Wall tiles: removing stubborn ones

Feb 07, 2005 9 Replies

I have been removing some tiles from my kitchen wall (brick + plaster finish), using a hammer + bolster.



All has gone well, apart from a couple of tiles that refuse to shift. After much bashing and swearing, I have knocked the edges of these tiles. But they seem to be *fused* to the wall!



Any tips on shifting stubborn tiles? I do not have any power drills or suchlike.



Bruce



Time to invest in a SDS drill perhaps?

Brute force and ignorance... wear safety goggles and smash them from the front, then chip the bits that are left off.

I use an old rigid wallpaper scraper - thin enough to get behind the tile, if your bolster is to thick that could be your problem

Regards Jeff

Thanks, Jeff. But I've been using a wallpaper scraper with good results. Use the bolster to chip away some tiling adhesive, insert the scraper and wiggle about. Sometimes brings out a block of 4.

But the remaining 2 tiles are glued on pretty well.

Bruce

There is no such thing as a stubborn what wall tile, just a weak operator with a hammer and bolster !....

Don't wste time, buy the SDS.

It won't be the last time you use it.

Mary

On 7 Feb 2005 03:23:27 -0800, bruce snipped-for-privacy@my-deja.com strung together this:

Hit it harder you big girls blouse.

Get a bigger hammer? The tiles I recently stripped off a plastered wall either just fell off or took the top finish of plaster with them. Damping the adhesive works sometimes.

I had similar problems removing my old bathroom tiles. You need to make sure your chisel is really sharp to cut into the adhesive behind the tile rather than glancing off it. I think in the end I resorted to an old wood chisel which seemed to "cut" better than the bolster. Make sure its an old one though as it'll be useless afterwards without a complete regrind.

Nodge

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