How To Remove Tile From Sheetrock Walls

Scrape the wall to remove any texture and to create a flat surface.

How to remove tile from sheetrock walls.

Hold the ice against the tile for a minute or two then try prying. You will be peeling the outer paper layer loose from the drywall. If any adhesive gets stuck to the brush remove it by hand and continue until no more adhesive remains on the wall. The extreme cold may make the glue brittle and cause the tile to come off easily.

Clean the drywall of stubborn thinset encrustation with a razor blade scraper. Work the spreader in several different directions to push the grout into the spaces between the tile. Be careful not to gouge the drywall any more. Fold the towel around the dry ice and twist the ends to give you a handle.

Pry the tiles loose one at a time by pushing the trowel behind the tile and mastic. Move the spreader down the face of the tile to remove any excess grout leaving a indentation. Patch any holes or cracks with spackling compound and sand the entire surface with medium grit sandpaper. Tiles installed with thinset or another tile adhesive often require more work to remove them.

Once those tiles loosen pry them off. Remove any remaining dust oils and grease from the wall with tsp tri sodium phosphate or an ammonia based cleanser. Keep the blade pressed flat against the wall and at an angle that scrapes the thinset off without gouging the drywall. Step 3 wipe some tile adhesive remover over the surface of the wall.

A wide blade putty knife is helpful in prying the tiles loose. Scrape the surface of the adhesive with a stiff bristle brush. The rock hard adhesive will be thinset a cement based product. For semi soft adhesive mastic use 120 grit sandpaper to remove it from the wall.

To remove thinset use a stiff putty knife and some elbow grease to scrape it from the wall.