removing old tile cement

[promhandicam]

Hi. I replaced some kitchen worktops for a customer and in doing so some of the tiles fell off the wall. They don't have any spares and I haven't yet found replacements so was wondering if anyone had any tips for getting old tile cement off of ceramic wall tiles. The actual walls are in poor condition so some of the tiles have about 10mm of adhesive stuck to them - nothing on the walls. I've tried soaking them but this doesn't seem to have made any difference. I might try with a steam stripper as I've read on the www that might work but am open to any other (sensible) suggestions.

Ta

[Doug]

Quickest way Steve is to grind it off with a course abrasive sanding wheel in a hand held grinder.

It`s messy, but at least they are ready to stick back on as soon as the adhesive is cleaned off.

That`s my usual method of attack.

[jake]

Depends if it looks like powder (cement/sand/modifiers) or tub (ready mix glue-based) adhesive - much of the latter is shite and dousing in water stands a good chance of working by turning it back to sludge. If it is a cement based adhesive then grinding or sanding is the way. Diamonds are good.

[karl]

If it's the pre-mixed tub stuff, steam will soften it enough to just scrape it off.

If it's the coarser stuff, I just go at it with a hammer and chisel - it doesn't have to be a perfect finish, so all you're looking to do is remove enough to allow the replacement tile and adhesive to lie flush.

Cheers

Karl

[promhandicam]

Thanks chaps - I knew I could rely on you to come up with some suggestions - I'll let you know how I get on!

[billybuntus]

Just removed tile adhesive from a bunch of old tiles. Stuck them in a bucket full of water overnight and it literally reverted back to soft adhesive and scraped off in seconds.

[promhandicam]

Obviously the tile adhesive I had to remove was waterproof as after 48 hours in a bucket of water it was still solid. Skipped the steam stripper solution and went straight for the 4" angle grinder with diamond disk and managed to remove the adhesive without also removing any of my fingers!

Thanks again!