Lots of tiling and tile paint questions (bathroom)

beckstrous

I would love to hear people's advice on this as I am a complete newcomer to this sort of thing and do not want to stuff up!
We are having both of our bathrooms re-done in a couple of weeks. They are both ensuites - one is a small shower room and the other has a bath. We want to re-tile both and our original idea was that we would take the tiles off ourselves and put new ones on to save money.
In the shower room we wondered if we could paint over the existing tiles with tile paint but then my partner's mother said she did not think tile paint was very good, so we are now unsure. She said we should tile over the tiles but my first thought was that this might make an already tiny bathroom even smaller.
In the larger room we planned to re-tile completely. My partner was a bit nervous about removing tiles from plaster walls (both of the walls in the bathrooms are plaster walls) and now I am wondering if we should ask the plumber to take the tiles off instead. I am not sure how much extra this will cost or whether he will be able to do it in the time we have booked. But I do know that I can trust him as he is a close friend of my brother in law.
Has anyone got experience of tile paint, tiling over tiles and removing tiles from plaster walls? I would really love to hear your thoughts if so.

nibs

Hi, I know a few people who've tiled over tiles and it came out fine.

We painted our tiles and then put random tile stickers on to break it up. If you prepare it right and use a roller you will get good results.

andrew-b

Removing tiles is messy and requires very little skill..it does require time and energy though! I'd remove them yourself if i were you using a club hammer and bolster chisel. Alternatively you can use a chisel attachment for an SDS drill. If you hit the tiles with the bolster angled so the top of the bolster is as close to the wall as possible they should come off fairly simply. Any adhesive left on the wall again use a bolster in the same way to remove. Do wear safety goggles though as bits of tile will fly around. Protect baths, toilet, basin etc with dustsheets to avoid damage from falling tiles. Try to avoid it but if you do break into the plaster don't worry too much as it can just be filled in with tile adhesive (assuming its only smallish areas).

Andy

Doozergirl

Tile paint is evil and looks bad. Sorry to anyone that has done it, but if you can afford to buy new tiles then I'd do that any day.

Tiles are a great surface to apply new tiles to - I've done it before and it makes very little difference - it's only a few millimetres.

rockie4

I've painted tiles a couple of times and they've been fine. I did my kitchen tiles with tile primer then used a gloss coat. I used a gloss roller so that there weren't any brush marks and they look great.:D
The first time I did it it lasted about 5 years before any of it chipped which I din't think is bad in a kitchen!

budget_counsellor_shaz

Hi B,

I've also tiled on top of tiles its quicker and in my experience much easier than removing the old tiles first. I've ended up with great lumps of wall coming away when i've tried to remove old tiles although it depends how old the walls are and how well the old tiles are stuck on.

So tile over the old ones much, much easier

Shaz

never_enough

I cant recommend tile paint except for a stopgap solution. I've used it myself & it looked fab when I'd done it, I was really pleased, then I sold the place. Am now living with the results of previous owners tile paint fetish (whole room done in white) which has bubbled & flaked & generally gone to pieces where the water hits it from the shower. :eek: If you're redoing the whole bathroom(s) there's no point, get new ones, you'll love it. Have heard tiling over tiles is fine, if they're sound.

beckstrous

Thanks for the replies folks. I think I am certainly a bit put off tile paint now!