Remove old tile adhesive from a wall

Scrape old tile adhesive off safely, matching your technique to the wall behind, then clean up ready for redecorating.

RTA-01Clear and protect the roomMove furniture out of the room, or well clear of the wall. Lay dust sheets over the floor and any nearby surfaces and tape the edges down so they don't slip. Open a window or door — scraping old adhesive throws up a lot of dust and grit. Keep pets and children out while you work.

2 each · Dust sheet

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1 roll · Masking tape

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RTA-02Work out what's behind the tilesTap the wall in a few spots. A dull, solid sound usually means brick or block; a hollow drum sound means plasterboard on a stud wall, or dot-and-dab plasterboard fixed to masonry with blobs of adhesive — dot-and-dab sounds solid every 300-450mm where a dab sits, and hollow in between. In houses built before about 1930, a slightly springy feel can mean lath and plaster, which is fragile and needs extra care. If the wall is hollow, run a stud detector or a small magnet over it in a line — a steady signal every 400-600mm along a screw line tells you where the studs are, and you'll check whether they're timber or metal later in the job.

1 each · Stud detector

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1 each · Small magnet

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RTA-03Find pipes and cables before you startCables and pipes can run almost anywhere behind tiled walls, especially in kitchens and bathrooms where pipework is often chased in under the tiles. Run a cable and pipe detector over the area, but treat the wall as live anyway — detectors miss cables that are deep, in metal conduit, behind metal-backed board, or outside the usual safe zones, and metal stud frames confuse cheap detectors further. Before you chisel or scrape near a socket, switch, or pipe run, find your stopcock (usually under the kitchen sink) and check it turns. If there's any doubt, isolate the relevant circuit at the consumer unit and turn the water off at the stopcock before you start.

1 each · Safety goggles

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1 pair · Work gloves

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RTA-04Remove adhesive from solid brick or blockHold a bolster chisel at a shallow angle and tap it with a club hammer to shave the adhesive off in strips, working from an edge or corner. For larger areas, an SDS drill fitted with a wide scraper attachment clears it faster with less arm strain. Sweep debris into a bucket as you go so you can see how much is left.

1 each · Bolster chisel

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1 each · Club hammer

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1 day · SDS drill with scraper attachment (hire)

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1 each · Bucket

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RTA-05Remove adhesive from plasterboard on timber or metal studsPlasterboard is only 9.5-12.5mm thick and the paper face tears easily, so swap the chisel for a wide flexible filling knife or hand scraper and use light, shallow strokes. Push too hard and you'll punch through the board instead of lifting the adhesive off it. Whether the studs behind are timber or metal doesn't change how you scrape, but it matters if you punch through — check with a magnet or stud detector along a screw line, or drill a tiny pilot hole into a stud: timber gives fine wood dust, steel gives bright metal swarf. Knowing this now saves guesswork if you need to patch or refix the board later.

1 each · Flexible filling knife, 150mm

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1 each · Hand scraper

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RTA-06Remove adhesive from dot-and-dab plasterboardDot-and-dab board is only held to the wall by blobs of adhesive roughly every 300-450mm, so heavy hammering or aggressive scraping can knock the board loose from the masonry behind it. Use gentle, shallow strokes and stop if you feel or hear the board drumming or flexing more than before. If a section comes loose, don't force it back — it will need proper refixing before you retile.

RTA-07Remove adhesive from lath and plasterLath and plaster is old, brittle, and only a few millimetres thick over thin wooden laths, so use a hand scraper only — no hammering, no grinding. Work slowly and stop as soon as you feel cracking or movement, since the plaster keys behind the laths can fail suddenly. If large sections start crumbling, stop and get advice rather than pushing on.

RULES

KNOW THE RULES

If your home is a listed building, get advice before disturbing original lath and plaster — altering it may need Listed Building Consent.

RTA-08Patch or refix any damaged boardPatch small holes with an offcut of matching plasterboard and filler; refix anything bigger properly before retiling. Into a timber stud, use a wood screw driven into the centre of the stud. Into a metal stud, use a self-drilling metal-stud screw or a toggle-type hollow-wall fixing — never a plastic wall plug or ordinary wood screw, which strips straight through 0.5mm steel. Refixing a loose dot-and-dab section needs a fixing long enough to reach the masonry behind, not just the board.

1 box · Wood screws, box

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1 pack · Self-drilling metal-stud screws, pack

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1 pack · Plasterboard toggle fixings, pack of 4

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1 each · Plasterboard offcut

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1 tub · Multi-purpose filler

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RTA-09Clean and check the wallWipe the wall down with a damp sponge to lift dust and loose grit, then let it dry fully. Run a hand over the surface to check for lumps of leftover adhesive, and lightly sand any rough patches. Fill small chips or gouges with multi-purpose filler and sand flat once dry, ready for retiling or redecorating.

1 each · Sponge

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1 sheet · Sandpaper, medium grit

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RTA-10Clear up and dispose of wasteSweep or vacuum up all debris and dust, including from skirting and floor edges. Bag old adhesive and plasterboard offcuts in rubble sacks — they're heavy, so don't overfill them. Check your local council's rules for disposing of builder's waste, since most household bins won't take large amounts of rubble.

2 each · Rubble sack

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PART OF A BIGGER PROJECT

Retile a bathroom wall

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