling over all others?






I think you mean to say that it will cost an extra 500 euros to rip out and reboard. In which case I can think of 500 reasons why someone would want to avoid this step if it wasn't really necessary

There wont be enough space if your using porc or marble which is quite cheap now.

and is that not want i said... ie it is better to save more money for a better job...

But we all get the point..

ctrl-alt-delete

In terms of tiling over tiles, which I am not a fan of, and I am all for saving money where you can,

You would need to ensure there are no loose or cracked tiles existing,

Then what if it is a glazed tile in place, surely you'd need to abuse the exisiting tile in some way to ensure decent bonding.

You would also need a very decent Adhesive, i.e. ready mixed would not be good in this situation - you would need a decent modified thinset adhesive (which is not cheap).

The you would need to get a tiler would be happy to do it, i.e to trust what is there - because down the line if there is a problem who is at fault?

Add to this (in line with what Joey said) that you would be very lucky not to encounter a problem with the location of plumbing, i've seen people struggle to ensure the taps are still turn-able comfortably when they were tiling straight onto walls never mind adding in tiling onto existing tiles

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To answer the initial question - if it is possible to remove the slab i always would. It takes a lot of time and effort to try and save the board, and to get it to a situation where it will be handy for you to tile over again, then again it depends on how you value your time over money.

Sparkpea

Joey the lips wrote: »

Its a terriable bad job and can actually cause problems when you arrive at the bath taps. The gap at the back is not enough sometimes to slot a tile over tile.

terrible job tiling ontop of tiles, avoid where possible. it looks rubbish around the door architrave.

you are right most taps that need turned and are not levers will have a problem if double tiled. this reminded me of a job I had seen while changing an electric shower over a bath.. people had cross headed modern square taps installed and when it was doubled tiled obviously they didnt turn properly so they had grinded out a slot about 10" wide by 10-15mm deep so that the cross heads would be able to be turned. looked real crap! I thought I had seen it all now

ankaragucu

Hi, been searching and found this existing thread that applies to my situation.Removing tiles off a section of bathroom wall and no matter what, there's lumps of plaster getting damaged.The tiles only cover an area about 6 feet by 3 feet (its along a side and top of the bath)
Who should I get to do this job and how much should it cost me?Any advice much appreciated.We're getting a new bathroom in two weeks and have plumber and tiler lined up but will need to sort this first.I told the tiler I'd whip off the tiles in advance but its not working out so easy:(

ankaragucu

Sorry just to say, I mean who to get to cut out the whole section, tiles, plasterboard and all and then install new plasterboard for tiling.
Thanks

Tom Joad

Tiler would probably put in new slab for you and its a fairly quick job..

Not sure on the rest - would you not have a go yourself?