Anyone ever deal with plaster walls?

[lovemachine]

I have an old house, and am getting ready to remodel the bathroom. It has an old cast iron tub, which I plan to keep. It doesn’t have a shower, so I plan on adding one.

My plan is to remove the old wall tile, and install new tile. Problem is, the bathroom walls is plaster. So what am I going to be getting myself into?

Would I be able to just remove the old tile, and install new tile? Or am I going to have to cut out that section of plaster wall? Would I be able to keep the upper half plaster wall?

Or should I plan on gutting it out and installing drywall everywhere?

 

[singlestacksig]

plaster is so much better than drywall, but it really takes skill to do it.. I have done patches, but and major part i just change to drywall, you can skim with plaster to match the finish..
the tile will probably want to go onto tile board.

 

[dieselrealtor]

I am NOT an expert, but have done some remodel work on a couple of old houses of mine.
Really depends on how the tile was installed & how "stuck" it is. Bottom line what kind of condition the plaster is in when the tile is removed.

If the rest of the plaster is in good shape in the area & you are cautious upon removal good chance you can just do surface prep & put new tile back up.

Time wise, you will likely be hours ahead by cutting it out & putting durock or other backer board in its place.

 

[Hoosier Carry]

Sounds like a good reason to tell the wife you need a new oscillating tool. Cut out a couple tiles and see how well they remove from the wall.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I have an old house, and am getting ready to remodel the bathroom. It has an old cast iron tub, which I plan to keep. It doesn’t have a shower, so I plan on adding one.

My plan is to remove the old wall tile, and install new tile. Problem is, the bathroom walls is plaster. So what am I going to be getting myself into?

Would I be able to just remove the old tile, and install new tile? Or am I going to have to cut out that section of plaster wall? Would I be able to keep the upper half plaster wall?

Or should I plan on gutting it out and installing drywall everywhere?

We just went through this. The guys that did it removed the tile, sanded down the remnants of adhesive, then skim-coated the walls with drywall compound(?) and painted.

Edit: I missed the part about re-installing tile. We just wanted to be rid of the tile, so maybe drywall would be the way to go for you.

 

[lovemachine]

How difficult is it to remove the old tile adhesive from the wall?

 

[Mgderf]

How difficult is it to remove the old tile adhesive from the wall?

Depends on the adhesive used.
Some will sand/scrape off relatively easy.
Others will set rock hard after a decade or two.
Use the stiffest blade putty knife you can find and keep the blade almost flat on the wall.
Try a section or two and see how it goes.
You might also try a technic like removing wallpaper.
Use a sponge with as hot of water you can stand and sponge the glue down.
The idea being it MIGHT loosen the adhesive.

If it comes off, even with a small amount of damage, you can use a primer/sealer on the damaged plaster and tile right over it once the sealer is dry.
I just did this to a small wall in the bathroom of my new house.