DIY Questions - Please Help

rachelandgromit

Hello

Can any experienced DIY'ers or professionals please help me. I've just bought my house and before I start making mistakes, I thought I'd ask first!

Here goes:

1 - I need to get some tiles off the kitchen and bathroom walls. They are already part falling off so it doesn't seem like it will be to hard to get them off but how the hell do I get the grout of the walls without taking all the plaster off? Is there an easy way. My house isn't old and I want to avoid getting a plasterer in. Painting over the tiles is not really an option I want to go down.

2 - The last owners of the house decided to stain all the bloody skirting and door frames a very dodgy mahogany colour. All I want is white gloss. Without ripping it all off, what's the easiest and cheapest way of doing this. It is just a case of sanding it down, and does it have to be down to bare wood :eek:

Thanks

Rachel

Mikeyorks

The grout should really come off with the tiles. If not you need a sharp bladed chisel scraper, such as this, (also sold at B&Q etc) to just ease it off. Get the blade almost parallel to the plaster and you should manage it without digging into the surface :-

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?id=22381&ts=67322

Skirtings etc. No need to go to bare wood. Just give it a reasonable sand .. and paint over it with a good quality paint.

Avoriaz

Some stains may impede paint adhesion. As posted above, sand down well and make sure the surface is not greasy from the stain. Use white spirit after sanding and apply a good quality wood primer or combined primer and undercoat.

Don't try and sand off all the stain. It will probably have penetrated the wood to quite a depth and you will spend all week sanding half the wood off.:rotfl:

Don’t skimp on the preparation in your enthusiasm to paint or you will be disappointed in the end.

Mikeyorks

Rachel,

Just closed my PC down last night .. when I realised I'd probably not answered the question you thought you'd asked?

Grout - is the stuff that goes between the tiles .. for decorative and / or waterproofing effect. It comes off attached to the tiles - or just falls out as you remove the tiles. So - suspect it's the adhesive behind the tiles you're talking about? Which can be a very different proposition!

Whether it has been buttered onto the back of each tile .. or applied with a serrated spreader, so is thinner .... it can be virtually impossible to get off. In particular if you're not re-tiling the area so need a smooth finish. If your re-tiling a few small lumps and bumps don't matter too much .. as the new adhesive will give you some tolerance

The chisel scraper I pointed you at is still the right tool. If the adhesive is rock hard it will sometimes soften a bit if you damp it several times with a wet cloth .. avoiding wetting the plaster too much. Then, hopefully, you can shave it off bit by bit.

But it's a painful job. And if there's a lot to do and you're not re-tiling .... taking the tiles and plasterboard off together - and then re-boarding / skimming with plaster - is sometimes the only answer. Had to do that with a shower cubicle a year ago ... as the few obviously loose tiles, were just a ploy. The rest were stuck there for life .. and ripped chunks out of the plasterboard when 'persuaded'.

Trust you fare better.

flang

If your taking off the old tiles and replacing them with new i wouldnt worry about damanging the plaster as it will be covered anyway.

nelly_2

My bro in law tipped a kettle of boiling water on the remaining adhesive and scrapped it off dead easy he said, maybe it only works on certain adhesive though.............its worth a try I suppose