When planning a make-over for the bathroom, one of the first tasks you need to tackle before the refurbishment is to remove the old tiles from the walls and floor. Removing tiles isn’t as tough a job as you might think and by doing this yourself you can save money on paying a contractor to do it for you.

So what do you need to do?

1. PREPARATION

Clear your path! clear out the bathroom, take as much out as you possible can yourself. Then get all the tools you require ready to start.

You will need

PROTECTION – gloves, goggle, face mask, dust or plastic sheets

TOOLS – Hammer and chisel or hammer drill, scraper and sander(grinder) or heavy sand paper.

DISPOSAL – Skip

(If you are hiring a skip and have a tiler to retile it is best to do all in the same few days to keep rental costs down)

2. PROTECTION AND SAFETY

Good preparation is essential for any job but as always safety comes first, so you first need to protect yourself, you’ll need some sturdy gloves, safety goggles and possibly a face mask from the dust and rubble, also wear long sleeve to protect your arms.

Then protect the other rooms in your home, start by sealing off the bathroom with plastic sheets, tape the sheet around the doorway to stop the dust from getting out.  Use dust or plastic sheets in the stretch of the hallway near the bathroom to protect your flooring from the dust and rubble.

As this will create a lot of dust in the bathroom ensure you seal off your drains and air vents, as a build up of dust could cause problems further down the line.

3. GET TO WORK

What’s the fastest choice here?  Use a Hammer Drill, you could hire a hammer drill but the good old hammer and chisel plus a bit of elbow grease will do just as good.

Start by scraping out some of the grout, check for any loose tiles, by tapping each tile with the handle of your chisel and start there, it will make your job easier, position the chisel between each tile in a shallow angle so you don’t gouge the wall or floor.  Once you get the chisel in behind the tile you will be able to pull the tile from the wall or floor, some tiles may come away in one piece other will break and you just repeat the process.

4. THE CLEAN UP

You’re not done yet, the walls and floors will be left rough and bumpy, you use a grinder or just use the chisel to chip away any big lumps and a scraper for the rest you can then sand down the area to a smooth finish ready for retiling.

With the tiles gone and the surface sanded, a bit of time and elbow grease, you can turn any wall into a blank canvas, ready to be made as stylish as your home deserves.