I want to remove a small number of large (250mm X 200mm) ceramic wall tiles from a non-asbestos fibro lining board without breaking them.
Anyone here attempted this? Or better still had success.
Any tips welcome.
They come off whole (or some of them do) when the house flexes. Not that easy to arrange, I agree. Try putting your house on a floodplain, having a flood after a drought and then waiting for everything to settle back again. I had to adjust the adjustable stump on the Casterton house again this week to be able to lock the back door.
OK, that wasn’t really helpful, was it.
:)
buffy said:
They come off whole (or some of them do) when the house flexes. Not that easy to arrange, I agree. Try putting your house on a floodplain, having a flood after a drought and then waiting for everything to settle back again. I had to adjust the adjustable stump on the Casterton house again this week to be able to lock the back door.
OK, that wasn’t really helpful, was it.
:)
First move house…
Ahhh…. No
:)
http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Wall-Tiles
This animated procedure makes it look relatively straightforward.
Ian said:
I want to remove a small number of large (250mm X 200mm) ceramic wall tiles from a non-asbestos fibro lining board without breaking them.Anyone here attempted this? Or better still had success.
Any tips welcome.
I never had any trouble, they all fell off all by themselves.
They were put on by a professional who reckoned we needed villaboard under them which my plasterer later told me was bullshit.
There are a few possibilities.
It is hot here and dry. The house is on a slab sitting on the ground.
The kitchen does have a combustion stove in it.
The hot water tank in the ceiling did rot out at the bottom and bugger up my ceilings.
Anyway, the glue lost adhesion and they all fell off. Took a while. They are still falling off.
You could try removing the grout and steaming them?
I guess if they have a hairline crack in them they will fall apart.. but all you can do is give it a go. The question is, why do you want to do that? everyone I know has spare tiles in their shed
>You could try removing the grout and steaming them?
Ok. Thanks.
That animation talks about difficulties with the grout.. says use a Dremel (got one) and a heat gun (not got) or hairdryer (got) to help.
Arts said:
I guess if they have a hairline crack in them they will fall apart.. but all you can do is give it a go. The question is, why do you want to do that? everyone I know has spare tiles in their shed
When I was in Coober Pedy, I knew a fellow who was doing up a dug-out (his third). He bought a large collection of tiles (boxes of them), trouble was they were different colours, patterns and sizes. That did not worry him as he sorted them out to the same thickness, then just cemented them down, regardless as to what was next to what, a real higgledy–piggledy, but that did not bother him at all. All he wanted was a solid hard wearing floor, which is what he got very cheaply.
Ian said:
>You could try removing the grout and steaming them?Ok. Thanks.
That animation talks about difficulties with the grout.. says use a Dremel (got one) and a heat gun (not got) or hairdryer (got) to help.
PermeateFree said:
Arts said:
I guess if they have a hairline crack in them they will fall apart.. but all you can do is give it a go. The question is, why do you want to do that? everyone I know has spare tiles in their shed
When I was in Coober Pedy, I knew a fellow who was doing up a dug-out (his third). He bought a large collection of tiles (boxes of them), trouble was they were different colours, patterns and sizes. That did not worry him as he sorted them out to the same thickness, then just cemented them down, regardless as to what was next to what, a real higgledy–piggledy, but that did not bother him at all. All he wanted was a solid hard wearing floor, which is what he got very cheaply.
have you seen the floor made from US pennies… man, that caused some confusion
Ian said:
I want to remove a small number of large (250mm X 200mm) ceramic wall tiles from a non-asbestos fibro lining board without breaking them.Anyone here attempted this? Or better still had success.
Any tips welcome.
I have had a lot of failures in trying to remove tiles intact from my house floor. I came to the conclusion that it cannot ever be done.
Don’t feel bad if it doesn’t work.
Arts said:
PermeateFree said:
Arts said:
I guess if they have a hairline crack in them they will fall apart.. but all you can do is give it a go. The question is, why do you want to do that? everyone I know has spare tiles in their shed
When I was in Coober Pedy, I knew a fellow who was doing up a dug-out (his third). He bought a large collection of tiles (boxes of them), trouble was they were different colours, patterns and sizes. That did not worry him as he sorted them out to the same thickness, then just cemented them down, regardless as to what was next to what, a real higgledy–piggledy, but that did not bother him at all. All he wanted was a solid hard wearing floor, which is what he got very cheaply.
have you seen the floor made from US pennies… man, that caused some confusion
No, any pics?
PermeateFree said:
Arts said:
PermeateFree said:When I was in Coober Pedy, I knew a fellow who was doing up a dug-out (his third). He bought a large collection of tiles (boxes of them), trouble was they were different colours, patterns and sizes. That did not worry him as he sorted them out to the same thickness, then just cemented them down, regardless as to what was next to what, a real higgledy–piggledy, but that did not bother him at all. All he wanted was a solid hard wearing floor, which is what he got very cheaply.
have you seen the floor made from US pennies… man, that caused some confusion
No, any pics?
here is the story
https://www.buzzfeed.com/tanyachen/hmmmmmmmmm?utm_term=.xokA6Bmm6#.wwk1BaWWB
PermeateFree said:
Arts said:
PermeateFree said:When I was in Coober Pedy, I knew a fellow who was doing up a dug-out (his third). He bought a large collection of tiles (boxes of them), trouble was they were different colours, patterns and sizes. That did not worry him as he sorted them out to the same thickness, then just cemented them down, regardless as to what was next to what, a real higgledy–piggledy, but that did not bother him at all. All he wanted was a solid hard wearing floor, which is what he got very cheaply.
have you seen the floor made from US pennies… man, that caused some confusion
No, any pics?
Found some. Very impressive, I would imagine it would still be quite costly, especially with labor.
Arts said:
I guess if they have a hairline crack in them they will fall apart.. but all you can do is give it a go. The question is, why do you want to do that? everyone I know has spare tiles in their shed
I have posted here before about a long term problem with water leaking out of the shower and into the room next door because of a failure in the stupid mesh/acrylic membrane (in place of a shower tray) that was the recommended system when I built here. Bit of movement of the slab and cracks have opened up between wall and floor tiles. I finally pulled up the leaks with multiple layers of Sikaflex, but it is unsightly and can never be removed. I am looking for a way to fix up the shower without doing a major renovation job.
I have a few spare tiles down in the shed but not enough. I discovered a local online who is renovating a bathroom and posted pictures.. I recognize the tiles.
So, I am invited to come (fairly shortly) to his place and try to remove what tiles I can. I think if I replace the bottom row of wall tiles and adjacent floor tiles, with some better waterproofing behind (yet to be sorted), I might achieve a fix.. mutter mutter..
>The plasterer gave me a plaster cutting knife and told me that it scrapes out the grout really well.
That sounds useful. Ta
>>I have had a lot of failures in trying to remove tiles intact from my house floor. I came to the conclusion that it cannot ever be done.
Don’t feel bad if it doesn’t work.<<
Yeah. I know how easy they are to chip or break but I have a bathroom full of tiles to play with and I only need about 10 to come away intact. Cheers
Grind/chip all the grout out, inject expanding foam all the way ‘round, apply lifting force with a Glazier’s handle (suction cup).
Remove the grout, flood with water to swell the substrate, if possible.
That’s all I’ve got.
Ian, it is going to be more down to luck than good management. If the original tiles were fixed to the wall with a plasticised ahhesive I really don’t like your chances. Having said that, there are usually a few ways to acheive a good outcome for your problem.
I assume from your last post you have a leak at your place and don’t want to pull up the tiles to add a waterproof membrane because you don’t have enough existing tiles to replace the removed ones.
Have you considered removing the tiles you need to complate the waterproofing and then replace them will tiles of the same dimension but in a contrasting or complimentry colour? Say if you removed the tiles from the bottom two courses on the walls and the first to rows of tiles on the floor closest to the walls you could then use a different coloured tile to make a boundary statement.
If you choose your colours right, it might even improve the look.
But if you have a leak you will need to have a waterproof membrane and a bond breaker in the corner..
Just a thought.
Thanks stan.
I have stopped the leaks for now using Sikaflex applied heavily as I said. But it’s messy and is a home for fungi.
>Have you considered removing the tiles you need to complate the waterproofing and then replace them will tiles of the same dimension but in a contrasting or complimentry colour? Say if you removed the tiles from the bottom two courses on the walls and the first to rows of tiles on the floor closest to the walls you could then use a different coloured tile to make a boundary statement.
If you choose your colours right, it might even improve the look.<
Yeah, thought of doing that. Will be the fall-back option. It won’t improve the look because the wall is a stunning dark green with a light pattern through it and the floor a different lighter green. Nice idea though.
>But if you have a leak you will need to have a waterproof membrane and a bond breaker in the corner.. <
Would you elaborate on this part please.