We are renovating our kitchen, and have to replace some tiles on the wall (e.g. some have holes where the old faucet was). I would like to "harvest" some good tiles from behind a closet, where they are not visible.
How can I remove the tiles without destroying them? The tiles are quite old (~1960s?) and laid in thick-bed mortar. They are not glued. On one wall the mortar is > 1/2 inch thick, on another wall it seems to be thinner. It's OK if a couple of tiles break, I only need to salvage about four tiles. In case it makes a difference, the house is in Germany.
I've been thinking about using a Dremel to very carfully remove the mortar from the gaps, and then try to scrape out the mortar from behind. I could imagine it might help to heat the tile, to wet the mortar, or to glue something on the tile to prevent breakage, but these things might also make it worse. Any ideas?
