Bathroom tile removal

[Ravenswood Chicago]

Hello.  I currently have a bathroom floor that is constructed in this way:

porcelain tile
---------------
thinset
---------------
electric heater in thinset
---------------
cement board
---------------
plywood



I would like to replace the tiles.  Can i chisel off the current tiles and replace?  I cannot remove all of the thinset because of the electric heater.  Can i maybe pour self-leveling concrete or something to smooth out the thinset after i remove the current layer of tiles?

Thanks in advance.

[splinter7612]

I've retiled quite a few floors in my past and I think your going to run into trouble with the electric heat, when I removed tiles with a impact hammer the thinset for the most part came up with the tile but if you want expert advice go to the John Bridge tile forum for pro answers.
https://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/

[crokett™]

you are most likely going to have issues with getting the tile out of the thinset without wrecking the electric heat, assuming the tile installer knew what he was doing. Although I've demoed some tile that came up disturbingly easily and didn't disturb the thinset at all. I would not use a power tool to do this. I would grind the grout lines to separate the tiles from each other and then use a chisel to try to pop the tiles loose.

[Ravenswood Chicago]

I was planning on using a cold chisel to remove the tiles (bathroom is small).  

Also, the electric floor was laid in a bed of thinset and was allowed to fully dry.  Then, a 2nd coat of thinset was used to set the tiles.


Does that change the situation at all?

[jteneyck]

I was planning on using a cold chisel to remove the tiles (bathroom is small).  

Also, the electric floor was laid in a bed of thinset and was allowed to fully dry.  Then, a 2nd coat of thinset was used to set the tiles.


Does that change the situation at all?

Try it, but be prepared for a full tearout and replacement if it goes sideways.  

John

[crokett™]

I was planning on using a cold chisel to remove the tiles (bathroom is small).  

Also, the electric floor was laid in a bed of thinset and was allowed to fully dry.  Then, a 2nd coat of thinset was used to set the tiles.


Does that change the situation at all?

yes.  it boosts your chances of success slightly.

I would still build into the schedule and budget the time and $$$ to replace the heated floor, assuming that is important to you.

[Cooler]

My house is all plaster.  No wall board.  

I am in the process of removing tiles from my bathroom wall now.  The tiles are breaking off the wall easily enough but they are taking chunks of the wall with it.  It appears that the tile areas were "plastered" with concrete.  So too is the floor.  The floor is not a problem.  For the other bathroom I just used some self leveling concrete surfacer.  That worked well.

The older porcelain on the floor is super hard and sparks fly when I chip them off with the hammer drill.  Also, forget about drilling through those old  porcelain tiles. 

I am sure I will have to replace the concrete on the wall with concrete board.  If the divots are not too many and too large I may try to patch with mortar.  Most of the walls are getting painted wainscotting.  I only have to deal with the bathtub surround.

I did get a HF hammer drill/chisel.  I don't know how long it will last, but it managed one bathroom already and I think it will handle the remaining two.

[Snipe Hunter]

I'd cross my fingers but plan and budget for the worst. Even if the heater can be saved (wouldn't bank on it), troweling thinset and getting the new tile to lay flat could be a real challenge.

[MstrCarpenter]

I'd remove the grout around a few tiles and see if I can "pop" them free. If they don't come up without breaking into several pieces; I would seriously consider laying tiles over the existing.