The time has come. Your bathroom tiles are beyond repair, and you want to replace them. Or, it may be just a pair of tented tiles that are causing all the trouble. Either way, it is time for tile removal, and you are wondering whether you should hire somebody to do it or if is it something you can easily do yourself.
It depends on your DIY skills and how far you are willing to go to save money for tile removal. Generally, you can remove a floor bathroom tile in simple steps:
Your other option is to forget about inhaling dust and spending hours tapping with a hammer and simply hire a tile remover. In most cases, that is simply the tiler who did your tiling work or the tiler who is about to do your bathroom tiling.
Ask the tilers if they include the tile removal in their tile installation cost. Get several quotes on your bathroom tiling before proceeding.
The most common reason for tile removal and replacement is the so-called tile tenting. This is the situation when two tiles pop up, usually in the grout area and make a tent-like botch on your bathroom floor. It is incredibly annoying and can even cause injuries if you are not careful. The causes for the tile pop-up are different.
Other reasons to replace tiles are cracked tiles or just plain, old redecorating. You remove and replace the tile in the following steps:
Now let’s go over these steps in more detail, as there is a bit more to it:
To remove the grout around your tile, you will use the manual grout removal tool. That is actually its name – grout removal tool. In most cases, it resembles an ice-pick, but there are different versions. Some are more like knives.
Grout is the material that surrounds your bathroom tile. It is applied after the tiles have been installed. It is applied by adding it all over the tile and spreading it over the space between two tiles until it settles inside that space. The excess is wiped, and the grout dries there and protects the tiles.
Since it settles in so nicely, it is not that easy to remove it, especially if you are removing only one tile. If you remove more than one tile, this is going to be a tedious and tiring task, and you should think about using some of the oscillating appliances.
There are grout removal attachments that you can use on these appliances. Some of them resemble small drills, while others are more like specialised blades for rotating appliances. It is worth visiting your hardware store and asking about these, especially if you plan on repeating this project in the future.
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Step 1 – Protect yourself. It doesn’t sound like tile removal that only involves removing one or two tiles could be that dangerous. It isn’t. But it isn’t about its hidden hazards either. Regardless of whether you want to remove one tile or 20 of them, there will be some shards, and there will be dust. So you need protective gear – gloves, eyewear and a face mask.
Step 2 – Eliminate the grout. Now that you know about the right tools for grout removal, you need to get to work. In most complicated cases, grout is sometimes removed with chemicals. Eliminating the grout will loosen the tile’s attachment to the wall and facilitate the tile removal. While taking care of the grout, make sure that you don’t damage the surrounding tiles.
Step 3 – Chisel the tile off. You have enough space in between the tiles to place your chisel. Find the angle under which to place the chisel so that it doesn’t damage the underlying surface and still removes the tile. Once you have it, tap the chisel with the hammer until the bathroom tile begins to break off.
Step 4 – Remove the remaining tile pieces. No matter how careful and detailed you are, there will be some little pieces of tiles stubbornly holding onto the walls. You need to take a scraping tool and scrape them off as thoroughly as possible.
This depends on whether you want to remove only one or two tiles or you want to get rid of all the bathroom tiles at once. Your choices are:
These are not the only tools that you will need when removing your bathroom tile. You will also need a scraper and some protective gear.
Hammer and chisel are your first go-to combination when it comes to tile removal. You just need to make sure that the chisel is of appropriate size. If you want to remove a single bathroom tile, you will need something thin enough to fit, at least partially, into the gap between the tiles from which you have removed the grout.
The easiest tiles to remove are the tiles that are old or that are under direct sunlight. These tiles usually don’t have adhesives that hold as hard as the fresh adhesives do.
They are probably dried off and the grip they have on the tile and/or on the wall is loosening. That is why these tiles will be removed more easily. If the tiles already began to buckle, it is even easier to just help them “peel off”.
Now that you have the tile removal part of your project done, it is time for the next phase of your tiling work. Replacing just one tile is something you can do yourself, but if you are replacing the tiles in the entire bathroom, it is better left to the professionals. Get quotes from Australian pro tilers near you and pick the best one.