Tiles cemented to breeze block. Big hole to mend

[jimrat]

Hi

I am in the process of re-tiling the bath room, and have found 2 rows of old tiles underneath the existing ones which I need to remove.

Trouble is, the old tiles have been cemented (not grouted) directly onto breeze blocks, and they are impossible to remove without taking the cement and quite a lot of the breeze block with them. I have nibbled off an area about 2 sq foot, but just noticed that the breeze block has crumbled and I now have a hole through the wall into my bedroom.....

Is there a way of getting the old tiles off the wall without destroying the blocks? Not too keen on leaving the tiles and skimming over them, as the space is a VERY tight fit for the bath (had to cut the old one to get it out), and layer-upon-layer of plaster and tiles just makes this worse.

Advice please?

Cheers
Jim

 

[jimrat]

Hopefully the picture below shows what I'm up against

 

[Burnerman]

The devils own job, Jim......I think I'd bash on with what you've started really, and then reface the wall with Aquapanel or similar. Is that feasible?
What do you think?
John

 

[ree]

An SDS drill with a chisel or a small Kango would make quick work of them but you dont seem to have that many left - too late for hiring a tool.

Using a brick chisel(as sharp as possible) and a lump hammer, and driving at an angle should prise the remainder off - dont just smash them.
How come a hole in the block?

Rendering the blockwork will allow you to fine tune the background depth for your final finished surface - dry fit the new tub before any rendering etc. just make sure it will fit.

 

[jimrat]

Ok the next photo shows the damage to the wall. As I said, the block has crumbled and I have a hole through to the bedroom (can you see the mattress?). I had no idea the breeze blocks were so thin - cant be more 2" thick, and each tile takes half an inch with it. So no kango drills or chiselling, I'm just going to take the easier option and leave the tiles in situ.

Any advice on how I fill the gaping hole in the wall? Presume I just transplant bricks and mortar into their? The mortar around the blocks aint great, so I thought I better prop the whole lot up until I fix it. It's not a load bearing wall thankfully.

Dont you just love DIY

 

[ree]

My house is a tip, i dont do DIY, i hate doing it - i'm in the building trade for a living.

An old wood chisel would work better if you did carry on the demo. Remember that whatever you leave on the wall, thats going to be the background depth for the whole wall.

Fill the hole with the same size blocks - any kind of same thickness block. Or cut some soft thermal blocks down to rough size.

If you render the bathroom side it will stabilise the wall somewhat.

The block wall is perhaps a partition used to divide a larger room to provide the bathroom - just a thought?

 

[jimrat]

Thanks Ree

Travis Perkins sell 75mm 'aerated blocks' which look like they'll do the job - is that what you mean by thermal block?

I've got some cementone rapid cement in the shed - can I get away with using that? Or has it got to be mortar (Travis only sell 20kg bags!)

Cheers
Jim

 

[cjard]

At that thickness, I doubt it's load bearing. Time and money you'll spend trying to keep your fragile wall in shape and then repairing it afterwards you could knock the entire thing down and put a slim stud wall up instead..