Removing ceramic tiles from Plasterboard walls?

[Gareth]

Does anyone have any tips for removing ceramic tiles from plasterboard walls?

Thanks for any advice.

Gareth

[Lobster]

Usually best not to bother or try... just rip the tiled plasterboard down and replace.

David

[ARWadsworth]

I agree with that.

[Roger Mills]

Indeed. Plasterboard is very cheap. You're unlikely to achieve a re-useable surface after removing tiles, so far easier to replace.

[John Rumm]

For what purpose? If they are well stuck and you want to re-tile, then abrade them with coarse glass paper and tile over.

To remove, you may have luck with a SDS tile chisel. At best the wall will probably need a reskim, at worst new plasterboard!

[Gareth]

Currently my bathroom is tiled ~halfway up the walls on all four walls. This is not high enough to prevent water getting onto untiled parts of the wall when taking a shower, I would therefore like to remove the tiles and tile all the way up to the ceiling around the bath. The current tiles are also a bit too dark for my liking.

Thanks, a good suggestion if all the area I wanted to tile was already tiled but with the way it is currently this would result in a small step

1/2 way up the wall.

[Gareth]

Thanks for the suggestions.

[The Natural Philosopher]

New plasterboard?

[John Rumm]

In which case you have no ideal solution... add cheap tiles to use as a leveller on the un-tiled bits and then tile over, or strip and tile.

If you are tiling floor to ceiling, then reboarding, and tiling directly onto the PB after a coat of PVA would probably be the simplest. Less mess taking existing tiles off as well since you could do it in large sections. For the shower area it might be worth reboading with aqua panel rather than PB anyway - saves it all going soggy if there is a leak.

[Colin Stamp]

That's the same setup as my bathroom. A lump hammer and cold chisel worked fine for me. It took a few lumps out of the plasterboard, but there was still plenty left to stick the new tiles to.

Cheers,

Colin.

[Jeff Gaines]

When I had that problem some years back I sloped the first row of tiles and then went straight up. It hardly noticed and was easy to keep clean.

[TheScullster]

"Gareth" wrote

I got the upper half of the wall skimmed (with bonding plaster) to level with the face of the lower tiles - then tile over the resulting flat surface. As previously mentioned, worth roughening the surface of the tiles on the lower half of the wall. Use decent adhesive for tiles-on-tiles - I used BAL White Star.

Phil

[stuart noble]

I've done this too. IME a 4" paint scraper and a light hammer works better on plasterboard than the bolster/club hammer method.

[Enzo]

I recently did my bathroom... Removed all tiles with a pain scraper. The tiles came off easy, but, left the adhesive on the wall. The adhesive was essentially flat, a few parts fell off, so i just skimmed in them holes to bring to the level of the old tile adhesive.

Alternately, I could have spent a number of hours getting the adhesive off the plaster.... I sort of had to just make sure the little raised parts where the grout was a little higher was removed but that just took 10 mins. I tiled over the old adhesive then with no problems.

I guess with the OP only having half tiled, not so easy, so, maybe remove the adhesive too. Removing the plasterboard with the tiles all seems a little overkill to me..!!

[TheScullster]

"Lobster" wrote

Beware "Paramount" style plasterboard walls - they would certainly not stand this type of treatment (2 bits of plasterboard with egg-crate cardboard filling). We have these in 1970s build :(.

Phil

[The Natural Philosopher]

Ah..yes..

Good point.

Trouble with tiled board, is that it usually rips the paper off

*selectively*.

Cost of skimming to an acceptable standard is more than replacing the skin.

Except as you point out, if it hasn't any structure behind.

[Phil L]

Removing the plasterboard with the tiles

If the tile adhesive is straight onto plasterboard, rather than skimmed plasterboard, it very often comes away with the tile, that is to say, the tile, adhesive and PB are often bonded so tightly that big chunks of it end up coming off, if this is the case, it would probably be easier to just rip it all off and re-board

[The Natural Philosopher]

yes. By all means try and get them off, but be prepared to end up with a re-boarding job.

BUT its actually so trivial to relay new board, which doesn't even need skimming, for tiles, that its no big deal if it does come off.

I am so used now to removing and replacing, and even reskimming, sections of wall that need supports behind them or cables run through them that its no longer an issue for me. slap the board on, scrim edges, plaster on, and orbital sand it down to natch the old. Paint and go.