Cleaning mastic/plaster from ceramic tile

[Jane W.]

The bathroom in our 1920's lath-and-plaster house has white 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" ceramic tile (porcelain, I think) up to shoulder level and higher in the bathtub area. Thanks to struggles with the ancient galvanized plumbing, we now have 12 tiles detached from the faucet and handles area of the tub. The tiles have a corrugated back but no lug edge. I doubt that we could find a match for tiles so old. Besides mastic, there is plaster, some of it 1/2" thick, on the backs of many of the tiles. There is also a layer of some caramel-brown honeycomb stuff that I can't identify. I can loosen the mastic with hot water, but the plaster won't budge. I am fearful of applying so much pressure that I might break a tile. How do I soften it to scrape it off?

And then, once they're clean, should we use 1/4" backerboard to reattach the tiles? In order to make it flush with the intact wall, we may well have to scrape off some plaster oozing through lath to do so.

Help!

Jane W.

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[doitright]

Hi Jane, Welcome! :)

I would start by making a small plywood table, that you can make a jig to fit the tile into, and hold it stable. You'll also need a right angle grinder with a diamond blade. Carefully grind away the mud backing.

The easiest way is if you know someone with a wet saw. Then the mud backing can be quickly shaved off with very little mess.

As far as the wall patch, I would try to use a product called Quik Wall, I think made by Sakrete. Just add water. As it starts to dry, you can screed off any excess material to make it flush with the existing wall. The honey comb material may be rusted chicken wire.

[topsurvivor]

Thank you, thank you all who recommended Krud Kutter adhesive remover. It really works. I found it on the Krud Kutter website, ordered it, and it arrived within three days. As I was prepping the bathroom floor for tile, I had to remove a layer of linoleum. The glue backing on the linoleum was hardened like stone and stuck to the plywood. It took me three hours to strip an area 4" x 4" using scapers, heat, razor blades, glue removers! Then I read your forum and saw that several people used Krud Kutter with success. I still had to use alot of elbow grease with several spray-on applications to soften the glue, but it worked--saved me hours and hours of work. This product does not give off fumes or odor and is non-toxic. Krud Kutter has a whole line of products--just make sure you order the one that has "adhesive remover" included in the name.