How To Repair A Drywall Hole After Removing Countertop Backsplash

We're at the halfway point of the Ane Room Challenge, and I'chiliad sharing a post that I desperately search for simply couldn't find: How to Remove a Backsplash and Prep the Walls for New Tiles!

1 of my about pop posts of all time is nearly how to install a subway tile backsplash. Y'all can find the posts here: Part 1 and Function two. It was our outset fourth dimension laying tile, and I was pleasantly surprised that information technology only took two days. However, we were working with a clean, level wall with no major issues or previous tiles. This fourth dimension effectually was a bit dissimilar. We were faced with two walls of pocket-sized, beige tiles to remove with hopefully as little harm as possible before installing our new white subway tile backsplash. In this postal service, I'll show y'all exactly how we removed the old tile and repaired the wall damage properly for new tile.

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Tools Needed for Removal

Hammer // Scraping Tool/Chisel // Safety Glasses + Gloves // Saucepan

Tools Needed for Repair and Prep

Drywall Patch (optional) // Drywall Console (optional) // Like shooting fish in a barrel Sand Joint Compound // Mud Pan // Drywall Saw // Drywall Taping Pocketknife // Drywall Record // Spackling // Sanding Block // Safety Spectacles + Respirator Mask

Reference Videos Mentioned

How to Patch and Repair Drywall

How to Fix Damaged Drywall Paper

Step 1 // Protect + Prepare Your Surfaces

You'll want to brainstorm with placing a protective bulwark over your countertops if you will be keeping them. This is a messy job!

Most chiefly, plough off the power to the outlets and remove outlet covers! You lot will be hammering and chiseling away all around the outlets, so you lot need to protect yourself and your habitation past switching off the power.

Prepare for the task by having a large bucket for tiles, and have your tools ready and safety gear on. I'll echo, it'south a messy job!

Step 2 // Chisel Away with Patience

Taking a hammer and chisel or scraping tool, scrap abroad at the existing grout. Once you tin become your chisel nether the tile, concur it every bit apartment as you lot tin can against the wall nether the tile just avoiding the drywall. You will then gently tap the finish of the chisel to loosen the tile away from the wall. The tile may come up off in sections or slice by slice. Pull the tile abroad from the wall while trying to avert pulling the drywall with it.

Tips: To loosen stubborn mortor, hitting the tile in several places with a hammer before chiseling. As well, if you find that drywall is coming off with a section of tile, try removing information technology from some other side and getting your chisel or scraping tool directly backside the tile and away from the drywall.

This is the part where my husband gently offered to finish the chore. I wanted the tile down speedily, and that resulted in a massive hole in the wall that needed a new piece of drywall. As I was watching him work, yous quickly got the hang of how the tiles came down. This is definitely a larn as you go job, and then commencement in a minor, unnoticeable surface area to do.

Step iii // Patch and Repair Walls

Whatsoever pigsty 6-eight″ or less tin can be repaired using a patch kit. Anything larger volition probably need a piece of drywall. You lot can purchase 2'x2′ drywall panels at Home Depot. I watched this video to patch our big hole with drywall. Any smaller pigsty tin can be repaired with a patch or simply with spackle.

Before

Drywall Fitting

Taped

Prepare for New Tile

When yous remove your tile, you lot will more than than likely be left with a layer of peeling chocolate-brown paper. The key is to have a smooth, level surface, and then many articles recommended applying a skim coat on the entire surface where the tile was removed. It's kind of like a crumb coat for all you bakers out there. I learned a lot from this video and followed it almost exactly, but I didn't use the Gardz product she mentioned since tile would exist covering up the wall.

I put joint compound in a drywall trowel and applied it with my drywall record knife in a rainbow shape. After cleaning my knife, I went pack over what I just applied with a horizontal stroke, cleaning my pocketknife as I went. This will fill in whatever gaps and level out the wall for your new tile. You may need some other low-cal skim coat once the get-go coat is dry, sanded, and free of dust.

Step 4 // Smooth + Make clean

At present that your holes are filled and your skim coat is completely dry, you volition need to put your mask and safety glasses on to start sanding. Your goal here is to get a smooth, level surface. It doesn't have to look pretty nor does the brown newspaper have to be completely hidden. Your wall just demand to be as smooth to the touch equally possible.

Once your happy with the sanding results, take your vacuum zipper or store vac and run it over your walls to pick up equally much dust as possible. You will then take a damp microfiber cloth and wipe downwardly the walls before tiling.

So here'due south a quick BEFORE & AFTER to remind you of what this space looked similar earlier nosotros took a hammer to it.

Make sure to check out the other bloggers and designers participating in the Ane Room Challenge HERE. There are some amazing transformations happening!