While there are many people who will choose to paint – or even tile – over old, outdated or stained tiles, for a completely fresh start in a room, the old tiles will need to be removed. The trick, of course, is to get the old tiles off without causing too much damage to the wall beneath them.
If there is visible edge to the section of tiles you want to remove, you should begin at that point using a bolster chisel and a small club hammer. Set the chisel against the edge of a tile while keeping it as flush with the wall as possible. Hit the chisel with the hammer, and the tile should come away from the wall. If there are no noticeable edges you will have to begin by breaking a centre tile, which will allow you to get to the edges of the tiles around the broken tile and work your way outward.
The ease with which the tiles come off will depend on whether they were fixed with cement mortar or adhesive; older tiles will usually have been fixed with cement mortar, while more recently placed tiles will be fixed with adhesive. In either case, once all the tiles have been removed, you are likely to still find yourself with either adhesive or cement mortar on the wall, and every bit of it will have to come off.
For adhesive, you will want to use a sharp paint scraper, and it is likely your scraper will take out small pieces of plaster as well as the adhesive. You will have to fill these scrapes and holes, and then sand the wall. You will want to continue to use the bolster chisel and hammer to get rid of cement mortar.
If there is a large area to be done, you should prepare yourself for a time consuming task. The cleaner the wall is, the easier it will be to successfully go on to the next stages.