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If your bathroom is looking a little old or outdated, then new tiles will make a world of difference. You're probably already dancing a happy dance just thinking about how much better your bathroom tile will look. Or, maybe your tile isn't all that old, but like me, you had a bathtub leak, and the plumber ripped out the shower tile to get into the wall. Then you’ve got no choice but to replace the tile around your bathtub. Sure, you can call a professional to get the job done. Or, in about 10-15 hours divided over a few days, you can DIY it. If you choose the latter, follow these 12 steps: Gather PPE Prepare to contain the dust Protect your bathtub Remove hardware and caulk Remove old tiles Clear rubble Check for repairs and maintenance Measurements for tile layout Lay the new tiles Re-grout the tiles Clean up Replace the caulk and hardware This article provides the intrepid DIY enthusiast with a step-by-step guide to replacing bathtub tiles. You can do this as a purely creative project or as a way to save money. Being prepared for your DIY job will make it go as smoothly as possible, so make sure that you have everything that will be required to complete the project before you start it. All materials required are bullet-pointed in the steps below. Resources to Help With a Bathroom Tile Project Of course, you might get stuck simply choosing the tile for your project. In that case, be sure to read advice from bathroom designer Kathleen Finley on how to choose the right tile for you. You can also download a tile calculator by entering your email on the form just below. This will help you figure out exactly how much tile to order for your project. And if you have a freestanding tub, you may be wondering if you really even need to replace the tile around it. If so, read Do You Need to Tile Around a Freestanding Tub? Step 1: Gather Your PPE The first thing to do when you are re-tiling is to make sure that the project is done as safely as possible. You don’t want to step on a shard of tile or inhale the dust. So here are the materials you’ll need to keep yourself safe: Closed and thick-soled shoes Eye protection Earplugs Gloves A dust mask or respirator Foot protection: While you re-tile around your bathtub, you will need to wear closed shoes with a thick sole. This will reduce the risk of cutting your feet on the shards of sharp broken tiles. Remember, depending on how frequently you clear away the removed tile and how big the area being re-tiled is, you may end up walking over piles of rubble as you progress. Eye protection: Protective eye gear is particularly important when you’re chipping tiles off of the area around your bath and when you’re cutting new tiles to size. You need to protect your eyes from the dust created as well as any flying fragments of tile. For this purpose, it’s best to wear a pair of glasses or goggles that fit firmly against your face around your eyes. Earplugs: Wearing earplugs during the demolition part of your re-tiling project will prevent you from finding grout and dust in your ears for the next week. Also, it protects your ears from the noise of chiseling tiles, tiles falling and breaking, and the sound of the tile cutting machine. Gloves: Wear a pair of gloves with a non-slip grip to protect your hands from breaking tiles while you remove the old tile. Dust mask or respirator: While you replace the tile around your bathtub, make sure you protect your respiratory system from the vast quantities of dust. If you get frustrated with wearing the mask or respirator, take a complete break, removing it only once you’re away from all the floating dust. Step 2: Prepare to Contain the Dust Replacing tiles is a messy and dusty undertaking. You’ll definitely have excess dust in your bathroom for a week or two, but you can make your life a little easier by taking a few steps aimed at dust containment. Here’s what you’ll need: A plastic tarp Tape A towel The biggest issue is to prevent the dust from moving into the rest of the house. You can keep your bathroom window open to provide ventilation. However, you don’t want any of the dust blowing out the bathroom window to blow into other windows that may be open along the same wall of your house. So be sure to keep those other windows closed while you work. Cover the Bathroom Wall Additionally, you can tape a plastic tarp to the inside bathroom wall above the door. While you are working, close the door and drape the plastic tarp over it. Make sure that this tarp is big enough to cover the door and door frame fully. Seal the Crack Under the Door As an extra measure, you can place a rolled-up towel at the bottom of the door to seal up the crack. Remove Dusty Clothing Replacing the tiles in your bathroom is unlikely to be a one-day job. At the end of the day, you should remove your dusty clothing just inside or outside of the bathroom to prevent traipsing it through the house. You should also keep the bathroom door closed. Vacuum the Bathroom If you can, try to vacuum the bathroom before you start your next session. The dust will have settled overnight, and you can suck it up off of the floor and other surfaces before starting again. Step 3: Protect Your Bathtub Before you start chipping off the tiles around the bathtub, you need to make sure that you will not have to refinish your bathtub at the end of it. Falling tiles can scuff and chip your bathtub finish, so you’ll need to cover it. Here’s what you can use: Towel Tape Wood board (optional) Use your ingenuity on this one, but one option is to cover your tub with towels. Secure the towels to the tub itself with strong tape. Try to cover as much of the bathtub as possible. If you can’t cover all the edges with a towel, then cover them with painter’s tape. If you can arrange it, an added measure is to place a wooden board over the towel-covered tub. This board will further protect your bathtub, and if it’s solid and secure enough, you can kneel or stand on it to help you reach the higher tiles. Step 4: Remove Hardware And Caulk Here’s what you’ll need for this step: Tools to remove hardware (pliers, screwdriver) Tools to remove caulk (razor, utility knife, caulk softener) Remove any shower attachments and faucets that are secured onto the tiles you plan to remove. You don’t want to risk falling rubble and grit scratching up your hardware and ruining its finish. Also, remove caulk from the places where the tiles meet the bathtub. This may involve simply running a utility knife or razor blade scraper underneath the caulk line, or you may need to buy a caulk softener to make the task easier. (For further instructions, this post includes a step-by-step guide for removing and replacing bathroom caulk.) Step 5: Remove The Old Tiles To remove the old tiles, you’ll need these tools: Hammer Chisel Multi-tool (optional) Flat bar Although you may be tempted to just take a sledgehammer to your wall because it always looks so fun when they do it in the movies, resist! You have to protect whatever is behind your tiles, whether it’s waterproofing, plumbing, or just the bathroom wall itself. Instead, take a hammer and a chisel and work methodically, or you can use a multi-tool like the one in this video: https://youtu.be/VDlEd-6HoGU I recommend the Dremel MM50-01 Multi-Max. Another tool you might need (especially if you don’t have a multi-tool) is a flat bar like this one, which you can use to pry larger tiles off the wall. Step 6: Clear Away The Rubble Here’s what you need for this step: Dustpan and scoop Garbage can Shovel Vacuum cleaner Using a shovel, scoop up the rubble and put it into a garbage can. A plastic garbage bag will probably just tear open, so put the old tile directly into the garbage can. Use a dustpan and scoop to get the smaller pieces and shards. Finally, once all the big stuff has been removed, vacuum as much of the dust as you can. Remember to empty your vacuum afterward; it’ll probably be quite full. Step 7: Check For Necessary Repairs Or Maintenance For this step, you can’t really predict what you will need. You may need to replace the backer board, especially if you’re in an older home and find drywall below the height of the showerhead. Instead, you’ll need to replace that with a cement backer board. Once you expose the underlying wall, you can see if you need to do any maintenance and repair to the waterproofing and backer board. Here is an excellent video that should help you proceed with this step: https://youtu.be/VVNxXfW_zXY While you’ve exposed the underlying wall, check for signs of dampness or see if any of the backer boards or waterproofing need to be repaired or replaced. If you spot any mold, be sure to address it before moving on. This post about how to detect and remove bathroom mold should provide all the information you need. Furthermore, if your backer board was damaged in the process of removing the tiles, you would have to replace it and weatherproof it. Many people use cement backer board in bathrooms because it’s waterproof and won’t disintegrate if moisture seeps through the tile grouting. However, a cement backer board is not water-resistant, which means that water can pass through it to the studs behind and cause issues there. To prevent the studs from rotting, you need to create a moisture barrier. Speak to someone at your local hardware store about an appropriate water-resistant material that you can install before you hang your backer board. (Use a digital moisture meter like the MMD4E to find hidden mold and moisture that's not readily visible.) Seal up the cracks and seams on your hung backer board with water-resistant tape or caulking. You can even use specialized water-resistant paint to coat the backer board. Step 8: Measure The Wall For The Correct Tile Layout These tools will help out with this step: Chalk Spirit level Measuring tape You cannot simply start in the corner and work your way outward and upward when you tile. You need to measure your space and compare it with the size of your tiles and the desired size of your grout line. Use the Level When you’re measuring, use the spirit level because your bathtub may be installed at a slight angle, or the walls on either side of the tub may be slightly thicker at some points, etc. Tile from the Center You’re actually going to start tiling from the center of the wall. This means that any partial tiles will get shared evenly on each side, creating visual symmetry. Measure out the mid-point on the horizontal axis, and see how your tiles line up on either side of this. When you’re happy, mark off vertical grid lines using the chalk. Then move onto the vertical axis. You won’t start tiling halfway up the wall. See how your tiles line up along this axis. Balance Out Partial Tiles on Top and Bottom Once again, you want to balance out your use of partial tiles on the top and bottom. If you can get away with no partial tiles, that would be great! As before, measure out the grid lines and mark them with chalk. Step 9: Lay The New Tiles And Allow The Mastic To Set For this step, you’ll need: Tiles Tile mastic Spacers Trowel Tile cutter Measuring tape Marker or pencil Once you have everything measured, you can start laying your pretty new tiles! Begin on the center horizontal line (half-way between the two walls). Take Note of the First WHOLE Tile If your first whole tile is at the bottom above your tub, you can go ahead and start on this center bottom tile. If the first whole tile is one above the tile closest to the tub, then start there. Spread Tile Mastic & Rake Grooves Following the gridlines, lay all of the whole tiles. To do this, you will apply tile mastic to a portion of the wall that you can tile before the mastic dries out. (Start with a smaller area until you get into a rhythm). Spread a thick, even layer of tile mastic and then rake deep grooves into it with the notched side of the trowel. Lay the tiles on the grooved mastic. Use Tile Spacers Use the tile spacers to ensure even grout lines, and make sure you press the tiles in securely and flush with each other. Cut Additional Tiles Once the whole tiles are laid, use a pencil and measuring tape to measure out the ones you need to cut, including those that are going around the plumbing. Cut the tiles carefully with the tile cutter, then lay them as you did with the whole tiles. Let Mastic Fully Dry Leave the mastic to set fully—check the instructions on the packaging. Step 10: Re-Grout The Tiles To re-grout your bathtub tiles, here’s what you’ll need: Grout Grout float Bucket Mixing stick Sponge Grout Haze Remover Grout Sealant Silicone Sealant When the tile mastic is dry, remove the spacers and mix the grout up in the bucket as per the packaging instructions. Then apply the grout over the whole surface and use the grout float to force it evenly into the spaces between the tiles. Next, leave the grout to dry until it does not come out when you wipe it with a damp sponge. At this point, you can start to clean the excess grout off the surface of the tiles. Rinse the sponge at regular intervals. Then let the grout dry completely. Use the grout haze remover to clean any grout residue off the tiles. Then wait a few days and apply a grout sealant to the grout and silicone sealant to edges. Step 11: Clean Up For this step, you’ll just need: regular bathroom cleaning supplies vacuum cleaner You’ll probably need to clean the tiles again to remove the haze left by the residual grout. Then you can remove your bathtub protection and the plastic sheeting from your door. Give your bathroom a thorough cleaning—there will probably be dust everywhere! Ensure that you get up all of the dust and dirt around the plumbing and caulk lines because that needs to be clean for the next step. Step 12: Replace The Caulk And Hardware You’ll need: Caulk Tools to replace hardware Re-caulk the areas that you removed caulk from in step 4. This new caulk is also going to add to the fresh look of your newly tiled bathtub surround. Again, this post about how I caulked my tub might be helpful. If you want to, you can actually replace the caulk everywhere in the bathroom for consistency (older caulk may look discolored compared to the new lines). Be sure to let the caulk dry thoroughly before attempting to use the tub again. You can also replace your bathroom hardware at this stage. Learning How to DIY Bathroom Tile Learning how to tile is a great life skill, and it’ll save you money on this bathroom project and many future projects as well. The step-by-step guide provided above can be used in conjunction with videos that actually demonstrate the procedures, but by the end of your project, your bathroom will look fresh and new. And if you’re in need of a tile calculator to help you figure out how much tile to order, I’ve got you covered. Just fill out the form below and I’ll send The Bathtubber’s Official Free Tile Calculator straight to your inbox.

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