The tile! Save the tile!
{13 jan 2007}
Another one of the things that really drew me to this house was something I knew I wouldn't be able to use (at least, not in its original context) when the house was ready to live in. It was thetiles in the upstairs bath. -->

Pretty ain't it? I think so.


Anywho, the bathroom is in pretty bad shape. Aside from the damage I know will be done in renovating this room, there were quite a few of these tiles in bad form as is.

So the plan was to try to pry those fancy trim tiles off as best as possible. If we could save enough maybe we could retile the bathroom if we were lucky enough to find some replacements (shockingly enough, I did find a company that had a total of two tiles. They were $28/each.). But the question was, how do you get them off the wall?

Flashback time --> Place: Home Depot / Time: 2006. Mr. Limestone picks up dremel and puts into cart. Mrs. Limestone looks at her darling husband and asks what the hell do we need that for? Mr.Limestone says something but all I remember is hearing the wahwahwah that the Charlie Brown characters hear. I rolled my eyes and rolled the cart to the checkout thinking we were wasting our precious dough on yet another stupid purchase that Mr. Limestone deemed we just 'had to have' and was 'very useful, you'll see'. Well, now I see. Mr. Limestone: 1pt; Mrs. Limestone: 0.

Mr.Limestone brings out the handy dremel. Back to Home depot for a myriad of attachments that might help in loosing up that tile. Please to enjoy the photo reactment:



Do you notice something in these photos? Ah yes, tiles remain on wall. Damn them!

How about another technique?

Hmmm...also a bust.

After a few minutes of this, smart Mr.L decided to pop off the door molding and see if he could wedge some space from there. Voila! Success!


Not only did he get most of the decorative tile off but he also got nearly all of the subway tile too. Sweet!
Bad news was that on the back wall (of course the largest wall!), the glue wasn't quite as cooperative and those tiles are a lost cause. But I think we have enough tile to do something good. Maybe a backsplash? Anyone else have a cool idea for salvage tiles?


Next up: A strip off!

2 comments:

  1. Hi Teree...thanks for checking in.

    I think we saved about half...maybe a wee bit more. I still have to go thru and check what we got and what is salvageable. Its a bummer we got so far but still lost an entire wall but the bathroom is pretty small so we likely couldnt use all of them anyway.

    I just wish I could think of a use for them that wouldnt be a waste of all the effort :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous2:54 PM

    Ijust zoomed in on your tiles and you are going to be soooo jealous. I have the same tiles in my brownstone bathroom but in unbelievable shape. I have the blue color and guess what? The tiles are painted with gold leaf. So glad you saved them. I love them too!!1

    ReplyDelete

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