Removing Tile - Redoing Walls

[kdnovak]

We are removing old tile from our bathroom walls that are not near the tub and wish to either repaint or wallpaper the walls instead. The tile is coming off ok, but leaving some of the adhesive in places. Is it possible to remove the adhesive and then patch the wall to a finish surface that would accept paint/wallpaper, or should we be removing the walls down to the studs and putting up drywall? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[Doug Aleshire]

kdnovak,

To make this job easy and less time consuming - remove it all - install new drywall - W/R as long as it not an exterior wall or standard drywall as long not in close proximity of water splash.

Hope this helps!

[kdnovak]

Ok - the walls are pretty much down now - we're at the studs. We have a radiator along 2.5 walls of the bathroom. When we took down the walls, we found that there isn't any interior wall behind the radiator (baseboard radiators). Also, they had slightly angled the wall so that it met the top of the radiator cover, so it wasn't level...when we install the drywall, we'd like the walls to be level. How can we compensate for the difference? Should we build up the studs slightly so that the wall will push out a little? I guess that will also give us room to install insulation behind the wall (that wasn't there originally). Currently, the framing studs are 1". What's the best way to fix this?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Doug Aleshire]

kdnovak,

I would personally build out the wall to install added insulation. How you do it will be determined by what you can foresee as the finished look. To attain that look, do what is necessary.

This is based more on what you should have and need. Your choice, simple.

Hope this helps!

[kdnovak]

Thank you. Is there any particular thickness of greenboard that is preferred in bathrooms? Then I could gauge how much I have to build out (and how much insulation I can fit in).

[Doug Aleshire]

kdnovak,

If we are talking M/R drywall and the studs are 16" O.C., then 1/2" is sufficient.

Not knowing where you live, I would recommend R-13 (3 1/2").

Hope this helps!