Removing tile cement.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Background ========

20 years ago, I used a piece of 3x2 pine to fill a gap between a bath and the wall and tiled over it

Naturally it was never stable, and over the years the tiles cracked away partially to the extent that taking a shower mostly ended up with a substantial proportion going through the ceiling of the room below.

The piece of pine is now in the firewood pile, I will make a new structure out of something more stable.

The issue ======

I have removed all the tiles without damage, and they are currently sitting in 10% HCl.

This seems to be effective at softening the BAL grout to the point where it can be scraped off, but the water proof tile cement is proving harder. I think it was Evostik waterproof cement.

Unlike ordinary Portland, there seems to be something else quite plasticky in that cement - presumably to make it water proof.

The tiles are really thick hard ceramic ones. I could use mechanical means to grind it off, - I could probably use an angle grinder I guess- but I'd rather soften it enough to wash/scrape it off.

Any ideas?

[Colin Bignell]

Evostik waterproof tile cement claims to be an aqueous acrylic emulsion. Heat might soften the acrylic and should have no effect on a ceramic tile.

[Martin Brown]

Try IPA (aka rubbing alcohol not beer) or acetone to see if that will soften the acrylic binder.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Ah. A heat gun or a blowgun. TVM, I hadn't thought of that. So essentially a sort of super PVA with filler?

[Richard]

Probably carboxylated SBR.

[Andrew Gabriel]

If it's EVA (waterproof PVA for use in cement), one of the nasty organic solvents will get it, such as Toluene (old style Evostick solvent) or dichloromethane (old style paint stripper). Test to make sure no damage to tile surface/pattern first.

Andrew

[Colin Bignell]

The product data sheet didn't say, although there is quite a list of chemicals in the product safety sheet. Lots of filler though, which may mean that heat is less effective.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Ah. Thanks for that. so that heat and an organic solvent, so far.

These tiles are the real mcCoy - pattern and embossed texture appears to be under the glaze itself

[The Natural Philosopher]

Well that depends on who t he heat is applied. Since the de coked Aga is back up to full crack at around 175°C I might try stoving the tiles in batches and seeing whether that breaks up the cement after an hour or so. I am resigned to a long slow and patient job. As long as the result is stable and waterproof.

[Fredxx]

MY oven can get up to 250C. As a general rule you have to get plastics above 200C for them to carbonise.

I though acrylic is dissolved by acetone and IPA?

[Colin Bignell]

I think I would try softening it first. Carbonizing might make it more difficult to remove.

[jkn]

Not exactly on topic, but FWIW I recently had to remake some tiling in our bathroom, using the original tiles. The cement was quite easy to get off, after soaking the tiles in water for a day or so, and then using a metal scraper/fillet knife

For the grouting, my best result was with a carborundum 'file', like the Perma-Grit range. I found it possible to slowly abrade the grout until there was nothing left, without removing the glazing from the edge of the tiles. It was a bit slow work but luckily I only had half a dozen or so tile to do.

J^n

[John Rumm]

A carbide or diamond rasp on the end of a multitool is normally good for remove tile adhesive from a wall.

[jkn]

I had something like that as backup, but the perma-grit file worked well for my application.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Well the bottom oven is about 120°C

Ive got paint stripper on one piece as a test...we will see.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Grout is all I *have* taken off. With the brick acid. it just crumbled off.

[The Natural Philosopher]

That's another option. I have an old worn out permagrit I could destroy and not miss

This is all helpful stuff. Thanks

[Animal]

A metal spike is fast, but everyone I've seen tries the wrong technique, even after explanation. By fast I mean a 4" strip in anything from a few secoonds to a few tens of seconds, depending on the grout.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Well Andrew, much to my surprise, the not-as-good-as- it-used-to-be Nitromors is ripping that cement off at a rate of knots It appears to completely degrade the acrylic bit, leaving just a sludgy mess of filler that can be wore brushed off completely.

And it appears to do something strange to the silicone sealer on some of them. It doesn't remove it, but it makes it 'age' to the point where its a lot easier to scrape off.