How To Remove Tile From Sheetrock Walls

Patch any holes or cracks with spackling compound and sand the entire surface with medium grit sandpaper.

How to remove tile from sheetrock walls.

Work the spreader in several different directions to push the grout into the spaces between the tile. Pry the tiles loose one at a time by pushing the trowel behind the tile and mastic. Put on protective gloves and place a piece of dry ice in a towel. If any adhesive gets stuck to the brush remove it by hand and continue until no more adhesive remains on the wall.

The rock hard adhesive will be thinset a cement based product. Fold the towel around the dry ice and twist the ends to give you a handle. To remove thinset use a stiff putty knife and some elbow grease to scrape it from the wall. Clean the drywall of stubborn thinset encrustation with a razor blade scraper.

Vacuum to remove dust. Scrape the wall to remove any texture and to create a flat surface. For semi soft adhesive mastic use 120 grit sandpaper to remove it from the wall. Tiles installed with thinset or another tile adhesive often require more work to remove them.

Remove any remaining dust oils and grease from the wall with tsp tri sodium phosphate or an ammonia based cleanser. The extreme cold may make the glue brittle and cause the tile to come off easily. Move the spreader down the face of the tile to remove any excess grout leaving a indentation. Step 3 wipe some tile adhesive remover over the surface of the wall.

You will be peeling the outer paper layer loose from the drywall. Fill drywall gouges with drywall joint compound and sand it smooth. Once those tiles loosen pry them off. Be careful not to gouge the drywall any more.

A wide blade putty knife is helpful in prying the tiles loose.