Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Removing tile from concrete block wall.

I live in a home built in the 50's. I'm removing the tile from the bathroom walls. My walls are block and half way up the wall under the tile is an inch thick layer of cement. While taking off the tile some of the cement has come off also. I thought I should go ahead and remove the cement but while doing that I put a hole all the way through the wall. I need to know how to repair the hole and if I need to remove the cement first before I tile or just patch up the cement that has already come off.

Is there wire/lathe as well?

Can you post some pictures? (Upload them to a sharing site, then post IMG url here)

Hi tlspoppell

Walls built with concrete blocks , if they are structural, they may have grout + steel (in some rows, arround the doors, etc)
So if you broke the block with hammer and you see the interior, for example, you should verify if the grout is cracked. You will recognize the grout because it hasn't an uniform texture (in the 50's they used crushed stone for sure)
Now, check the concrete block--> if it is cracked--> make a thin hole and verify if the block has grout inside
If you have any of the situations above.... stop all and call for professional help, because the structure may be damaged.

The cement used to set the tiles, is probably a mix containing lime (very common is the 50's) in this case, a patch will be a little complicated--> try to set some mesh because the mix with lime pulverizes after crack, therefore a common patch will not stick

Here are the pictures you requested:

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv327/tlspoppell/1.jpg
http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv327/tlspoppell/2.jpg
http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv327/tlspoppell/3.jpg
http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv327/tlspoppell/4.jpg
http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv327/tlspoppell/5.jpg
http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv327/tlspoppell/6.jpg
http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv327/tlspoppell/7.jpg

The repair and re-tile is not rocket science. You will need to be patient. Start by repairing the block wall hole much the same way as with sheet rock. Cut a piece of wire screen or wire lath larger than the given hole, tie it to a wire and force it through the whole by pushing on the center of patching wire screen or lath. Pull the wire tight to hold this to the blocks and tape the wire to the wall some place away from the work area. Now use a small amount of "thin-set" a common tile setting material that bonds well to any surface. Allow to dry for a day. Thin-set when cured is stronger than the blocks themselves. You need not remove the old cement set on the surface, but you will need to re-surface the area by getting a mortor mix from you local concret dealer and adding a latex bonding agent that they can recommend. Using a 18 inch mason flat trowel scim coat the wall once or twice to cover all the ruff areas. You can also incorperate the use of a 3 foot 2"x4" to screat off or help level a large area. A spray bottle of water will help keep the surface moist and workable. Allow plenty of cure time and you are now ready to re-tile. Good luck

Clearly, the part outlined in red (picture below) is structural. As I stated in my previous post, you can see the crushed stone (the white / gray units)
There is not a safe way to determine with a picture how damaged this grout is. I'd suggest to avoid risks and call a professional to evaluate the damage
http://www.punchhelpers.com/DIY/grout1

DON'T insert wires or steel in the current situation, this will make the problem worst

The original discription of the needed repair stated that there was a hole in the wall ,my repair was proper,but with the photo, there is no hole there to speak of,so just mortor over the wall and do your tile work. Better luck this time!

I see a hole in the left down corner and cracks on the right

Looks like a lot of pictures of the same piece of the wall from different angles. If the whole wall looks like that, then demo it and start over. If its just a few places and the walls are for the most part structurely sound, then patch it up as has been suggested and start tiling.:)

Is it possible to tile over old tile? If so, what do I need to use?

Hi again, tlspoppell

The short answer is "no" , you can't. The first property of a tile is impermeability, therefore, you can't stick / apply / paint over the old tiles
This is valid in any situation, but specially with the situation we saw in the pictures

I was wondering about the tile on the floor but it came up a lot easier than I thought it would. I'm almost finished with taking up all of the tile in the bathroom. Thanks for your help!!

Hi tlspoppell,

I imagined that we were talking about the same wall. Glad to know you solved the problem :thumbup:

I am a new and huge fan of solving the tile problem altogether... stain the concrete! It can look like tile or not but it's awesome and there are tons of different looks you can do and it's cheaper in most cases.

Hi think2nite,

Not in this case.
The concrete showed in the pictures is structural