Tool to removing bathroom wall boarding

twopenny

I have bathroom wall boarding unevenly cut and glued onto tiles that are on dry wall.

It's putting off a lot of bathroom fitters and going to cost in man hours to remove because we don't know how this Heath Robinson job was done. Judging by the rest of it it will either be barely glued or covered in it. So I want to try to remove a bit myself so that it's a known quantity. And at the moment I have so much time and I have patience.

So I was hoping for suggestions as to what sort of tools to use. Any solvent that might help?

My thought was a small roatary disc cutter to go 2/3rds through a small square to start with and slim wood chisel or similar to gently chip and tease off to see what's underneath. The gadget with multiple heads that I've seen is small itself and not sure if the motor is up to the job never having dealt with this material. Also I know not to try and prise it away from the tiles with force.

So any advice or suggestions would be really welcome.

grumbler

What type of material is it?  Plastic?

If it's plastic and really needs cutting, than I can suggest a compact/mini circular saw, something like this one

You can set the precise depth for cutting if needed.

Start from the top. You'll possibly be able to break it away piece by piece just with a chisel, without any power tools.

Browntoa

I've seen that stuff , it's hollow plastic , really easy ( but messy) to cut with a saw .

As above , measure the depth at the top and then set a saw to just under that depth . Should then prise off easily

tacpot12

I think I would also recommend the mini circular saw, or you could use a good quality plunge saw. The key thing is you need to be able to stop the saw blade going through the glue and into the surface of the tile, so you need a saw with a very accurate depth stop. Once you have run a couple of cuts up the panels, perhaps 50mm apart, I think the best tool will be a old chisel, ideally it will be wide and blunt. You should be able to slide this down from the top and pry the panel off the tile. If you are luck, the layer of glue will be either be very thin, or applied in stripes. I agree you will need to very careful about how much force you apply but by using a wide chisel, you can spread the force over enough area to make it unlikely that you will crack any tiles. 

The alternative to the chisel is to use a multi-tool; the sort with the oscillating blade. If you don't have one of these, you should get one as they are a fantastic tool for certain situations; an idea for a Christmas present? If you do break a tile, you can remove the grout with the diamond blade that usually comes with these tools, and then break the tile, and use an old chisel or flat screwdriver to prise the bits out - if you have a spare tile, you can make a seamless repair. The problem with the oscillating multitools is that it will be difficult to prevent the blade from scratching the surface of the tile. You might cut a square of plastic out of the side of a large container of the sort that washer fluid comes in, and use this as a guard to rest the blade on while cutting through the glue. This will put just enough space between the blade and the tiles so you can't scratch them. 
 

twopenny

Wow thanks for the positivity! You wouldn't belive the sucking in of breath I've had from 4 tradesmen.

If I can get it off I'm a dab hand at the fiddly bit of getting debris off things where the reward is what I want.

I like the idea of being able to set it to a depth. That would make the process quicker and more reliable. And I'd save much more than the price of the tool on what the plumber would charge.

Jeepers_Creepers

Are you trying to remove just the plastic sheet, or the sheet and the tiles behind?

For the sheet, you need to get a blade that'll slip behind it and separate it away from the tiles. Yes, a wood chisel could do this, but choose a wide one - it can be a cheapo for this sort of job. Obviously remove the shower enclosure/frame/rails and everything first. Then start at that outer edge and work in - I don't see any reason to cut through the sheet further in.

Wear protective gloves as you'll be sliding in to sharp exposed plastic edges that'll strip the skin of yer hands...

It might be easy, or could be a 'mare - it all depends on what was used to attach it. 

Are you planning to redo the shower afterwards? If so, choose a better quality panel - I think matt/silk finish and textured looks far better - and take it right to the ceiling to cover all the tiles; they tend to be 2.4m tall, so that's not an issue. 

Also use the proper ali or plastic corner and edging strips for a professional finish. The good news is that they cover a multitude of sins, so provided the tiles are well adhered, it doesn't matter what state they are in.

twopenny

Ideally I'd like to get the plastic/chipboard sheet off and then retile.

Just bought some new safety specs. Hadn't thought about the gloves which I should have done. I could do with tough but thin to get a grip on the bits. Will look tomorrow.

If it's a mess then it will have to be sheeting so thanks for the advice. But I shall be well cheesed off if I do a lot of work and it has to be that. Wonder why the heck I don't do that in the first place but when your bathroom is tiny every inch counts.

Might use the silver strips elsewhere. From what small tile selections are available it looks like the bathroom will be white and silver. Was originally going to be bohemian, now classic ice box to the virus.

andyhop

It’s called brute strength . Walls will need to be relined regardless as you won’t remove well adhered tiles of dot and dabbed plasterboard. Appears all trades you’ve had through your door have been clueless 

Jeepers_Creepers

You might - probably will - get the plastic sheet off the tiles quite neatly. 

You likely won't - almost certainly won't - get the tiles off the wall without a bit of a mess. 

What have you against shower panels? I have to say that I've been converted recently (tho' not done the job yet) having viewed them in a local store. The ones I saw were by 'Multipanel', and they looked superb - natural textured laminate finish. They do make a lot of sense. 

grumbler

However, glued on the top of tiles they look odd, to put it mildly.

fenwick458

I'm not really sure what the problem is, what do you actually want to do, remove the panels and then tile, on top of the existing tiles?