A $8.99 Harbor Freight suction cup saves the day.

[Packard]

The previous owner of my house mounted 12” x 12” mirror squares on two walls in the entryway.  A long time ago, I took down one wall’s mirrors.  It took forever, made a mess and was fraught with risk. 

I used a heat gun to soften the mounting squares on each corner and then I used as taping knife to separate the tile from the wall.  I believe that every single tile I removed was either cracked or shattered in the process.

I don’t recall where I read about this, but it was suggested that a large suction cup would work better. 

Enter the cheap suction cup from Harbor Freight: https://www.harborfreight.com/4-23-in-125-lb-dual-suction-cup-lifter-59689.html

From the images, you can see the suction cup in place and the removed tile.  I first set on a diagonal and pulled firmly.  Then I re-applied on the opposite diagonal and lifted it off the wall.  You can see the residual mounting squares. 

I will finish the job tomorrow.  I have obligations later today.  This promises to be much, much better than prying off the tiles.  A heat gun should make quick work of removing the residue from the mounting squares. 

The span of the suction cups are just a little too wide to apply vertically or horizontally.  Otherwise I would apply two of these and yank it off all at one time. 

I will update with a progress report tomorrow.

 

[ChuckM]

My immediate thought: those mounting squares were strong.

 

[Packard]

The adhesive is stronger than the dried out foam.  The adhesive remains adhered to the wall and the mirrors.  The foam split apart from my pulling on it.  I do wonder if this approach would work as well on newly applied mirrors where the foam is not starting to disintegrate. 

You can see from the photo that the squares are a tan color.  They were originally white.  The tan is an indication of the breaking down of the foam. 

The heat gun softens the adhesive and the squares scrape off easily.  I’m going to wait for a cooler day to do that though. 

 

[Packard]

All 14 whole tiles have been removed.  Each and everyone of them required a pull so strong that I was certain that the glass would shatter.

Only one did, and it was held together by one of the glue squares.

The H-F suction cups have a limited shelf life.  The rubber dries out and cracks.  My last one was about 4 years old when I called it back to service, and it was already past its use-by date.

I’m going to wrap this one in Saran Wrap to try to extend its life.  But it is so cheap that if I need one again in 5 years, I’ll probably buy it again.

14 squares removed.  The top square was the only one damaged as a result.  A very good outcome for glass tile removal.

Note: The distracting horizontal lines in the reflection is from the honeycomb window shade.