Quck answer
To remove tile, follow these steps:
1. Gather necessary tools: safety goggles, gloves, chisel, hammer, pry bar, and a putty knife.
2. Start by removing grout: Use the chisel and hammer to chip away at the grout between the tiles.
3. Break the tile: Place the chisel at the edge of the tile and gently tap it with a hammer to break it into pieces.
4. Remove tile pieces: Use the pry bar or putty knife to lift and remove the broken tile pieces.
5. Repeat steps for each tile: Continue breaking and removing tiles until all are removed.
6. Clean the surface: Scrape away any remaining adhesive or grout using the putty knife.
7. Dispose of debris: Properly dispose of broken tile pieces and debris.
Remember to wear protective gear and proceed with caution to avoid injury.
If you’re planning to replace old tiles with new ones or want to get rid of an outdated tile backsplash, you need to know the procedure to remove tile. This home improvement task is not complicated, and you can do it yourself. By doing so, you can save money by not hiring a professional. However, it can be a tedious, messy, and time-consuming job, but it’s worth it. With some tools and techniques, you can make the job go faster and easier. Here’s how you can remove tile.
Protective Gear
Before you start removing tiles, it’s vital to have the right protective gear. You need safety glasses to protect your eyes from tiny particles, a dust mask to avoid breathing them in, work gloves to protect your hands from sharp tile shards, and knee pads if you’re removing floor tiles.
Types of Tile Adhesive
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Ruslan Sidorov/iStock/GettyImages
The most common types of tile adhesive are thinset mortar and mastic. The type of adhesive used will determine the difficulty of the job. Mastic is often used for wall tiles and tends to be more brittle. Most mastics are organic resins that soften when submerged in water. Thinset consists of Portland cement, sand, and a latex additive. Tiles set in thinset are more difficult to remove because thinset is harder and has more body.
To test whether the adhesive is mastic or thinset, remove one tile and hit the adhesive underneath with a hammer. If it crumbles, it’s thinset, but if it shatters, it’s mastic, and it’s water-soluble. If the mastic was manufactured before 1989 and is black, it may contain asbestos. In this case, have a sample of the mastic tested and hire an asbestos abatement contractor to remove the tile.
Tools You’ll Need
- Plastic sheeting
- Safety glasses
- Work gloves
- Dust mask
- Knee pads
- Earmuffs
- Contractor trash bags
- Chisel
- Utility knife
- Hammer
- Grout saw
- Rotary tool with grinding accessory
Tool that oscillates with a blade designed for removing grout
Cold chisel
Pry bar
Mop
Stiff 4-inch paint scraper
Floor scraper
Shop vac
Dustpan and broom
Orbital sander
80-grit sandpaper
How to Remove Ceramic Tile
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Roman Mykhalchuk/iStock/GettyImages
If you need to remove ceramic tile from a hard surface like a concrete or plywood subfloor, or a cement board underlayment, this step-by-step guide will help. However, if the tile is attached to drywall, it may be easier to replace the drywall rather than trying to remove the tile without damaging it.
1. Prepare the Area
If you’re removing tiles from a wall, place plastic sheeting on the floor to collect debris. Get your tools and protective gear ready, including safety glasses, work gloves, and a dust mask. If you’re removing floor tiles, use knee pads and earmuffs if you’re using power tools. Purchase heavy-duty contractor’s trash bags for disposal.
2. Remove the First Tile
Find a loose or broken tile and use a chisel to pry it up. For backsplash tiles, start with a tile in the center of the top row, and use a utility knife to cut through any caulk or paint on the outer edge. If you can’t find a loose tile, remove the grout around a tile using a hammer and chisel or a grout saw. Then, use an oscillating tool or a rotary tool with a grinder accessory to cut through the grout. Tap a chisel underneath the tile and pry it up at the lowest possible angle. If it breaks, remove the pieces.
Tip
Use a sharp chisel to make the job easier. A wood chisel can be repurposed as a utility tool.
3. Remove the Remaining Tiles
Once you’ve removed one tile, use the space to insert your prying tool and remove the rest of the tiles. The difficulty of this step depends on the adhesive used. For tiles embedded in mortar, use a cold chisel, hammer, and pry bar. For mastic adhesive, use a chisel or paint scraper with a hammer.
To remove tiles, it’s recommended to remove the grout first before removing them. If you plan to reuse the tiles, stack them safely after removing the grout. However, if you’re not going to reuse them, have trash bags ready for disposal. The best way to remove grout depends on the condition and width of the grout lines. Old grout is brittle and can be removed with a chisel or handheld grout saw, while an oscillating tool with a grout-removal attachment works best for hard grout from wide gaps. A rotary tool with a grinding accessory is recommended for narrow grout lines.
After removing the tiles, you need to remove the adhesive residue. If it’s mastic adhesive, get it wet and scrape it off with a 4-inch scraper, or a floor scraper if it’s on the floor. However, if it’s thinset mortar, you may need to chip away at it with a cold chisel and hammer or an oscillating tool and then scrape it with a scraper. Vacuum or sweep all the dust and residue and use an orbital sander with 80-grit or coarser sanding disks to sand down any small bits of adhesive that remain.
To remove tiles without breaking them, remove the grout from each edge of every tile using a grout saw or rotary tool. Use a 4-inch scraper to work under the edge of each tile, holding it at a low angle and tapping it gently with a hammer. For large tiles, use a suction cup to lift them while sliding the scraper underneath.
Mastic is much easier to remove from ceramic tiles than thinset mortar. You can simply immerse the tiles in water for a couple of hours and then scrape off the softened adhesive. However, if the tiles were set in mortar, a tile adhesive remover may soften it if it has a high enough latex content, but it may not work because it’s a cement-based product.
To remove tile flooring, you’ll need to scrape and sand it off. It’s best to use a 4-inch scraper to break up the chunks to avoid cracking the tile. After most of the large pieces are gone, use a sander to remove the rest. If the ceramic tile floor is set in mastic, you can remove it by scraping off the grout and dousing the entire floor in water. If it’s set in a thick mortar bed on a concrete slab, you’ll need to chisel through the bed to the subfloor and then use a floor scraper, hammer, and chisel to pry up the mortar along with the tile. You can save yourself effort if the tile is set on plywood underlayment or cement board that is glued or mortared to the subfloor by taking up the entire subfloor, tile and all.
Removing wall tiles is often easier than floor tiles, especially if they are set in mastic. You can easily remove them by slipping a chisel or scraper underneath them and tapping lightly. After that, you’ll need to repair the wall to prepare for new tile, a different wall covering, or paint. Scrape off the adhesive, wetting it first if necessary and using a scraper or putty knife. If the substrate is drywall, patch holes with patching compound, and if you’re going to paint or hang wallpaper, flatten the wall by skim coating the entire area with two or three coats of joint compound.
To remove a backsplash, you’ll need to remove all trim from around the backsplash and cut through any caulk around the perimeter. You should be extra careful when prying off the tiles, as you’ll likely pull off drywall paper and make a few holes when removing the adhesive. You can repair most damage with patching compound, drywall joint compound, and drywall tape.