When carrying out major repairs in the kitchen or bathroom, the question of removing old tiles inevitably arises. It may not correspond to the future design of the premises, have various defects that have appeared during operation, block access to replaceable communications. How to remove tiles from the wall with minimal effort and financial costs?
First of all, you should decide on the desired result:
- The easiest option is to simply free the walls from the old cladding, without worrying about its safety. Problems here can only arise if the base is drywall.
- The task becomes more complicated if it is desirable to save part of the removed tile, so that later this tile can be used to repair another room, for example, in a country house.
- If you need to remove only one or a few tiles, for example, to replace the communications under them, then this is already a jeweler's work. In order to carefully remove one piece of tile without damaging the neighboring ones, you will have to exercise considerable caution.
Quick removal
If you can not spare the old bathroom lining, then you can remove the tiles from the walls in a variety of ways. The easiest way is to use a puncher. At the same time, one should not forget about safety precautions, you need to work with gloves and glasses.
Advice. It is better to remove tiles in the bathroom or in the kitchen from top to bottom: this will help to avoid unpleasant moments if poorly glued tiles begin to fall off in whole blocks.
Is it possible to remove tiles glued to drywall?
How to remove tiles from drywall? If it was laid correctly and in compliance with all the rules, then it is almost impossible to remove it without damaging the drywall base. Your chances of success increase if:
- Less than a day has passed since the laying of the facing material, and the tile adhesive has not yet dried to the end.
- The drywall was plastered before laying the tiles.
In the first case, the tile can be easily removed with a spatula, carefully prying it off so as not to damage the sheet.
If the drywall was plastered, then the facing material can be removed without damage in the same way as with a regular wall.
In all other cases, the drywall base will most likely be damaged. You will have to change the entire sheet. However, if only a few tiles were removed, you can cut out the defective piece of drywall sheet and replace it with a new one. The defective piece is cut out with a hacksaw, bars or a profile are inserted into the hole formed. The length of the profile must exceed the size of the patch, which will allow it to be attached to the old base. A chamfer is made on the inserted piece, and it is fastened with self-tapping screws to this frame.
Removing tiles from an entire wall
How to carefully remove the tile? The process is simple, but one must be prepared for the fact that it is unlikely that it will be possible to remove the entire tile without damaging it. If the old tiles were planted on glue, then the losses will be small, but if on cement mortar, you need to prepare for a rather large percentage of losses.
- At the preliminary stage, it is necessary to remove the grout from the joints. It is moistened with a sponge or foam rubber soaked in water. Then the grout is carefully removed with a spatula.
The task is facilitated if by the time of dismantling there are already fallen tiles. This not only indicates the fragile fastening of the tile, but also determines the place where the dismantling begins.
- If the integrity of the finish is not broken, you should start from the top, removing or breaking one tile. The next tile is separated by driving a thin chisel with a hammer between it and the glue. Strikes should be strong, but accurate.
Important! Carefully monitor the behavior of the tile in order to prevent it from falling at the right time.Otherwise, the tile, safely separated from the wall safe and sound, may break.
If it is not possible to remove the fragment from one side, then you need to try to pry it from the other. But if the lining was fastened to cement or, as in the bathroom, was constantly in a humid environment, then it will not be possible to remove a significant part of the tile intact. However, most often, when repairing, the owners are not worried about the safety of the old tiles, and they resort to using a perforator.
Even with careful dismantling of tiles, it is imperative to use safety glasses and gloves: when hit with a chisel, a small part of the tile can break off and damage your hands or eyes. It is better to play it safe and avoid such injuries.
Removing multiple tiles
There are times when you need to remove only one or a few tiles in the bathroom. This can be done without damaging neighboring elements only if no more than a week has passed since the tile was laid. With a longer period of chipping, it will not be possible to avoid.
How to remove a tile from a wall in a single copy? The seams are cleaned with a screwdriver or a special knife, and then the fragment is carefully pry off with a chisel or a thin chisel.
To avoid chips on the tile located next to the element to be removed, the surface of the tool that will be in contact with adjacent tiles can be wrapped with electrical tape.
As you can see, the process is quite risky. Therefore, it does not hurt to have a spare piece of tile if the old one cannot be removed without damage.
Adhesive removal
The tile removed from the wall must be cleaned of glue before reuse. A few tiles can be easily cleaned using a chisel and hammer.
Tip: before processing, it is recommended to place the cladding fragments in water for several hours. So the glue will be removed much easier.
With large volumes, a grinder equipped with a special nozzle will come to the rescue. Such processing is accompanied by a significant amount of dust, so it is better to carry it out in the fresh air.
Adhesive or mortar can be removed from the wall:
- Perforator.
- Bulgarian, not forgetting that it gives a lot of dust.
- scraper.
In any case, it is recommended to pre-moisten the wall with plenty of water.
Glue can not be removed if it is applied under the comb with a thin layer. The wall is primed, and the irregularities of the glue are smoothed out by a thin layer of mortar. The main thing is to make sure that the old glue is firmly attached. Otherwise, there is a high risk of fragility of the new cladding.
Removing old tiles from the walls of the bathroom or kitchen is not so difficult if you do everything correctly and accurately.
