A-Z of DIY & Building Guides How To Remove Tiles

Date Published:

28/05/2009

Contributed By

George Clarke

Changing even a splashback can make a dramatic difference to a bathroom or kitchen. It’s a DIY job as long as you work carefully and wear goggles and gloves.

Time required:
Allow a minimum of half a day for this job, unless it’s just a small splashback

Cost:
Assuming you have a basic DIY kit, it won't cost you anything. A wide-bladed cold chisel costs between £8 and £12; buy a cold chisel with at least a 50mm wide blade and a fitted plastic hand guard. It’s also worth buying even a cheap club hammer for this work. Ordinary claw hammers need too much effort and the head can easily slip off the chisel end when struck. For extra protection, buy rigger gloves that extend to protect your wrists – broken tile edges can be razor sharp - they only cost just over £2 from DIY stores.

Skill level:
It doesn't take a lot of skill to do this job, but it's very messy and you'll need a bit of elbow grease to get the tiles off the wall

You'll need:
Club hammer; wide-bladed cold chisel; scraper; dust mask; goggles; heavy-duty riggers gloves; old blankets or sheets; rubble sacks; plaster filler

Step One

Clear the room as far as possible and cover vulnerable surfaces such as expensive worktops with old blankets as chips of tile will scratch the surface.