Flooring Tile - 1961 Tile removal from bathroom walls

I am removing the tile from the walls in my 1961 bathroom this weekend. There is sheetrock behind it. Any tips on how to start it and what tools to use, for the least damage to the sheetrock behind it. We plan to put up wainscotting after it is off, and paint the top half of the walls. Any tips would be appreciated! Goodbye mint green tile:)))))
Thanks

No way to save the sheetrock behind the tile. The sheetrock has to come down with the tile. Once you get it started you'll be able to wrip down large areas at a time.

That's correct! If the tile was properly installed you probably won't be able to salvage the current wallboard. It will cost more time and money to try to save it than it will cost to simply take it out with the tile attached to it and put up new wallboard. Take it down to the studs, this is the most cost-effective means of getting it done.:)

New sheetrock, I'm starting to rethink the mint tile thing. Some people say the tile will "pop" off and others say it will ruin the sheetrock, I guess I was just hoping to be able to save the wall and spackle and sand until my lungs were white:)
Thanks for the advise!

kcorrado,

OK, here's the deal.:)

NO ONE HERE KNOWS what you are up against except you.

This is more-than-likely 4-1/4" tile that was installed with an organic tile adhesive and the installation is over forty years old. I say it is organic adhesive because it is installed over drywall. One of two things is going to happen here. 1. Either the adhesive is very hard and brittle and the tiles WILL in fact simply pop off the wall. BUT, you then have to skimcoat the rough wall and sand it. The problem with that is you will then be installing your new tile over all that old brittle adhesive and it's anybodies-guess how long that will survive. Or, 2. The tile is still adhered quite well and you are going to suck holes in the drywall in which case some of the holes will not be easily repairable.

A professional installer wouldn't waist any time on discovery or experimentation, he would simply remove the wallboard from the studs with the tile attached to it and move on.

You came here asking for advice. You now have two professionals offering you advice and the two of us confer. You do what you think is best but removal of the drywall really isn't that daunting of a task and YOU CAN DO IT.

I hope this isn't in a shower and it is simply wall tile in a dry area. If this is a wet area then the correct appraoch is a little more technical and a thing or two will change.:)

I just took a tile down and there is an orangish mortar behind the tile. The tiles do just pop off, but do you skim coat over the mortar? We would be there for years trying to chistle all of that off. DO you think it is wise to sand the adhesive?
Thanks for all the help!

The orange-ish color sort of like custard or maybe butterscotch is the organic adhesive I'm referring to. It isn't likely it will sand-off. The sandpaper will gum-up immediately. You may get it to peel but when you do you will also be peeling the wallboard's surface-paper off with it, and this will surely violate the integrity of the wallboard surface.

I'll repaeat myself to say that to install new (costly) tile over an organic adhesive that is approaching fifty years old could be a waste of time and money.

IS THIS A WET AREA????

This isn't a wet area, it is the wall in the bathroom, not the shower wall.
We will just have to resheetrock the walls, since there is no saving the wall with adhesive under them. We were not going to tile these walls, just paint and put up wainscotting. I can't believe what a mess the adhesive makes of sheetrock. I guess resheetrocking is a normal practice for these situations. Thanks for the advise and hopefully we will be able to say goodbye to mint green tile afterall.:)

What if I am taking tile down in a shower? I am planning on putting plastic tub walls in. Is there any thing special that needs to be done to the walls.

Thank you