I recently purchased a home built in 1952 with a nice big shower in the master bath. Unfortunately, the opposite walls of the shower have peeling paint, which I assume comes from shower moisture. There are several places in the shower where a previous owner has put silicon caulk over the grout. I was hoping to do a better repair by removing the tile, putting up some water resistant board, and putting the tile back down. I was advised that this would be fairly easy; I could just cut the old grout out with a utility knife and then pry off the tiles with a screwdriver. Once the tiles were removed, I could replace a section of the old drywall with the cement board and retile with the same tiles I had removed. Implementation of this plan is proving much harder than I had thought. I haven’t removed a single tile, but I have managed to chip several of them up. Is there and easy way to remove the tiles without cracking, chipping, or breaking? I was hoping to save some money by reusing the tiles, however if that isn’t possible I’ll stop wasting my time being delicate and just take a sledge to the wall.
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