How To Remove Tile From Sheetrock Walls

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

How to remove tile from sheetrock walls.

To remove thinset use a stiff putty knife and some elbow grease to scrape it from the wall. Scrape the wall to remove any texture and to create a flat surface. Scrape the surface of the adhesive with a stiff bristle brush. Patch any holes or cracks with spackling compound and sand the entire surface with medium grit sandpaper.

The extreme cold may make the glue brittle and cause the tile to come off easily. Pry the tiles loose one at a time by pushing the trowel behind the tile and mastic. If any adhesive gets stuck to the brush remove it by hand and continue until no more adhesive remains on the wall. Move the spreader down the face of the tile to remove any excess grout leaving a indentation.

Remove any remaining dust oils and grease from the wall with tsp tri sodium phosphate or an ammonia based cleanser. Once those tiles loosen pry them off. Put on protective gloves and place a piece of dry ice in a towel. Fill drywall gouges with drywall joint compound and sand it smooth.

For semi soft adhesive mastic use 120 grit sandpaper to remove it from the wall. Work the spreader in several different directions to push the grout into the spaces between the tile. You will be peeling the outer paper layer loose from the drywall. Keep the blade pressed flat against the wall and at an angle that scrapes the thinset off without gouging the drywall.

Be careful not to gouge the drywall any more. Vacuum to remove dust. The rock hard adhesive will be thinset a cement based product. Clean the drywall of stubborn thinset encrustation with a razor blade scraper.

Step 3 wipe some tile adhesive remover over the surface of the wall.