Demolition: Removing Bathroom Tile the Right Way

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When you bathroom is looking tired and worn, you may want to consider doing a complete remodel on the room. Old tile and worn floors can be removed to make way for an update and renovation. While laying down your new tile is not particularly challenging, when you first have to remove the existing tile, it makes the job twice as hard. As you are assessing your tiles, you may want to consider removing some of them and keeping others.

However, if all of the tile is looking old and worn, then you will want to remove and replace all of your tile. All the tropical or fish wall sculpture, new towels or wall art and decor in the world can't make up for broken tiles and rusty old fixtures.

Before Starting

If you did not install your original tile, then you probably do not know what is under your tile floor. Generally this under layer is called a bed. Usually a bed will consist of a concrete base or backer board. Depending on which type of sub flooring you have, you will want to go about removing your tile a little differently.

Concrete Base

If your tile is installed in a concrete base, also known as thin concrete, you will have to put a little elbow grease into removing them. The tools that work best for demolition on this job are a hammer and chisel. You can tap the grout to break it loose from in between the tiles, and then you can pop the tile up with a hammer and chisel. If you position your chisel at about a 45-degree angle to the tile and tap it with your hammer, you may be able to pop up the entire piece of tile. If the tile proves stubborn, then you can angle your chisel in the center of the tile and give it a good rap with your hammer. The tile will most likely break into pieces. It is essential to protect your eyes to protect from flying shrapnel. Along with a chisel, you may find a sturdy paint scraper useful to wedge between the tile and the concrete base. Then once all of the tile pieces are removed, use the hammer to break up any remnants of grout and sweep it away.

Backer Board

When tile is installed on backer board, it is removed in a similar fashion. Before you replace your tile, you will want to replace your backer board as well. The reason that you want to start with fresh backer board is that it is next to impossible to remove every remnant from the existing backer board. If you lay tile over grout remnants, you run the risk of having uneven tile, or cracking your tile. So if you are looking for places to save money on your project, this is not it. Once you remove a few tiles from the backer board, you should be able to knock a small hole in the board and pry up the entire piece of board, tiles and all. This way you do not have to pry all of the tiles lose from the board, and the demolition job is much quicker than when you are removing tile from thin concrete.