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by Peter Brett - January 2006
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01444 440188
– No Hassle Tile Removal
The following description confirms what I mean. The PT Profiles tile removing trowel consists of a wide flat blade about 20cm long and 14cm deep made in bright steel. It has dog’s leg bend on either side of the top of the blade in order to give it some resistance to bending when tapped with a hammer and to provide a bit of space between trowel and wall. Attached to it, at an angle so as not to get too close to a tiled wall, is a handle. The handle is made of steel tube with a strong threaded insert into which the blade is screwed. This insert is also proof against the hammer tapping on it when removing tiles. To complete the picture you get a simple ridged rubber handle to hold it while you work. The steel blade has a ground edge to sharpen it to enable it to get behind the tiles you need to remove.
Using the PT Profiles tile remover is simple. Find the wall or floor of tiles you want to remove, smash the first tile gently with a hammer and remove the pieces. Then with the way clear, insert the blade edge of the tile remover behind the next tile you want to take out, tap it gently with a hammer and out will come the tile. Done carefully, it is possible to remove many tiles without damaging them at all because the tile adhesive lets go quite easily. Having watched the DVD and tried it myself, there is in fact little or no damage to the wall behind the tiles. Even if it is only plasterboard, there should be no real need for major repairs to the surface before retiling or refinishing the wall in some other way. The downside is of course that the tile adhesive remains behind. I know of no easier way to remove the adhesive than using a wallpaper steamer, and having done what seemed like several acres of tile adhesive removing in my last house using this method I can recommend it. Just get a good quality wall scraper!
The Tile Removing Trowel can also be used for removing dados and skirting because its wide blade and sharp edge can get behind these mouldings. It also has the strength to be used as a lever to lever the skirting from the wall and the width of the blade means that the pressure exerted is over a larger area and is thus less likely to damage the mouldings or the wall/plaster.
The idea for this device came from a professional tiler named Tony who had had problems in the past removing tiles in such a way as to minimize the damage caused. As he explained, he spent too much time making good damaged plasterboard or plaster after the tiles were removed. After some consultation with a friend and colleague Winston, the idea of the Tile Removing Trowel was born. I have the feeling that a few versions were tried out because the final version on sale, while still a simple product, has been refined quite subtly. These refinements are done in such a way as to make it very easy to use and to avoid as much as possible any damage to the wall behind, or indeed the tiles themselves. Although the demonstration emphasized the need to use safety glasses because ceramic tiles can splinter very easily and produce sharp sherds, the tiles often came away completely whole.
I rather suspect that the more imaginative end users out there will find a whole host of other ways to use the tile removing trowel. Plumbers, for example may find it comes in useful for getting behind pipes or gently lifting floorboards. I am sure that Tony and Winston will not be far behind developing perhaps a smaller version for removing the popular small sized tiles now available. ( Bit of a sore point here, the kitchen in my new house has been so badly tiled with these small modern tiles that I wince every time I see them. A smaller version of the Tile Removing trowel would be ideal for me when my wife finally gives me the go-ahead to chop those nasty things out. Roll on the Summer)
In effect, what Winston and Tony have done is to formalize a tool that has been used in various guises for some while. Either an old chisel, large screwdriver or bolster has been used for tile removal. None of these is ideal, whereas the Tile Removal Trowel has the specialized attributes needed. Simple idea, works very well and good luck to Winston and Tony.
Independent Review by Peter Brett
Airstream Communications