Help-Question about removing 2 layers of bathroom tiles

mikey72

Last two bathrooms I did all the old tiles came straight off the wall, minimal adhesive left behind, maybe half an hour with a scraper to remove a few bits and a few patches of grout. It took longer to bag the old tiles and carry them out!

Niv

Fitting the new bathroom suite is quite easy, especially if its like for like. I am not a professional fitter but found it pretty easy. Tiling itself is also a doddle. The old tiles fell off the wall and only had a little filling to do to make the surface smooth enough to tile with new. Now, until you have actually taken the old tiles off the wall dont even bother bringing up the subject of re-plastering. If the wall is a mess he will see that for himself and if the tiles come off fairly easily you would of had an arguement over nothing.

Beofre you get people saying 'well you didnt re-plaster so the tiles will just fall off' I will say now, I did this approx five years ago and have had no problems at all.

Power shower may be better done by a electrition especially if its a completly new installation.

The hardest thing I found about my re-tiling job was the blooming tile trim strips I put on, probably would of been quicker to tile the whole room lol!

Mojisola

Niv wrote: »

Fitting the new bathroom suite is quite easy, especially if its like for like.

But you're probably good at diy. The OP is talking about someone who can't even put up a curtain rail!

OddjobKIA

the previous owners didnt dio this on the cheap..the best surface to tile on is OLD tiles....

if they are put on a plaster board wall then yes you will need a re-plaster..and actually you will probably need to re plaster the wall anyway....

Do not let someone unqualified near your shower..even removing the front cover can null your insurance in some cases..

a shower needs its own trip switch and supply, plus the pull cord switch and an isolator for the extractor fan...

screamer

Thanks everyone for your posts.

OH has finally given in, thanks to you all. He hasn't agreed to half tile the bathroom yet but has agreed it will probably need plastering and will get me to get some quotes. Thanks to myhammer.co.uk (good site btw) I can get the bathroom fitted for under £200 and he knows electricians who would sort the shower out for a few cans of beer :-)

I'll admit we won't be doing all this just yet but if we knew which jobs needed doing, then we knew how much money we'd need to save. And by part tiling, we can afford some really nice tiles and make the bathroom loook great instead of adequate.

We've got other problems right now. We don't have central heating, just a hot water heater, and it leaks. It has done since the day we go the keys but he doesn't believe that the people who owned the house before us must have known about it. Considering we had a puddle the size of a pond in the kitchen and another inch of water in the cover for the heater, the leak is not a new thing. I could slap the vendors silly!! I've got a lot of issues with them but that's a whole other story.

But thank you again for all your help. I don't know why OH never listens to me but I shall keep posting whenever we have a disagreement. All your experience and professional opinions will help me get my own way. You're all stars! :-)

screamer

Oh, and oddjobKIA, I know the best way to tile is on top of tiles but int he past 2 months we've discovered so many problems all down to poor workmanship. They had an extension built on the back of the house and instead of taking the wallpaper off the living room, the chap who plastered the extension plastered over the old wallpaper. It was real hard work getting it off to paint the living room. I'm not going into what the've done to the rest of the house but it's their shoddy workmanship that has made me determined to get this house looking good! :-)

diable

mikey72 wrote: »

Last two bathrooms I did all the old tiles came straight off the wall, minimal adhesive left behind, maybe half an hour with a scraper to remove a few bits and a few patches of grout. It took longer to bag the old tiles and carry them out!

You where lucky, when I did mine some of the tiles came of with parts of the brick still attached to them :eek:

moneylover

hello am reconstituting this old thread rather than starting a new one
My son wants my husband to go and get the tiles off his bathroom wall tomorrow, he is having a new bathroom. I am not sure what size it is but its a good 'average' size and tiled up to the ceiling which is high - tiling all the way around.
We are as certain as we can be that there are tiles over tiles. Does this mean they have to come off one layer at a time> Original tiles will be thirty years old and I would say that the builders of the time probably did a good job - there is plenty of 'botching' around the flat but its not original.
So, can anyone give me a idea if both lots of tiles likely to come off at once - presumably if they 'fall off' its a day job otherwise a couple of days? My son knows someone who tiles who is talking of skimming the walls, but if its plasterboard that will need replacing? And if we get down to brick its replastering rather than skimming?
I am a bit worried about around the window. The windows are replaccement ones and am not sure if put in after second layer of tiles or before - am a bit nervous window might fall out - or will it be in quite deeply?
Any tips for best technique to get tiles off? Personally I would pay someone to remove them, my son is in London, am going to see if there is a website where anyone advertises....
I have posted on this board about 3 times in all about my sons flat and each time I have had excellent advice which has made our job much easier - so thanks in advance as I am sure I will get good advice again!!

keystone

moneylover wrote: »

hello am reconstituting this old thread rather than starting a new one

Tsk, Tsk.


Cheers

keystone

Until you get them off you have no idea whats going to happen to the surface underneath.

The window should be secured through into the brickwork so I wouldn't worry about that too much. If the window was put in after the first lot of tiles were done then its possible that the fitters drilled throughthe tiles to fit the window. In which case you'll have to chop that bottom layer off flush with the frame.

What you do with it afterwards depends on what you find. If the walls are full of holes then just skiming over the top is a waste of time. You might just as well hack the whole lot off dot and dab plasterboad to brick/block and screw to stud walls.

Whether you then get that skimmed depends on whether you are planning part tiling / part paint or full tiling. If full tiling don't bother about the skim - its a waste of money - just prime the boards and tile straight onto them. If part tiling and part paint then you should really skim the lot.

Remember to choose the new tiles carefully and consider their weight. Skim plaster can take no more than 20kg/m2 including the addy and grout which will take up about 10% of that weight. Unskimmed plasterboard can take 32kg/m2.

HTH

Cheers