wall tile repair
#1
03-20-02, 04:23 PM
wall tile repair
Just bought a new 'old' house which the former owners kept in nearly perfect condition. The bathroom has the old pink wall tile with black accent tiles. Three of the tiles near the sink were replaced with white tiles; I assume the pink tiles of the 1950s are no longer available. Its a very visable flaw that I want to fix.
Is it possible to remove three pink tiles from, lets say behind the sink, without cracking them? Then remove the white tiles without damaging the wall behind? I have never ceramic tiled before. Should I try this myself?
Is it possible to remove three pink tiles from, lets say behind the sink, without cracking them? Then remove the white tiles without damaging the wall behind? I have never ceramic tiled before. Should I try this myself?
#3
03-20-02, 11:33 PM
You won't find a matching tile in the current market, so your only option for buying some replacement tiles would be to find a home restoration/scrap company that might have them.
I have never tried prying off old tiles for reuse, so I really don't know how difficult it might be. The hardest thing would obviously be to get them off without damaging them and then cleaning off the old adhesive. If you want to move ahead with the project, I'd try prying very carefully with a rigid putty knife--wedging it under, pushing, then lifting a little, wegding, pushing and lifting. If it breaks, you could take a chance on trying once more on another hidden tile, but if that breaks too, you may have ot call it quits and find another solution.
If you do manage to get all the tiles off that you want to swap, then, you have to clean/scrape all the adheasive from the spot where the tiles are to be replaced and off the back of the tiles themselves. I honestly have no idea how to get old adhesive off (unless yoou get lucky and it's aged enough that it's sort of powdery and you can flake it off). I'd scrape off as much as I could and then use a Dremel tool to carefully grind off the rest. You'll also want to clean the edges of old grout that may stick to it.
Once you can get to that point (that you have the white tiles off and the pink ones ready to install), the rest of the process is fairly simple. Don't be afraid of trying this yourself! You just buy a small jug of mastic, a small plastic notched trowel, spread mastic across the back of the tile with the trowel, place the tile (try to give it a slight twist as you put it in) and position it. Once all 3 are in place, wait 24 hours and then grout. For such a small grouting job, you can just buy some premixed grout (small tube--maybe a "grout repair kit") or even instead of mastic and grout, by the mastic/grout combo stuff.
Anyway, use a "float" or just a rubber squeegee to spread the grout across the newly installed tiles (work it diagonally across the tiles in a few directions so you get even coverage without pulling grout back out as you move the squeegee across the tiles). For such a small job, you might even be able to get by with squishing the grout into the lines with a rubber-gloved finger. When you think you've got plenty of coverage, wait about 15-20 minutes and then take a slightly damp sponge to rub (in circular motions) the excess grout off the lines. If you can't get it to look good, you can use the bottom end of a toothbrush to run along the grout lines to shape them better. Next, wait maybe another 5-10 minutes (until theres a dry white haze on the tiles) and buff the tiles with a cloth (cheesecloth works well, but any old rag will do). At this stage you can still sort of work the grout lines a bit with the cloth if you don't think they look good yet.
Over the next 3 days, mist the tiles with water a few times a day to help the grout cure slowly. After that, you're done! You can use a grout sealer (I think you have to wait a few more days to use that) if you want, but it's not necessary. Grout sealer just helps to protect the grout from mildew and stuff.
I have never tried prying off old tiles for reuse, so I really don't know how difficult it might be. The hardest thing would obviously be to get them off without damaging them and then cleaning off the old adhesive. If you want to move ahead with the project, I'd try prying very carefully with a rigid putty knife--wedging it under, pushing, then lifting a little, wegding, pushing and lifting. If it breaks, you could take a chance on trying once more on another hidden tile, but if that breaks too, you may have ot call it quits and find another solution.
If you do manage to get all the tiles off that you want to swap, then, you have to clean/scrape all the adheasive from the spot where the tiles are to be replaced and off the back of the tiles themselves. I honestly have no idea how to get old adhesive off (unless yoou get lucky and it's aged enough that it's sort of powdery and you can flake it off). I'd scrape off as much as I could and then use a Dremel tool to carefully grind off the rest. You'll also want to clean the edges of old grout that may stick to it.
Once you can get to that point (that you have the white tiles off and the pink ones ready to install), the rest of the process is fairly simple. Don't be afraid of trying this yourself! You just buy a small jug of mastic, a small plastic notched trowel, spread mastic across the back of the tile with the trowel, place the tile (try to give it a slight twist as you put it in) and position it. Once all 3 are in place, wait 24 hours and then grout. For such a small grouting job, you can just buy some premixed grout (small tube--maybe a "grout repair kit") or even instead of mastic and grout, by the mastic/grout combo stuff.
Anyway, use a "float" or just a rubber squeegee to spread the grout across the newly installed tiles (work it diagonally across the tiles in a few directions so you get even coverage without pulling grout back out as you move the squeegee across the tiles). For such a small job, you might even be able to get by with squishing the grout into the lines with a rubber-gloved finger. When you think you've got plenty of coverage, wait about 15-20 minutes and then take a slightly damp sponge to rub (in circular motions) the excess grout off the lines. If you can't get it to look good, you can use the bottom end of a toothbrush to run along the grout lines to shape them better. Next, wait maybe another 5-10 minutes (until theres a dry white haze on the tiles) and buff the tiles with a cloth (cheesecloth works well, but any old rag will do). At this stage you can still sort of work the grout lines a bit with the cloth if you don't think they look good yet.
Over the next 3 days, mist the tiles with water a few times a day to help the grout cure slowly. After that, you're done! You can use a grout sealer (I think you have to wait a few more days to use that) if you want, but it's not necessary. Grout sealer just helps to protect the grout from mildew and stuff.
#5
03-23-02, 09:53 AM
..Tiles, which are very brittle, are installed with a strong adhesive intended to bond them securely for a very long time.....If you try then use a grout saw around the tile to limit damage to only the tile your working on.......If it is worth it then I would suggest finding three tiles in a row and cut back through the sheetrock to remove them from the wall...You might then be able to work the backing off more easily with water for the sheetrock and an adhesive remover for the mastic.........Damage to the wall can be repaired for the white tiles however work carefully.
