PSA: My simple tile backsplash fix turned into a two-day grout nightmare

I had one cracked subway tile behind the sink, figured I'd pop it out and replace it in an hour. The old mortar was like concrete and I ended up damaging two adjacent tiles, so then I had to carefully chip out three tiles without wrecking the drywall, which took all of Saturday. Has anyone else found a good way to remove single tiles without starting a whole domino effect?

2 comments

2 Comments

gonzalez.anna24d ago

My uncle is a contractor and he swears by a cheap oscillating tool with a diamond grit blade. You score the grout lines deep first, then work the blade under the tile at an angle. It makes a horrible dust cloud, but you can usually pop one out without touching its neighbors. Still takes patience, and you'll probably need to fix the wall behind it anyway.

the_blair23d ago

How much drywall repair did you end up doing? I had the same thing happen and that dust from the oscillating tool gets absolutely everywhere.