Removing tiles from paramount plasterboard wall

[richardadc]

I'm currently looking into retiling my bathroom but i've got an issue in that the current non-plastered paramount (egg-box) plasterboard wall has got two layers of tiles on it. Obviously if i damage the wall in the removal of the tiles it'll be a lot of work to fix.

As such i was wondering what would be the best way to remove the tiles/adhesive. I'm going to be buying a Bosch GOP 250 Multi Cutter so not sure if that could help with any of it. I've also got a steamer if that would help at all?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Best method to removing tiles from plasterboards surfaces.
Is hammer and broad chisel. Hold the chisel at a steep angle in to the tiles and knock them off that way. Unfortunately you will get some damage, such is the nature of removing tiles from plasterboard it's going to happen but using the above method will help reduce the damage.
The first layer should not be a problem as it will not be directly bonded to the board.
To remove tile adhesive, again chisel off as much as you can, then heat treatment will help soften the product up and allow you to scrape it off.
So either a hot air gun or a steamer/wallpaper stripper, which ever you've got and can lay your hands on.

 

[1john]

Sadly I think you should be prepared to replace the wall, although this gives you a chance to do it properly. What size tiles are you going to re-tile with?

 

[richardadc]

Ok, thanks for the replies. I'll give the broad chisel a go but i'll also plan for the worse.

If it came to replacing the wall do you think i could cut out a few sections of the plasterboard and eggbox behind out (from top to bottom) and fit a length of wood within these sections and then overboard with new plasterboard? I don't want to pull the whole paramount wall down as the other side of it has just been plastered. Nevermind that the bathroom wasn't a planned thing and is only being done as a weekend of DIY revealed a lot of wet rot in the floor.

 

[1john]

Think about it, if you damage the bathroom side then you will be removing alot of strength from the wall which you cannot replace, at lease for the bedroom side you will be left with large sections of wall that are not fixed to anything. You would need to pull the whole wall down imo and create a proper stud wall and re board both sides, dont forget to install rockwool in the wall to help with noise reduction. If you have large tiles in the bathroom or the wall is in a wet area then you might want to look in using aquapanel instead of plasterboard in the bathroom.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

The problem you have is that they are paramount boards, they are designed to double up as a two surface board, so the board not only covers the bathroom but also the next room. You will have no stud work within the walls, as these boards are generally slide on to a track like system with a head and sole plate only, as fixing point and support.
What I would consider and it will be do it and see how you get a long situation.
Is carefully remove the tiles, trying to cause the least amount of damage as possible, you never know.
Small holes are easily patched up. But if the extent of the damage is excessive but you have not caused damage that has weakened the wall. I would clear off the excess adhesive and dot and dab a board/boards over this area. You will lose a little space something like 20-25mm due to dabs and board thickness and as stated earlier if the wall is going to be a wet area aqua panels would be ideal.
But there will be limitations on the weight of tiles you can apply to the wall.

 

[richardadc]

The problem you have is that they are paramount boards, they are designed to double up as a two surface board, so the board not only covers the bathroom but also the next room. You will have no stud work within the walls, as these boards are generally slide on to a track like system with a head and sole plate only, as fixing point and support.

Thanks for your advice but could i just clarify what i meant as in my silly DIY mind what i suggested should still support the other side of the wall.

So, what i would do is remove a few 3 inch width sections (every 600mm) from top to bottom on the paramount board. I would then put a 3 inch wide piece of wood in this section (with whatever depth required to fill the depth) with some adhesive to fix it to the bedroom side of the wall and then also screw this piece into head and sole plate (and possibly through into the joists as well if required). The bedroom side would then be supported by whatever is left of the eggbox structure and also the beams i've placed in the wall. I would then overboard the bathroom section with plasterboard and screw into the pieces of wood i've put in the wall.

Let me know if this sounds too crazy. Otherwise i think i'm going to have to pray no damage is caused. Replacing the way really is the last think i want to do

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Personally I would not cut in to the board, as the corrugated section helps give strength to the board and stops it from twisting/warping.
As I mentioned previously, If the wall is excessively damaged and removal was not an option. I would dot 'n' dab a board over the top. It will be much easier than trying to insert timbers in to the corrugated chambers and should keep it good and sturdy.

 

[richardadc]

Ok, not what i wanted to hear but thanks for the advice. The problem i have is that adding 20-25mm to the wall is going to mean it'll stick quite a bit past the door frame so was looking for ways around that. On the other walls your method sounds fine.

I'll let you know what happens.

 

[1john]

You are going to add 20mm if you do it either way as the paramount walls are normally ~2"thick, if you add timbers the minimum you will want is 3x2 looks like your gonna have to suck it and see.

 

[Richard C]

Unfortunately I’m not familiar with Paramount partition but if you’re going to re-tile, you need to consider how you fix any sort of overboard. D&D is not sufficient if you propose hanging tiles with any sort of weight off it so you need something to fix into. Wet areas also need a decent waterproof tile backer board; if you use plasterboard, your going to have to tank it if you want it to last.

 

[richardadc]

Just out of interest if i do safely manage to remove the tiles without damaging the plasterboard is there anything i can do this time to make sure that no damage is caused next time they need to be removed?

 

[Richard C]

Only way you can really achive that is to mechanically fix (screw) sacrificial board over the existing wall which can be easily replaced next time around. If the adhesive has done its job properly, the tiles will be well stuck to the tile base otherwise they would fall off (& in many cases frequently do). Removal will nearly always cause some damage to whatever base they are stuck to.

 

[1john]

Thats the thing with paramont Rich C, you cant screw to it. you have a head and sole plate, or track if you will and the paramount boards are fixed to it, imagine two plasterboards with egg box type cardboard sandwiched between them about 2" overall thickness. im not sure if uprights were installed after each board, but still its a junk system, slapped up cheap, poss worse than extruded aluminium studding imo and I hate that stuff too!

 

[bathstyle]

I must've done about 20 or so bathrooms with paramount board or other similar variants.

It's not really too difficult to overcome the problem, you just need timber the same size or very similar to the existing middle sections of timber in the walls. I tend to rip the single or double sheet of board down my side (paramount often has an extra P/board sheet Dot and dabbed on) and then Gripfill the new studs in position and then board out next day.

No idea if you've done this yet, i only read first post due to time constraints.

Leaving the existing board on is unlikely to happen when removing old tiles that's for sure!