I recently bought a circa 1940's mill home in SC. In the hall bathroom there were thin plastic tiles. Many of these tiles were missing and I could not locate any of the exact color or style to replace them. This past weekend I took a flat head screwdriver and was able to pop the remaining tiles off with ease. What I have left is a huge mess.

The stuff that is remaining on the walls is almost like cement. It is brown/grey and is very hard. It doesn't look like any grout that I have seen in the past. It isn't glue like either. I am afraid I am going to have to take a chisel to the wall. When I tried to do this in a small corner area out of site the plaster took part of the wall with it. How do I remove this? I think I have almost come to the resolution that I am probably going to have to put sheetrock up. I think the wall is too far gone.

Here is another question. The previous owner applied a garish color of paint on the walls. When I went to scrape the paint off it comes off in sheets. I guess he used Latex. This is easy to pull off in some areas, but in others not even a heavy duty paint scraper will touch it. Any ideas on this? Please help... this bathroom looks a gazillion times better already with the shower doors down and the tiles off. I just have to do the rest. Thanks

The tool to do this is the Fein Multimaster with the carbide rasp. Fein Power Tools USA Quality Precision Power Tools. There is an entire tile video to watch.

If you do go the "sheet rock" route, check out hardiboard and green board for bathrooms.

The second problem is latex over oil without the proper prep.

Leave the stuff that's stuck. If it doesn't budge with a light hit from course sandpaper leave it be.

Feather the edges and patch with RediPatch from Home depot.

I agree. With a bath that's almost 70 years old I'd consider a total tearout but that may be beyond your wallet. If this is more than a 1/2 bath Hardiboard or cement board should be used for all wet areas like inside a shower enclosure. With a 1/2 bath you can just go with greenboard. The FEIN tool is very interesting, I recently noticed that Dremel and Rockwell have also come out with their own versions for about $100.

Ballenger:

I own the Fein Multimaster. I was aware of the Dremel version, but not the Rockwell version.

I bought the Multimaster locally at Woodcraft. It does not appear to be discounted anywhere. I love it. It's a companion to the Dremel.

Hand power tools now consist of:

An old Sears circular saw from the 70's.
A 1/4 in B&D drill from the 30's.
A 3/8 Hitachi reverseable 9.6 V battery drill.
A Bosch finishng sander (recent purchase, nice)
A Skill Belt sander (Recent purchase)
A Bosch jigsaw. Love it. (recent purchase)
A 4.5" Dewalt angle grinder (recent, nice)
The fein multimaster deluxe kit (recent purchase, love it)
A Dremel tool with lots of attachments.

I have the ability to dust collect too, but recently broke a hose.

Considering a Dremel attachment for shaving off the edge of a door.

I made two attachements to the Multimaster:
1. A plastic scraper - I tested it and it works. I need to remove some butyl rubber glue from new tub moulding. I don't like the glue.

2. WIP: Made a small wire brush attachment for something like 1/4" of in inch. Actually it will take anything that has a 1/4" shank. I have some problems with the design, but it will work. Just can't get parts locally.

I think both the Rockwell and the Dremel are both about half the cost of the FEIN. The Dremel does not appears as robust but housing can fool you.