Removing dado rail from living room wall and individual tile from bathroom wall?

Question

Moving into a new house and want to remove dado rail and wall paper from living room wall in order to paint on flat surface, how do I get the dado rail off without causing damage? The bathrooms are half tiled and have a patterned border along the top and randomly placed patterned tiles amongst the plain ones. I only want to remove the patterned tiles and replace with plain white to match the rest, is this possible?

Answer 1

Ok, first the dado rail, it depends how it was sttached to the wall, some people screw it in, some nail it and some use a glue gun or tile adhesive. In the first 2 you'll obviously have holes left after removing the rail, so you'll have to fill them and sand it to make it look even with the wall. In the last 2, it could go ok trying to use a scraperto praise the dried glue from the wall, but it could also come off with some of the plaster.

Second the white tiles. Not impossible, just a fiddly job, dig or scratch the grout around and whilst being careful with the tiles around, try to praise the one you want out. But I have to warn you that the new white tiles, won't look the same, they will stick out because you'll find out the white won't be the exact shade as the old ones, and that's if you manage to stick them at the same level as the others.

Answer 2

For the Dado get a flat straight edge screw driver and prise To dado off this will work if stapled to the wall....if glued then you will need to rub down any damage when removing and just use a poly filler to fill and smooth damage.....when dry give a good sand down to smooth out repair.......As to the tiles a little more tricky.....there are many different whites and matching to what is there may be a problem.....Then getting individual tiles off without damaging others may be awkward as depending on how much adhesive used is how hard it is to remove.......Tsp the tiles lightly and if you hear a hollow sound they should come off easily if not your going to have a problem.....good luck

Answer 3

To remove dado rail, use a piece of flat scrap wood behind your claw hammer or crowbar to prevent damage to wall.
After you have raised the dado rail slightly you should be able to pull it free without having to use any more tools.
There will be some damage but this can easily be filled and sanded to give a paintable surface.
As for the tiles, they will have to be broken individually and chiselled off. Then all adhesive removed.

Answer 4

Certainly valid suggestions about how the rail might be attached. Obviously you should determine that first. If it's screwed on (though I can't imagine that) PRYING will make a greater mess of the wall.

I use a stiff blade scraper with a blade about 3 inches wide. the blade itself is angled. The suggestion about putting something behind what you PRY with is also valid. In any case you will have some patching and painting to do.

As for the tiles; certainly they CAN be removed individually; but a more important issue is often the grout surrounding each piece and its bond to any adjacent. You might figure on buying quite a few extras for possible OOOPS. Another issue will be the condition of the substrate in your method of removal of the tile and mortar/mastic holding those tiles. One more I can think of then I'm off to finish remediation on 11,000 sq. ft. of tile; is Matching the existing. While you may have those extras; left by a DECENT contractor; if not; you should probably be aware that in stock tile doesn't always remain in production, or on shelves for the life of the home owner. I'd have to suggest you check into availability before you take a hammer to the first piece of unwanted tile.

Steven Wolf

Answer 5

Plaster Dado Rail

Answer 6

Place masking tape over the centre of the tile so the drill bit does not slip, use a drill with masonary bit and drill several holes to the centre and around tile ensuring masking tape is stuck down before drilling. Gently knock the centre of the tile and break out the tile centre first working outwards, use a small balstor chisel, if you have a Dremal use this tool to cut out and around tile all the grouting, that would be helpful, if not clean off cement using old chisil/balstor and prepare wall for substitute tile. If you are unfortunate and crack adjacent tile in this process use same procedure, but should be easier as you will have more access in knocking from behind the tile. Good luck.

Answer 7

There will probably be some damage getting the rail off, nail holes at a minimum.

As for the tiles, scrape the grout out first and then chip the tiles out. Be aware that you might not be able to match the white tiles perfectly. I know, white is white, but when you go to compare them you'll be surprised at the shades of "white".

Answer 8

the dado rail will either be glued screwed or nailed ..so some plaster damage in inevitable .to remove dig under rail to make a hole big enough for a hammer head .lay flat on wall a small piece of ply or similar ..to prevent more plaster damage ..and insert hammer head under rail with rest of head sitting on the ply ..GENTLY prise off...to remove a tile in middle of wall..with a hammer drill set to ON ...drill hole in middle of tile ..the hammer affect will split the tile ..the rest is easy

Answer 9

For a start its unlikely you will get the dado of without damaging the wall and as for the tiles it sounds like your making more work for yourself why not tile tthe lot white