What is the best way to remove a tile from a wall in various situations?

Ceramics is considered a popular decorative material used for decorating walls and floors in the repair of sanitary facilities, kitchens, pools and other rooms. When carrying out major repairs, old coatings must be dismantled, having previously learned from experienced builders how to remove tiles from the wall in the best way. The dismantling will depend on whether you want to keep the old tile for recycling or intend to get rid of it as soon as possible. Of course, fewer problems arise in the second case, but there will be a lot of noise and dust during the work. After all, dismantling is carried out using a jackhammer and a perforator.

How to remove tiles: video guide

Cement mortar

Ceramics laid on a cement mortar by specialists who know their job can not be removed without damage. The fact is that when laying, real masters achieve reliable and durable fastening of the coating to the base. Therefore, in this case, it is not necessary to waste time in vain trying to carefully dismantle each individual tile, but to walk mercilessly with a hammer or hammer drill over the entire surface.

With such rough work, the wall or floor will receive a lot of irregularities that will need to be carefully smoothed out when preparing the surface for finishing with new materials.

Tile on special glue

If a special glue was used when laying ceramics, then a more gentle dismantling of the coating is possible. In order not to break the tile, perform the following operations, tuning in for a long and painstaking work:

release tile joints from decorative grout moistened with water, using a spatula, knife or other sharp object;

Removing grout from joints

then a spatula or chisel is inserted into the space formed and gently tapped with a hammer until a fragment of the lining separates from the wall;

clean the old tile from the glue layer by wetting it with water, and clean it for reuse in utility or utility rooms.

Advice! You can use two pieces of thick steel wire, pre-bent in the form of hooks, which lead from two sides under the tile and pull on themselves.

How to remove tiles with two steel wire hooks

We remove the tile with two steel wire hooks

Dismantling a damaged fragment

During the operation of the tiled room, there may be cases of damage to individual cladding elements. This can be cracks or chips resulting from mechanical action, as well as the loss of individual tiles with a partial capture of neighboring breakaway fragments. The latter situation is possible if violations were made when preparing the surface for laying tiles. For example, the paint has not been removed or the corrugation of the wall has not been performed, which contributes to better adhesion of the tile adhesive to the main surface.

Work on the removal of individual damaged tiles should be carried out jewelry, since it is impossible to spoil the whole lining located nearby. At the same time, they try to avoid strong impacts on the wall, as this can provoke the lag of other elements. What is the sequence of operations?

First, grout the seams around the defective tile.
Next, the cutter on the ruler is carried out on the diagonal tile, connecting the opposite angles for this.
Using a thin drill, several holes are made, and the drilling process starts from the center (at the intersection of the diagonals). This allows you to loosen the ceramics.

Damaged tile for dismantling

Then they are armed with a chisel and a hammer, carefully beating off individual pieces.

The surface of the wall is cleaned of the remnants of the tile adhesive and primed, after drying, the installation of a new tile is carried out.

Important! It is necessary to buy ceramic tiles with a small margin in case of repair of the facing surface during the operation of the room. Otherwise, it may turn out that in the store at the time of repair there will be no suitable product in stock.

The methods for dismantling tiles described above are also suitable for those people who are looking for information on how to remove tiles from the floor. As you can see, for this you need to have patience and the right tool. If desired, all work is easily carried out on their own.

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2 comments

Victoria
4 years ago

My mother in the kitchen had tiles on the walls, which thirty years ago, dad firmly stuck to cement mortar. When they began to remodel the room globally, they decided to remove the tiles. Moreover, irrevocably, there was no need to save it. Therefore, my husband ruthlessly walked with a punch and a hammer. It was noisy and dirty. The walls remained intact, although initially they were not particularly strong. It seems to me that such a dismantling is the most convenient and fast.
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Boris
6 years ago

We bought an apartment the year before last and in the bathroom the old tile is kept on cement mortar. It looks like you really have to punch the wall with a punch. Moreover, repairs in all other rooms have already been done. The rooms, the entrance hall and the kitchen are in order, it remains only to figure out the bathroom. The problem is that the house is far from new, as if the wall would not be completely destroyed when dismantling the tiles.
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