How to remove a newly laid tile…

Using a mini hooked seal pick

A simple and cheap hooked seal pick.

Sometimes you need to remove a ceramic tile you’ve just laid, and boy is there a lot of suction to overcome! There are lots of reasons you might want to remove a tile you just laid; you might’ve noticed a defect in the tile, or you forgot it should be a feature tile, or you simply need to add more adhesive behind it.

Wet tile adhesive is designed to be super grippy to give it ‘non-slip’ properties and this can make removing them difficult without disturbing the adjacent tiles. However I have found a super cheap little tool that gets the job done in seconds flat with no stress whatsoever.

Simply look out for a “mini pick and hook set”. These are usually used for removing fiddly rubber seals and so on. There should be one that has a rounded shape. Pop the hooked end down behind the back of the tile in the middle at the top (or side) and just lever or rotate it. The tiny fulcrum created pops that tile straight off, you just need to catch it!

Place the hook of the seal pick behind the tile and rotate upwards to remove tile.

I found my set in a local hardware store but amazon.co.uk have seal picks here, or for the rest of the world, amazon.com have a selection of mini hook and pick sets here.

Stay well

Ian

P.S. Once you have a set of these, you’ll find they come in useful for all sorts of little jobs, I know I’m always reaching for mine!