Mirror Tile removal - Itasca Horizon

[lwasouth]

On my 05 Itasca Horizon the Mirror Tiles making the back splash around the sink and stove top are corroding along the edges. Would like to remove and replace with another product.
Suggestions for removal -
Suggested product for replacement -

All suggestions will be appreciated !

[Bumps]

They are held on by strips of double-sided tape. A long, flexible metal blade is what I used. I started at both ends of the backsplash and worked between the wall and each mirror tile from top to bottom, slicing/cutting through the double-sided tape as I went. Once you get about 2/3 of the tape on any individual tile cut, you can usually use the metal blade to pry it off the wall the rest of the way. It is a little tedious, but not a hard job.

The long, flexible metal blade that I found to be most successful was a teflon-coated, old-fashioned hand saw.

Don't worry about cracking one of the tiles, you will crack the wall before you crack one of the mirror tiles.

\ken

[ruffian]

If these are glass mirror tiles, cover them with duct tape. Glass squares shatter but the tape will keep the glass together. I have had a little luck using a hack saw blade to slip behind the glass.

If you are talking about ceramic tile squares, then not much caution required.

[KD4XR]

I have found that a 18" stainless steel ruler works well. It is strong and flexible. Slide it in between the wall and back side of the mirror to cut and separate the two sided tape.

• Tape the mirrors before trying to remove them.
• Make sure you are wearing safety glasses!
• Make sure you are wearing leather gloves!

[MandG-Fun]

I used a carpenters pull saw. The blade is very thin and flexible. You have lots of control and it cuts through the double sided tape easily. The hardest part is getting all of the residual tape of the wall. A heat gun, putty knife and patience worked for me.

I liked the way Smart Tile installed and it looks really good. Your smileage may vary.

[emiddleb]

I replaced mine last year using the Smart Tile product. Went faster than I thought, pretty much a one-day project. As others said, I taped the mirrors and then used a stiff large putty knife to pry them away. Was surprised but no breakage at all. Scrapped the remaining glue off the walls, cleaned with TSP, and installed the new tiles. The only thing the final photo doesn't show is a trim strip I added on the left edge at a later date. Wife liked it so much we did the same over the lav sink.

[Pepper2]

Ed, what did you use as a trim piece and how did you attach it. Thanks from your Novi neighbor!

[emiddleb]

Neal, nothing fancy. The trim work on our Vectra is very clean and simple, so I stayed with that look. I used a small piece of quarter-round molding, stained to match the cabinets. The Smart Tile is only about 1/4" thick, so I got the thinnest possible, and ran it out from the underside of the cabinet down to behind the backsplash. Just used a few dabs of glue to attach it to the wall, is holding fine after 1-1/2 years.

[Kelm130]

We didn't have mirrors on ours but I still wanted some color in the kitchen. I used Bondera from Lowes which is some super sticky stuff. It is like a roll of tile thin-set mortar with protective film on each side. You measure how much you need (note I included extra for the edge molding) cut it with a knife and a straight edge, peel one side of it off, press it to the wall, peel the other side off then add your tile sheets. I first used the small square tiles because they are easy to trim into any shape you need. I then bought a small tub of pre-mixed grout and smoothed into the cracks with a rubber grouting float tool. It's worth the cost for the tool! Then I added some resin decorative edging to finish it off. Only took a few hours and made a huge difference! The small square tiles are super easy to work with but I liked the look of the long ones irregular shaped I used in the bathroom area better.

[fletch460]

Smart tile the way to go. Easy and comes in I think 1 ft sqs. I used the ready mixed adhesive.

[MandG-Fun]

Here's our mirror to Smart Tile conversion... like most projects the hardest part is the preparation. Installation is easy and the Smart Tiles are light weight and maintenance free.

[lwasouth]

As suggested I chose the flexible 3" Wide putty knife. All mirrors were removed quite easily as the tape released from the wall and stayed on the mirrors.
NOW - A new problem - Between each mirror and the wall were 3 areas of some kind of adhesive in addition to the tape. It appears to be quite rubbery and very tough. Anyone had any experience with this material, as far as removal?

[emiddleb]

It was tough to get mine off, but I just hit it with the putty knife (and at one point a sharp wood chisel.) Tried not to gouge the wall too much but at same time knew I'd be covering with the tiles so wasn't too worried. You can see in my 2nd photo a couple brown spots where the top layer of the wall paper came off with the adhesive but was paper-thin and didn't affect the Smart Tiles.


Really sticks, not sure you can remove it without damage to the wallpaper if that's your concern. I was more focused on getting down to a smooth surface for the tiles.

[jerichorick]

Originally Posted by emiddleb

I replaced mine last year using the Smart Tile product. Went faster than I thought, pretty much a one-day project. As others said, I taped the mirrors and then used a stiff large putty knife to pry them away. Was surprised but no breakage at all. Scrapped the remaining glue off the walls, cleaned with TSP, and installed the new tiles. The only thing the final photo doesn't show is a trim strip I added on the left edge at a later date. Wife liked it so much we did the same over the lav sink.

Nice job! Wish I had done that on my Vectra when I had it. Those mirrors are destined to look bad and serve no good function. Optical illusion? Do we need it??

Rick Y

[lwasouth]

I was able to remove those dabs of glue, with carefully using a heat gun to soften and they came right off.
Now the easy part - Installing the Stainless adhesive back tiles. After measuring and getting ready to put on the wall, spray the wall and the adhesive side of the tile with water with a drop of dish detergent in it. This allows you to move the tile and position it as you want it (If you don't do this, it hits the wall and that is where it will stay ) especially important then joining 2 tiles together. I took a couple of photos, but I could not put the slide out, because the coach is in its garage, So sink area and stove are in separate photos.

[B Kane]

[B Kane]

Just another tile job.

[Bumps]

Since we're doing a back splash show-n-tell, I'll post mine. The product is Fasade's Ripple in brushed nickel (shiny but not as reflective as the original mirror tile). It is a lightweight mylar-ish product with a hard surface. The tiles have overlapping lips and glue to the wall. Easy to wipe down and there is no grout. We liked the look (goes with the waves in the carpeting) and how light it is. Even did the wall adjacent to the refrigerator to tie the whole kitchen together. \ken

[Afubar]

It's funny, the op wants to get rid of his mirror tiles and I just replaced one that had been missing since I bought my MH. Newmar was able to get me an exact match even though they didn't think they could as a 1996 was not in their books. To each their own.

[B Kane]

Originally Posted by jerichorick

Nice job! Wish I had done that on my Vectra when I had it. Those mirrors are destined to look bad and serve no good function. Optical illusion? Do we need it??

Rick Y

Here is another job done on my 36 RD