Remove Old Tile Mortar Bed

First to remove the bed of mortar you ll need a large pry bar.

Remove old tile mortar bed.

On the first pass level the surface removing any sharp protrusions. If the walls were covered with a latex waterproofing the tile will be much easier to remove and. Chisel through tile surfacing and the mortar bed in a small section using a cold chisel and hammer. The tiles should be removed by chiseling laterally to shear them off the surface of the mortar bed.

While the process of removing mortar from tiles may be a little time consuming the resulting clean tile is worth it. Remove ceramic tile from a bed of mortar if it s a mortar bed. If you are replacing tile on a mortar bed you will need to chisel the tiles off with a small sledge hammer and heavy carbide chisel so even if the bed looks somewhat undamaged it probably has a number of cracks in it that will fail either immediately or very soon after you install new tile. Use the second pass to remove the majority of the mortar leaving only the hardest remnants on the surface of the concrete.

Rinse with clean water and lay out to dry for about 24 hours. This should not be a problem if the installers are skilled at installing and removing mortar bed installations. Chisel down through the bed to the tar paper then use a big flatbar or similar demolition tool to pry up chunks of mortar and tile. Remove one tile at a time and scrub them with the brush to remove the loosened residue.

This isn t as bad as what you may think you do need to remove the mortar bed and install a backer board then tile. On the third pass remove these hard remnants reducing all the mortar to dust. Tile removal before you remove the mesh and mortar of a mud wall you must first deal with the tile.