I asked my brother to tile the wall and he made a bit of a mess with the adhesive. There was lots of it on the fronts of the tiles, which was fairly easy to remove, but the hard bit is all the adhesive between the tiles.

I want to start grouting but need to remove some of the adhesive first.

What's the simplest way to do that without damaging the tiles?

if its tubbed adhesive then you can damp it with a sponge then scrape out with a wallpaper scraper,same if its bagged adhesive but will take a bit more time and effort

Try a stanley knife with a new blade - If you used tubbed adhesive it should scrape out easily, if cement based it might take longer but you should be able to get enough adhesive out to grout.

be carefull and take your time its easy to chip a tile

is it tubbed or bagged,and how long has it been set for ??

This is why i back butter every time and not the walls.

i use a 300mm s.steel rule ,perfect for the job,steve

does that not make your jobs a lot longer?

sometimes you have a bit coming through due to the walls been out a bit but wiping straight away helps you get a job completed more quickly !
just imo

I think next time we will wipe as we work.

I ended up using a wallpaper scraper to get the worst off and then a Stanley Knife to deepen the gaps. Worked well but it was tedious

It's so much easier to work clean and wipe them down as you go...a lesson i've learnt the hard way? It still happens and i find a screwdriver works really well, slots into to gap nicely, never chipped a tile yet!

i use a stainless rule aswell, or a tile spacer. ive not done many jobs and one thing i do find is that im quite messy with the adhesive, it gets everywhere and especially when im troweling using the short side of the trowel, it falls out the sides and stuff which annoys me big time but a damp sponge nearby soons cleans it up

rodgerq

i never spill addy but im perfect, and i never tell lies

lot of experts and even more cowboys !! not all the help you get is right.....

use spread lines or use a tradesman

When applying tiles the trick is to place them next to each other then push away then you dont have any adhesive in between the tiles simple.

If you have adhesive in the joints while you are laying, push the tile against the other tile, it will squelch up and wipe with a sponge.

Now pull the tile away to give you your grout line and the remaining addy will drag down into the joint.

Originally Posted by deno3

use spread lines or use a tradesman

That's the second time today I've spotted you being not so nice towards DIYers. I've sent you a PM.

Originally Posted by Sean fsy

This is why i back butter every time and not the walls.

You should be able to tile to walls without doing this. There's a way to keep clean as you go, and you just need to clock it. back-buttering when not required is a lot of time wasted. And I don't think that's just my opinion. Try to get out of that habit mate. Checkout some tilers tiling walls on youtube and how quick they stick them on.


If you have a tile on the wall, your next tile should be pressed into the wall whilst touching the first one. Then you use (and I quote british standards I think when I say this) "a twisting and pressing action" to easy the tile onto the wall and into place, leaving the desired spacer gap.

What this does is cause the suction that normally causes oozing out of the grout joints to actually be sucked into the backing of the tile and out of the side your twisting it towards. So then you have to simply clean that side up, the bit not near a tile yet, with a sponge if required, and then copy the motion on the next.

You can even do this when you have a full row you're tiling on top of, and have the row you're currently tiling along on the wall. In this case, you place the new tile sitting on the last row, and touching the tile on the current row. And as you twist and press, you move the tile up and away from the tile on the current row to your desired spacer requirement.

Try it, it works. This is also meant to leave 80% coverage on the back of the tile, the minimum for walls, though in wet areas if my memory proves me right I think it's 100% (might be 80 - 100% - anybody confirm that?)

Another thing is this; if you back buter every tile and don't apply adhesive to the walls, you will end up using grout in the voids. Grout costs more per KG than Adhesive. Not wise.

Butting tight before spacing also has the added bonus of letting you set the next tile flush. Failing that, a stanley hook blade (referred to on here as a batman logo) is good for removing adhesive.

bucket of water and a decent sponge next to me and wash and go

Originally Posted by Sean fsy

This is why i back butter every time and not the walls.

Sean. I can understand why you do this but does it not take you ages? It adds so much time when I back butter tiles

Serate the walls and just check as you're going, taking time to clean out any excess before it sets - as folk have said a good wash down with a sponge making sure to press it into the joints as you go will do the trick

Originally Posted by Sean fsy

This is why i back butter every time and not the walls.

Might take longer but get him good results though