Remove a tile from Aquapanel

[TheRealRobG]

Is it possible to remove a single tile from Aquapanel without significantly damaging the Aquapanel surface or surrounding tiles?

I have a single tile I would like to remove (see picture below) as the top cut over the supply pipe is slightly too high, and appears over the rear of the pan by about 6mm or so (too large to comfortably cover with silicone).

I want to replace the tile with a similarly cut one.

Given that I can access the tile from one side, can I chisel along behind it without damaging either the surrounding tiles or the Aquapanel?

Will it help if I make shallow cuts in the tile first with an angle grinder or drill a series of holes in it to fracture it into small pieces?

Can I use an SDS chisel bit effectively to help with this?

I could probably insert a small piece of tile in there and camoflage it reasonably well, but I'd rather replace it if it'll not be too much trouble.

The adhesive bed behind the tile is about 3mm (I used a 10mm trowel).

I also thought about maybe using a reciprocating saw blade to cut away the adhesive behind the tile...

Thanks!

[whitebeam]

Was it a powdered adhesive

[TheRealRobG]

It was Bal Mosaic Fix. Laid about a week ago.

[TheRealRobG]

Maybe I could gradually work a hacksaw blade behind it. Would take a while, but less chance of damage...

[whitebeam]

I would remove any grout around the tile first, try a scraper behind the tile to break the bond and see if it pops off.

Have'nt had alot of dealing with Mosaic fix personally.

[diamondtiling]

Looking at that picture I would have thought you could get a bead of silicone on to cover that? If you dont want to do that then I am sure it will come off, if you do damage the aqua panel then you could cut out the panel, insert two pieces behind it and fix with screws, then fit another piece of aqua panel into the rectangle left behind. Its similar to replacing a hole in plasterboard.

[mikethetile]

is the floor to be tiled or have you done that already

[TheRealRobG]

is the floor to be tiled or have you done that already

Floor is to be tiled. I can't raise the pan however, as it's a wall hung jobbie.

[diamondtiling]

Floor is to be tiled. I can't raise the pan however, as it's a wall hung jobbie.

They can be adjusted no bother. They have lots of different hole alignments for different heights.

[TheRealRobG]

Got it off in the end. Whacked it with a centre punch a few times to fracture it and levered it off in parts. The Aquapanel behind is pretty cracked-up, and the front surface and fibreglass mesh got torn off, but I'm going to fill the cracks with tile adhesive and pop a tile back over it to hold it together. That particular tile is supported pretty extensively behind by the steel crossmembers of the Gerberit toilet frame, and one of the pan bolts goes straight through the centre of the tile, so I figure it should be well enough supported not to cut out the damaged Aquapanel. It would be too difficult to do anyway, with the frame directly behind. At least I'm rid of that annoying gap...

I'm going to apply a thin film of silicone to the rear surface of the pan where it butts-up to the tiles rather than apply a bead around the toilet afterwards. I figured it'd be a neater finish and not pick up stains in use.

That Bal Mosaic Fix is practically indestructable by the way, and it seems to set quite flexible, too. Not an easy substance to dislodge...