Removing old Tile

[Patricia]

We are tearing out our 50 year old tile for a bathroom remodel. It is much more difficult than I first thought. Any suggestions on the the easiest and quickest way to pull the old tile off the wall. Thanks! [?]

Patricia

[mrcaptainbob]

Heat the tiles with a propane or MAPP gas torch and lift them up with a flat prybar like the one used to remove baseboard moldings. The trick is to heat the tile and let the heat sink into it enough so as to warm up the mastic beneath. Play the torch on the first tile and and when it's nice and (almost) hot, go to the next tile. Once the second tile's nice and (almost) hot, go back to the first tile and play the torch on it. Then slip that prybar underneath and it'll come off pretty easy. Most could probably be taken off and reclaimed.

[Patricia]

What about the concrete/mortar behind the tile? We were tearing out the wire mesh behind the tile as well because we are putting up sheetrock instead of tile. I would love to send the tiles for reclamation but they were painted by someone before we bought the house. I am afraid they are unsable. Do you disagree? Thanks!

Patricia

[LazyPup]

You stated that the tile is 50 yrs old and you are finding concrete mortar.

Years ago they made lathe and plaster walls, then they come out with expanded metal to take the place of wooden lathe. The sheets of expanded metal were tacked to the studs then the finish was applied in the same manner as finishing plaster over the wood lathe.

In some locations such as bathroom or shower walls they used a cement product in place of the plaster in the same manner that we use water resistant sheetrock today.

Once the wall was finished the ceramic tile was installed in basically the same manner as it is done today. If you intend to try to save the tiles you could use the heat method and pry them off the wall but you will probably damage a lot of the ceramic in the process. Generally, unless the ceramic is really unusual it doesnt warrant the time and effort to try to remove and clean it for future use.

If you just want to remove it to prep for sheetrock a good hammer and flat bar should be all you need.

A word of caution though..when deomolishing walls with ceramic tile be sure to wear eye protection and gloves. When ceramic tile breaks it makes a lot of little shards and chips like breaking glass. Also the glazed edge of ceramic tile can be sharp as razor blades. Be very carefull in handling it.

[Troy]

Thanks for the info. Patricia is my wife. Do we have some moral or other responsibility for saving the tile? We don't want it.

Try

[LazyPup]

patricia,,since Troy is your hubby i have a much simpler solution to your question,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,hand troy the hammer..........ehehehheh

[HayZee518]

The adhesive used is quickset - a mortar based material. There is no easy way of removing it. Take a sledgehammer and knock it off the studs! Remove what is left of the waterproof sheetrock and replace the "rock" with new stuff.
Prime the surface with a cheap latex primer paint and go about what you want for a finish.

[mrcaptainbob]

Lazy and HayZee...This whole subject is way off line and I think something should be done about it! What's with this posting of questions about WALL tile on the Flooring Forum? Is this allowed?

[Patricia]

That is a good point, Mr. Captain Bob. I was just telling the forum administrator that he should create a tile forum because it is ambiguous where such posts go.

Patricia

[Troy]

We used a sledgehammer (LazyPup, I did most of the swinging thanks to you ) to crack a seam down the wall between the wood beams. Then we pried the tile with the mortar from the beam. It was hard work (and we aren't finished ) but it went pretty well.

"I was just telling the forum administrator that he should create a ...." She was telling me a lot of things I should do, not just that...

Try