I have a small repair job offered to me . to replace tiles which have fallen off around a wood stove. also a few cracked tile on the floor. Anyone have any tricks for removing the thisnset from the drywall with out compromising the integrity of the wall. It was suggested to me to use a belt sander anyone evr done that Or is there an easier way?
Where there’s A wheel there’s a way, got any wheels?
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Replies
I would cut out the drywall and replace. A belt sander will make a real mess. The thinset should have bonded with the paper face of the drywall so removing the thinset may remove the paper. You could try to scrap it off and see what happens. Most places require a fire proof material like cbu around a wood stove not drywall.
yeah I thought about the mess too arch. I would have to replace it all I guess. iF i tore it out. Ideally I guess wonderboard. but since about 70% of the tiles are good. I am trying to find another way. Its nothing fancy just a cabin on the hill. She would rather not tear it out. I don't no her well Enough to know why she doesn't want to do it all. She seems like she has reasons, but when I suggested what you said, she just said I don't want to do it that way. I guess she thinks it will be to expensive. And I didn't really want to do it. but i thought i might throw it out see if anyone has any ideas. thanks Where there's A wheel there's a way, got any wheels?
Give her the price to do it the right way and tell her you will do it the cheap way. Then when you are tearing it out, tell her the cheap way won't work and that it needs to be done the right way and you will do the the "extras" for free. In the end, she gets it done the "proper way" , you get paid fairly for proper workmanship, and every body is happy.
Sounds a little manipulative, right?
Psyops in home remodeling, an ex-grunt could grow to like that kind of thinking!
I am a proffesional, Not a sub contractor. I don't do things that way.
I don't like to be decieved I don't intentionally decieve anyone else. Secondly, My goal is to achieve a trust with my customer Trust that I know what needs to be done, WHy should SHE, ever want to call anyone else? And if I do it your way, I am proving that, I didn't know enough about the systems of construction , to do a simple tile repair job, without running into a problem.
In her mind it's A job That she would do herself if she had time. I don't Give an estimate without explaining what the suprises could possibly be. Do you? I can't imagine going into a job un prepared, and having someone give you the job. sowhy should I expect to keep it when I don't know what happens next. thats just the way I think. No Offense.
If I can make sure that there isn't anything I am Over looking, (which is why I asked this Question), I am A carpenter not A tile guy, I should have a better shot of making it look nice,Than does she. Which is why some people have work done I think.
The only reason I considered it is because She gave me the Deck and the 800 sq foot Maple floor.Where there's A wheel there's a way, got any wheels?
take an angle grinder and grind sufficient relief on the backside of the tiles that the thinset residue on the sheetrock wont interfere with it.
To reset the tile I would look at some low viscosity adhesives to adhere them and count on the grout to help further. Depending on how hot the tile gets, vinyl adhesive caulk or a good quality epoxy might work well as it would bond in a very thin layer.
This way you would be utilizing the old thinsets bond to the sheetrock to secure the replace tile rather than trying to adhere to damaged sheetrock paper.
Karl
First be honest and say "I can try but I can't garuntee."
Take a STIFF 2' putty knife, shape the edge like this nice ascii drawing
_____________ / edge^ | | This is a cross section of the edge at 100+- zoom | |
What you want is a square edge with a very little taper at the corners. Just a little bit more than deburred.
Take a lite hammer and use PK like a chisel to chip the mud off the DW. Some paper will peel but probably only the top surface... even if it exposes the gypsum, continue.
paint the newly exposed DW with an adhesive admix, 2 coats.
Tile as usual. the mortar and tile will replace the tensile strength of the lost paper.
Been there, done that.
SamTSleepless in Columbia. Diurnal rhythm? What songs did they do?
Another way to remove the thinset from the gypsum board;
You can buy abrasive flap wheels for masonry that fit on an angle grinder. Coupled with a shop vac, this will get the job done. If you cut the bottom out of a gallon milk jug and tape the neck into the shopvac hose you get a pretty good dust funnel. Two people will make the process easier.
These flap wheels offer remarkable removal rates with good depth control.
I like the ones from Makita, they work real well.
Anyhow you cut it, this is a messy job.
DRC
Thats what I was looking for, Thanks Guys. By the way,the walls are between 2' and 3' from the stove.Thanks again.Where there's A wheel there's a way, got any wheels?
wide...dull..chisel.
I've scraped tons of set thinset with my 1 1/2 stanley that used to be about 2 inches longer.....till I hit a nail years back...then had half a good sharp chisel.
So a trip to the bench grinder to take it way down..back to straight across....then pretend to get another hollow grind like it was still a real working chisel.
Now...it's my everyday beater/chopper/scraper/and sometimes chisel framing chisel.
It'll take down just enough thinset to get a tile back into place too.
How many tiles? And how big?
Not that I need the info...but if I just had a coupla to stick back on...if I'm reading this right...I'd just flatten the thinset and stick them back in.
JeffBuck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
thanks jeff, so I guess you mean like shave it down like your scrapeing the ice of your windshield.
The are 8 " tiles and there are maybe ten altogether. some are adjacent to one another others ar single. I guess it will look uneven. what about using construction adhesive? will it allow me to get a thinner bond? to keep the profile down. Will it hold?Where there's A wheel there's a way, got any wheels?
I too, am a carp. not a tile guy, but encountered a very similar situation last fall, replace a few random fallout tile in a bathroom. I scraped the old thinset off with a beater chisel, and reset the tile with const. adhesive. No problems so far.
Jeff,
One of my co-workers nicknamed that the "chisel-all".
By far one of my handiest tools, too.
The amazing thing is how long they last. I've got a chisel-all that I think dates back to about 1979.
It was a piece of junk when I bought it, it's still a piece of junk, and it works great. <G>
DRC
It might also be worth mentioning to the HO that her tiles are probably falling off the wall and releasing from the floor because of the thermal expansion of the material working them loose from the thinset. You can put them back but more will probably come out in the future.
I honestly know very little about tile but something is causing them to crack and come loose and whatever it is probably won't go away. Others with some real expertise in the area can probably suggest the best way to prep a surface for tile around a strong heat source but the bottom line is, the whole wall and floor in the immediate area probably need to be retiled with a different method to prevent the current problem from recurring.
My best guess is that the thinset and/or grout is not flexible enough to accommodate the thermal expansion of the tiles when the stove is fired up.
Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
Try to remove it and scrape it down. If there are divets, no worry, a quarter inch trowel will lay down about an eigth of an inch of thinset; If the divets are bigger than that, I would consider a quick skim coat of FixAll, but not too high, then regular thinset. There is nothing wrong with trying to work with damaged sheetrock. I have had good results with the above methods.
Regards,
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
Thanks Boris, After i scrape it down. I guess i can see what i've gotWhere there's A wheel there's a way, got any wheels?
yeah i was thinking The same thing. The heat from the stove might cause that to happen . It is happening on the floor in front of the stove too . Quarry tile. I am thinking of suggesting to her that we take it all up and put down wonder board on the floor and the walls and start all over. Sounds like a project for next year. Where there's A wheel there's a way, got any wheels?