Removing bathroom tiles - problem encountered!

[amberlindsay]

Hi all,

Apologies if this subject has been covered elsewhere (couldn't find any relevant advice in previous discussions).

I started to remove my bathroom tiles, but experienced major problems trying to get them off. The tiles are approx 1cm thick (25cmx35cm) and made of red slate type material (tbh they look like outdoor tiles!), which have been stuck on wood panelled walls with about 5mm of adhesive fully covering the back of each tile.

I couldn't get them off using a regular chisel etc and found the only thing that would get the off was a Hilti hammer drill (I bet my neighbours love me! lol). Anyway; following the removal of the tiles; a lot of the old adhesive and small bits of lumpy red slate from the back of the old tiles has remained on the walls - leaving a bumpy surface of about 5-7mm in some places.

This leaves me with a couple of questions...

1) Do I need to spend days chipping away at all of this old adhesive (and small bits to make a flat surface before I re-tile over with large 11 inch tiles? And if so, is there an easy way to do this?

or

2) Can I plaster/smooth over the bumps to make a reasonably flat surface before re-tiling? Once again; if so, what's the best way to do this?

Any help would be really appreciated because I'm absolutely tearing my hair out about this and am unsure what I should do.

Thanks in advance!

Lindsay

PS: Hindsight is a great thing isn't it - I would have re-tiled over the tiles if I'd have known what I know now...sigh!

 

[jefoss]

Hi all,

Apologies if this subject has been covered elsewhere (couldn't find any relevant advice in previous discussions).

I started to remove my bathroom tiles, but experienced major problems trying to get them off. The tiles are approx 1cm thick (25cmx35cm) and made of red slate type material (tbh they look like outdoor tiles!), which have been stuck on wood panelled walls with about 5mm of adhesive fully covering the back of each tile.

I couldn't get them off using a regular chisel etc and found the only thing that would get the off was a Hilti hammer drill (I bet my neighbours love me! lol). Anyway; following the removal of the tiles; a lot of the old adhesive and small bits of lumpy red slate from the back of the old tiles has remained on the walls - leaving a bumpy surface of about 5-7mm in some places.

This leaves me with a couple of questions...

1) Do I need to spend days chipping away at all of this old adhesive (and small bits to make a flat surface before I re-tile over with large 11 inch tiles? And if so, is there an easy way to do this?

or

2) Can I plaster/smooth over the bumps to make a reasonably flat surface before re-tiling? Once again; if so, what's the best way to do this?

Any help would be really appreciated because I'm absolutely tearing my hair out about this and am unsure what I should do.

Thanks in advance!

Lindsay

you can plaster over, but if its 5-7mm you would need to do a large plaster job.

you could get a good scraper from a tile store that is nice and sharp and work through it.

PS: Hindsight is a great thing isn't it - I would have re-tiled over the tiles if I'd have known what I know now...sigh!

no no no no no your doing the correct thing

 

[SeanTiler]

you could dot and dab some plaster board over the area but will lose quite a bit of room space, probably about 10mm. another idea would be to use a little angle grinder with a diamond blade and grind the crap of the walls, will make one hell of a mess though.

 

[jefoss]

you could dot and dab some plaster board over the area but will lose quite a bit of room space, probably about 10mm. another idea would be to use a little angle grinder with a diamond blade and grind the crap of the walls, will make one hell of a mess though.

im in favour of mess and mayhem usually, but maybe not for adhesive stuck to walls!!