In redoing a bathroom I had to remove the bathroom wall tiles to makeover my bathroom. To remove the tiles I had to buy a pry bar, a metal putty knife, a grout removing tool and find several flat head screw drivers, a hammer to chip each tile away and a piece of two by four (about 12-16 inches long). Safety glasses should be worn to prevent flying chips from damaging your eyes. A sander can be used after the tiles are removed to even the wall surface or get those last remaining pieces of tile glue off. (A mask should be worn if using a sander.) A drill can used to break and remove sections of stubborn tiles.

To use the drill and not ruin your bits use a mason bit to drill in several locations on a tile. This will break it into sections. Use a permanent marker to select a tile and draw a X or a square on it to use as a pattern. Then use the drill to drill around the pattern and break it. Be careful to drill only about as deep as it is wide. The holes in the wall will have to be repaired before new tile can be added to the wall. The putty knife will be used to scrape and pry the remainder off the wall. Remember the tile you are removing is supposed to last a life time and may take some muscle and patience to remove. The larger it is the thicker the glue on the back and the harder it is to remove. Start by removing the easiest tiles first, these are the bull nosed or trim tiles.

Place your pry bar under a tile with a 12 inch long two by four underneath to prevent the pry bar from going through the drywall at that site. Basically use the two by four as a fulcrum and spread the amount of force over a larger area. As the tiles are popped off or broken off continue the process until the wall is clear of whole tiles. Use the metal putty knife to get under the pieces or parts of broken tiles and remove them. The wall will have to be cleared of the glue holding the tiles the putty knife works well for this. If your wall does not have bull nosed or an easy accessible area to start use the hammer to break a tile and begin the process. Choose one that is in the center and that is easily accessible to speed up the process. Start by tapping the tile chosen for breaking. Sometimes you get lucky and it breaks easy with little force from the hammer. Increase the force gradually to prevent the hammer from going through the wall completely and ruining your backer board.

If your wall does not have backer boards and plastic sealing out the moisture from the shower, bath or back splash area you may want to change this. A correct way of placing tile in a moisture area is to seal the insulation or wood from the water by placing a plastic barrier between the wood and the backer boards. If you are nervous about breaking the tile you can use the grout removal tool to begin the job. Remove the grout from the one you choose and start using the putty knife to try to get under the tile to pop it off the wall. The putty knife will bend so go slowly to prevent the tool from becoming to bent to use later to scrape the glue off the wall. I had to buy another one since I bent my putty knife doing this. Remember the job is not a simple, quick and easy one, but with muscle and patience the tiles can be removed.