Removing Cement Boards From a Cinder Block Wall

While it is generally considered overkill for cement boards to be installed on top of cinder block walls for tile installations, it is sometimes used as a way of building out a block wall when an extra quarter inch or half inch is needed to flush out two different wall areas. Regardless of how thick the cement board is, it is always installed with thinset mortar or some form of concrete adhesive that bonds it to the brick. Removing the boards is a simple matter of prying them off the face of the block wall.

Handheld pry bar
Hammer
Floor scraper
Work gloves
Safety glasses

Instructions

- 1
  Push your pry bar into a joint between two sheets of the cement board. Tap the butt end of your pry bar with the hammer to drive the end of the pry bar underneath the edge of the cement bar. Pry upwards or downwards depending on your personal preference to pop some of the cement board up off the block wall. Push your pry bar deeper into the piece and repeat the process.
- 2
  Work your way from the top of the wall down to prevent injury. Because cement boards are heavy, you want to avoid having one fall on you. If you work from the bottom up, you increase the risk that a section of board, rather than smaller pieces, come loose, which could create some bodily harm. Work your way down the wall until you have removed all the pieces.
- 3
  Clean the surface of the block to prepare it for the next installation after the board has been removed. There will be thinset mortar left behind after you pop the boards free, and this needs to be cleaned off. Use a floor scraper to run over the surface of the wall and cut off any of the thinset mortar that remains left behind until nothing is left but the block surface.

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