Removing stubborn tiles

DIY_Johnny · Post by **DIY_Johnny** » Mon Nov 24, 2008 2:45 pm

Hi all, can someone recomend me a good way of removing tiles. The floor tiles are attached to plywood and aren't too bad however the wall ones are really difficult to get off. I am using a 4" cold chisel and hammer but its very slow they just keep splintering.

I notice the pictures of using a SDS drill with attachment. Is there any special machine you can hire or should I just keep belting away

Thanks in advance

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Mon Nov 24, 2008 3:53 pm

You can make this a lot easier if you get a SDS drill with rotary stop on it and a suitable chisel.

<embed src="http://www.ultimatehandyman.org/flvplayer.swf" quality="high" width="450" height="367" name="VideoPlayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" flashvars="file=http://www.ultimatehandyman.org/uploads ... r=0xFFFFFF" wmode="transparent" border="0"></embed>

DIY_Johnny · Post by **DIY_Johnny** » Mon Nov 24, 2008 3:59 pm

That looks great I am going to see if I can hire one of those at the weekend!
Thanks for your help! Its taking me 15mins per tile at this stage!

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Mon Nov 24, 2008 4:07 pm

NewbieJohn wrote:That looks great I am going to see if I can hire one of those at the weekend!
Thanks for your help! Its taking me 15mins per tile at this stage!

You can hire them, but you can also buy them cheaply-

dead link removed

At that price the drill will not last years but it should do that job easily.

DIY_Johnny · Post by **DIY_Johnny** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 10:06 am

cheers, I bought a Titan 6Kg , for £40 if it lasts only a week or too, I'll be happy.

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 10:36 am

NewbieJohn wrote:cheers, I bought a Titan 6Kg , for £40 if it lasts only a week or too, I'll be happy.

It's guaranteed for 12 months I think and so if it does break, make sure you send it back and get a new one.

Keep the receipt safe

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 2:05 pm

Those cheapo SDS drills do a great job. They make easy work getting tiles off but just watch your eyes and wear gloves. There are very small sharp ceramic splinters that fly off so take care and clear up well.

DWD

DIY_Johnny · Post by **DIY_Johnny** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 2:39 pm

Actually I need to remove a brick fire place and chase some cables walls and ceilings also, Do you reckon the SDS will help there? They are brick walls

Was going to give it a go but if bo use will hire a wall chaser tool

Cheers

PS: On another tiling topic. I am installing a shower cubicle. I assume that I fully tile the walls first and then install the cubicle.

and also, should I tile the wall where the shower control is and try cut out the hole for the pipe, would this be advisable?

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 6:29 pm

I burned out one chasing out for for a whole house rewire. Used a combination of hand scutching and SDS. Worked a treat. Those wall chasers create too much dust for me the SDS way was fine.

DWD

DIY_Johnny · Post by **DIY_Johnny** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 6:38 pm

great two jobs in one!

I was just reading the posts about tiling a shower cubicle, I am a touch confused. My bathroom has solid walls but there is a plywood wall used just to hide the feeds to the shower. Now, previously it was tiled around the shower controls) on top of plywood. I need to remove this plywood cos at the bottoms its all rotted away. I notice the advice on using aquapanel, however would this be sufficient to hold the termostatic shower controls in place.

Else should I fix the aquapanel to a new sheet of ply wood.

For the solid walls, removing the tiles is pulling a lot of plaster with it, must I re plaster the wall before tiling or wall the tiling adhesive be sufficient, to smooth out the lumps and bumps

ta

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 7:57 pm

Might be a good idea to start a new thread with your new questions

DIY_Johnny · Post by **DIY_Johnny** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:38 pm

Thread is a bit old but though I'd give my view on removing the tiles.

I bought the £40 Titan 6KG SDS drill to remove the bathroom floor and wall tiles. I originally was using a bolster chisel and it was taking ages. With the SDS drill I have the whole bathroom tiles out in 40 mins or so. Really easy job.

Plenty of cut my arms when I was finished. Those tiles are sharp!

Thanks for the advice chaps

DOMINOSEATER · Post by **DOMINOSEATER** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 9:52 am

NewbieJohn wrote:Thread is a bit old but though I'd give my view on removing the tiles.

I bought the £40 Titan 6KG SDS drill to remove the bathroom floor and wall tiles. I originally was using a bolster chisel and it was taking ages. With the SDS drill I have the whole bathroom tiles out in 40 mins or so. Really easy job.

Plenty of cut my arms when I was finished. Those tiles are sharp!

Thanks for the advice chaps

just a quick tip wear a jumper or sweatshit and golves and then just put a elestic band over the arm to make a tight seal and then no bits go up ya jumper

DIY_Johnny · Post by **DIY_Johnny** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:10 am

Good idea,

used the drill to take out a fire place at the weekend, all cast concrete and re-bars. Was slow enough but drill got through it. Its certainly paying off!