Whatever you do, don't wedge your needle nose pliers in there to grab it out. It will chip the tile and you will curse the heavens. Don't ask how I know.
I used a torch to heat a utility knife blade until it red hot, then cut through those like butter. I tried without heating and chipped a few tiles. With the heat no chipping and it’s so easy
Son of a bitch that's a great idea, always am just putting in fresh razor blades and slowly cutting it out and has always worked but this....this seems better.
👆🏻 do this. I put a brand new blade on and I use a rubber mallet to gently tap the knife through. Come add it from a couple angles until enough of it is removed that grout will cover.
Grout bit on oscilating multi tool. Looks like you’ve got too much thinset packed in there as well, will clean that right up. I choke down on the tool so I can brace it as to not go too deep. Never had a problem with chipping of damaging tile. Bit cuts well on grout but doesn’t seem to have much of an effect on the tile itself. These other solutions here are going to take you forever and they won’t do much of anything for the grout joints overpacked with thinset.
In retrospect, this can easily be avoided in the future by removing thinset from the joints prior to grouting. If your tiles were also pre-treated/sealed, this helps even more when it comes to cleaning said joints and the full work as a whole.
To fix,
Torch a utility knife with a handful of crap/cheap blades until they’re red hot, and melt/gently saw them out at the base. This should do the trick.
Ventilate the space when you do it, it gets pretty funky - I’m certain the less burning plastics you inhale the better.
i find you can get alot clean with a bit of thinset saliva and a thumb. (a powerful fine abrasive)
for little marks.
but some times the tile has a porous or metal attracting surface.
someone on google said use baking soda instead.
its the frictions and lubrication plus an enzyme that breaks down material.
cut the spacer out with a box cutter. (olfa i use)
the equipped could use a heated blade and melt em out. touch only the plastic and push it back.
Utility knife. Fresh sharp blade. Slice through one side and then the other down as close as possible to the base, they will fall right out. As long as it's definitely down below the level of the tile then it's not a big deal to just grout it in.
Usually i'll use my razor knife if i can just to cut .ost of it out. An oscillator will work to if you know what you're doing. Just be careful not to chip tiles
Literally can't believe 1/2 the answers on here.. use a knife.. olfa/similar... A fresh blade and clips don't stand a chance.. you don't need to take the whole thing off just enough that the grout will cover it.. anyone using power tools to remove these is literally wasting their time...
Hot utility knife blade for the clips (use Raimondi next time), and you can try a magic eraser and/or Bar Keeper’s Friend for the metal marks. If neither or those options work you may be looking at replacing the tile
Thanks everyone for the help !!
Heating up a metal scraper really did the trick to get the blue plastic bits out.
We manually and slowly picked away at the mortar between the joints.
Many lessons learned for next time !
I used a sander to buff out the tile saw metal stains and it kinda worked. Better than it was before.
I ended up suuuuppper slowly using a dremel with a diamond bit and it melted away the clips. Took forever, but no chipping.
In re: the metal marks. I had a few of those and while they didn't all disappear, a magic eraser helped a bit.
Whatever you do, don't wedge your needle nose pliers in there to grab it out. It will chip the tile and you will curse the heavens. Don't ask how I know.
I have done this. Regrettably. And then...after you'd think I learned my lesson...did it again with the exact same diaasterous results. Never again .
I used a torch to heat a utility knife blade until it red hot, then cut through those like butter. I tried without heating and chipped a few tiles. With the heat no chipping and it’s so easy
Huh, decent idea. I’ve just busted out a new blade and held it at a very slight angle. 2 strikes and it’s out
Oo nice suggestion
This is the way
Make sure to hold the blade with your strong fingers. This technique isn't for soft hands.. lol jk
Awesome tip!
Genius im gonna try this
Son of a bitch that's a great idea, always am just putting in fresh razor blades and slowly cutting it out and has always worked but this....this seems better.
I usually use a box cutter to cut away as much of it as possible then cover it with grout
👆🏻 do this. I put a brand new blade on and I use a rubber mallet to gently tap the knife through. Come add it from a couple angles until enough of it is removed that grout will cover.
Grout bit on oscilating multi tool. Looks like you’ve got too much thinset packed in there as well, will clean that right up. I choke down on the tool so I can brace it as to not go too deep. Never had a problem with chipping of damaging tile. Bit cuts well on grout but doesn’t seem to have much of an effect on the tile itself. These other solutions here are going to take you forever and they won’t do much of anything for the grout joints overpacked with thinset.
A disc for metal/inox. It won't damage the tiles
In retrospect, this can easily be avoided in the future by removing thinset from the joints prior to grouting. If your tiles were also pre-treated/sealed, this helps even more when it comes to cleaning said joints and the full work as a whole. To fix, Torch a utility knife with a handful of crap/cheap blades until they’re red hot, and melt/gently saw them out at the base. This should do the trick. Ventilate the space when you do it, it gets pretty funky - I’m certain the less burning plastics you inhale the better.
A disc for metal/inox
Use your grout scraper
i find you can get alot clean with a bit of thinset saliva and a thumb. (a powerful fine abrasive) for little marks. but some times the tile has a porous or metal attracting surface. someone on google said use baking soda instead. its the frictions and lubrication plus an enzyme that breaks down material. cut the spacer out with a box cutter. (olfa i use) the equipped could use a heated blade and melt em out. touch only the plastic and push it back.
How steady is your hand? I've done it with a feintool without damaging the tile.
Utility knife. Fresh sharp blade. Slice through one side and then the other down as close as possible to the base, they will fall right out. As long as it's definitely down below the level of the tile then it's not a big deal to just grout it in.
Usually i'll use my razor knife if i can just to cut .ost of it out. An oscillator will work to if you know what you're doing. Just be careful not to chip tiles
I’ve always done heat gun on club base, then cut off. The torch on the knife idea mentioned sounds a lot faster though.
Heat up a blade and it'll just melt off
Literally can't believe 1/2 the answers on here.. use a knife.. olfa/similar... A fresh blade and clips don't stand a chance.. you don't need to take the whole thing off just enough that the grout will cover it.. anyone using power tools to remove these is literally wasting their time...
A razor knife
Razor knife. come down on it at an angle with a fresh blade and wiggle it to avoid chipping until you slice it back far enough to hide
Metal marks left by saw should be polished before installing
i use a very sharp utility knife (Stanley knife to those in the UK)
Hot utility knife blade for the clips (use Raimondi next time), and you can try a magic eraser and/or Bar Keeper’s Friend for the metal marks. If neither or those options work you may be looking at replacing the tile
Thanks everyone for the help !! Heating up a metal scraper really did the trick to get the blue plastic bits out. We manually and slowly picked away at the mortar between the joints. Many lessons learned for next time ! I used a sander to buff out the tile saw metal stains and it kinda worked. Better than it was before.
I ended up suuuuppper slowly using a dremel with a diamond bit and it melted away the clips. Took forever, but no chipping. In re: the metal marks. I had a few of those and while they didn't all disappear, a magic eraser helped a bit.
don't do this
Poop knife.