Removing & re-applying wall tiles

[zahmed]

Hi guys,
I have one row of tiles in my shower which have become loose & now the paint is bubbling on the otherside of the wall.
is it possible to remove the loose tiles & then remove the old adhesive so I can apply some new adhesive?
if so whats the best method? any advice is much appreciated
cheers

[wine~o]

Frankly if the water has penetrated that far, you'll need to strip out more than just the odd loose tile, sounds to me like you've saturated whatever is behind the tiles, probably best to prise of a couple of tiles and post some pics up of what's behind them..

[DTWCeramics]

Take off any loose tiles and the wall behind.

dot and dab plasterboard, retile and grout.

That is the easiest but most temporary solution for this.

Best method would be to strip all of the tiles, grout and adhesive, reboard the walls with hardibacker/Marmox/Jackoboard ETC, tiles on, best grout you can get, and hope for the best.

Cheers

[zahmed]

thanks for the replies,
i just wanted to a quick & temporary fix for the time being.
if i did remove the tiles is there a way of removing the hardened adhesive from the back of the tiles without damageing them?

[DTWCeramics]

Most probably not. You will also damage tiles when taking them off of the wall.

If you are unable to find replacement tiles, check out "tiles in my garage" - google this and see if anything matches yours.

Alternatively look at making a feature of the area by installing mosaics.

Cheers

[wine~o]

is there a way of removing the hardened adhesive from the back of the tiles without damageing them?

You could try sticking them in a bucket of hot water for an hour or two...this will only work if (as I suspect) a tubbed adhesive was used originally..

[DTWCeramics]

is there a way of removing the hardened adhesive from the back of the tiles without damageing them?

You could try sticking them in a bucket of hot water for an hour or two...this will only work if (as I suspect) a tubbed adhesive was used originally..

Normally only works within the first few days of tiling as well.

If you're going to do this, add some fairy liquid to the bucket and do it overnight.

[haveagohero]

If you can get them all off in one piece you could use an angle grinder and a steady hand if there isn't too many to clean up

[Agile]

I want to remove and replace some coloured tiles because they cannot be matched any longer.

They are 6" tiles and mostly white which are available but have an alternate light blue tile along the top row. They were fitted about 40 years ago using four dabs now about 60 mm diameter.

Tony