What Would You Do With This?

Question

Hoping to get a few opinions from fellow investors. I have a house that's a little above the median house value for the area. So not overly expensive but it's a pretty nice area and pretty nice house. Im of course going to get rid of the wallpaper and replace the floor tile in this bathroom, but what would you personally do about the wall tile here? Ive had people say theres ways to paint it but I just wonder if it would still look dated. Ive also had people say to chisel it off and hope the drywall behind it would be ok but some have also said the drywall would be destroyed. So im conflicted. House is a 1970. Any opinions would be great thanks!

Michael Totman · Answer

I would do one of two things: Ripping out that portion of drywall and putting new stuff up with a coat of mud is a relatively easy weekend DIY project. Then scrape and paint. Or what I might try is put up some beadboard over the tile with a chair rail on top to hide the gap. Paint that white with a contrasting color up top.

Jim Adrian · Answer

@James Breder

Never paint tile for investment properties.   Its easier to rip it out and start over with new.

Since you are removing the wallpaper it might make more sense to tear out the drywall and start from scratch.

Technically you can paint tile but the process is tedious and expensive. Over time the paint will scrap off and look scrappy.  Investors won't spend the money on the correct products to paint and prep the tile.  You have to use an epoxy paint system which residential paints don't like to use and may not be familiar with.   There is an ASTM standard for testing the paint adhesion to the tile, which needs to be done to make sure the epoxy will stick to the tile.  This is 3 coat system.   At the end of the day, the paint is only as good as the prep work and the guy with the brush in hand. Improper prep work leads to 90% of paint failures.  If anyone is interested in the technical data and process, message me and I will send it.

Grant Rothenburger · Answer

This should go without saying, but you never know. If you do this, watch out for what is behind the wall, electricity, plumbing, and oh yeah, the studs holding up your wall lol.

Grant Rothenburger · Answer

@James Breder You and everyone else keeps saying "drywall". This is a 1970 house. It has drywall? I doubt that is drywall, more likely plaster which is a whole different animal.

IF I'm right (BIG IF) I would scrape it all off, use thinset to smooth out the plaster that your tore up (no avoiding this) and put up wainscot paneling.

IF it is drywall, you will not be able to save the drywall if you scrape off the tile. Personally I just would cut out the drywall with tile attached and put up new drywall (if it is drywall).

James Breder · Answer

@David Faulkner and Account Closed: Thanks!

Account Closed · Answer

What you do obviously depends on your budget. You could always remove the drywall from the jump, and just replace it and paint or put up a new tile wainscot.

The tile looks pretty glossy, so I'm not so sure how the painting would work and how the finished product would work. If this was my bathroom, I would probably strip the wallpaper, and carefully chisel off the tile as well.

You can then just patch and paint the drywall, or if it's too damaged, you can always replace the drywall, which does indeed take longer, but on the other hand, drywall (even water-resistant or "green" drywall- what you want for a bathroom) is not super-expensive and is DIY if you have the time and inclination (Though it is on the harder side as far as DIY projects go)

Eladio Wilson · Answer

I Think Michael is right, Ripping out that portion of drywall and putting new stuff up with a coat of mud is a relatively easy weekend DIY project. It's a flip

Tamara Elliott-Deering · Answer

I think the floor tile is the problem. There are ways to make the wall tile work if you choose the right paint color and flooring. If it's in good shape, I would try and remove the bottom row of tiles (very carefully, because you want to save them and reuse them) and remove the floor tiles. If you break too many of the tiles on the bottom row then I'd go ahead and rip out the sheet rock as suggested in a previous post, if your going that far, just tear all the sheet rock out and put in new green board. It will be faster to rip out the drywall and have new installed and textured than to try and remove the wallpaper.

David Faulkner · Answer

It appears to be in good shape. I would paint it. Understand, though, that we are not talking regular paint ... "paint it" is more accurately referring to "reglaze it" with a special paint that is the same stuff used for reglazing bathtubs. They sell tub & tile reglazing kits at Home Depot & Lowes ... that's the stuff you want. All white with a contrasting color on top and nice floors would look top-notch on a budget I think.

One thing to be careful of, though, is you may end up damaging the wall tile when demo-ing the floor tile that rests under it. If there is not damage, then great. If there is minimal damage to one or so tiles, then fine, you can patch those tiles with tiles of the same size (doesn't have to color match, since you will reglaze after patching). If you damage a bunch of them, though, then you have to figure out if it is worth it to patch or just rip it out and drywall.

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