Upgrading the overall look of your bathroom may include installing a new soap dish or fixing a damaged tile. In either case, you will most likely have to eliminate an existing tile. Forget hiring an expensive practitioner, this is the ideal job for your budget-minded, DIY homeowner. Whatever you need to supplies and a few basic tools, are an specialized handsaw and drill bit.
Damaged Tile Removal
Distribute a drop cloth beneath the work area if the tile you plan to eliminate is really a wall tile. Protect the tiles around the damaged tile. Tear bits of masking tape off and then stick the pieces to the borders of the tiles. Wear safety glasses to protect your eyes.
Remove from the joints around the tile with a handheld grout saw. Use a back-and-forth sawing motion to cut the old grout off. Be careful not to cut into the drywall or underlayment behind the tile.
Position the tip of a nail set against the tile in the chipped or cracked area. Tap the end of the nail set with a hammer to shatter the tile and then pry the pieces off. Move the nail set around the tile’s surface to areas and then continue to shatter until you eliminate nearly all the tile, and chisel off the pieces.
Chip away in the old tile glue with a chisel and hammer. Scrape and smooth the area clean with a stiff putty knife. Be careful not to gouge into the drywall or underlayment in this process. The area is now ready for replacement tile or the new soap dish.
Undamaged Tile Removal
Follow the instructions as outlined in Step 1 and Step 2 to the elimination of a tile.
Take your nail punch a collection of holes at an”X” pattern along the surface of the tile. All these holeshelp bit when drilling throughout the tile, from wandering.
Drill through the tile at every hole with a drill equipped with a carbide-tipped masonry bit. Be careful not to drill through the drywall or underlayment behind the tile. Use your chisel and hammer and then join the”X” pattern of holes.
Shatter the tile and take out the pieces and hammer. Follow the instructions in Step 4 for the elimination of a tile.