Hi all,
I am new to the list. I recently purchased a 80 year old house in Toronto, Ontario and have been spending the last 6 months or so remodeling it. I was hoping to get some advice from you on my latest challenge.
At some point in the house’s history someone has covered up 1×1 inch ceramic tiles on the wall in the bathroom with what I think is either drywall compound or plaster and then paint. You can still see the outline of the tiles in some places and in others there are ridges of the compound as it was not smoothed down well. I would like to see what colour the tiles are. Does anyone know how I can remove the plaster/compound without damaging the tiles underneath or is it a lost cause?
Thanks for your thoughts
Jason
Replies
If it's drywall joint compound, it may dissolve in water. Try scraping off some paint and start soaking the compound with warm water.
Al Mollitor, Sharon MA
Add a little dish soap (not for dishwashers) to the water and it helps it penetrate the surface faster.
If it's plaster or setting compound, or thinset, you've got a much bigger problem. Well, not bigger, but not as easy to solve. In that case, you need to scrape it off, or sand it off. Sanding will be very messy, with lots of dust. Scraping works, but it's slow hard work. And it will be difficult to get the plaster out of the recessed grout lines.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
do a test dig first ...
when old tiles are removed from a plaster wall ...
the relief of them can show up and look very much like tiles under the surface.
There might be tiles under there ... or once there may have ben tiles on top.
Jeff