How do I remove old wall tiles?

Just bought new house and want to remove the wall tiles in the kitchen and bathrooms. I tried to prise one of them off and no luck, they dont budge. Any tips on how to remove them?

Also, the ceilings have what I think is called stipple effect. How does one get rid of it, is scraping it off the only way?

Homeowner , Go to woodies or who ever and buy yourself a lump hammer and whats called a cold chisel.Place chisel on top of tiles, use lump hammer liberally et voila , tiles will fall off( watch out for bits of tiles flying everywhere , wear safety goggles and watch the pinkies !)

The ceilings would just need to be skimmed over by a competent plasterer.

Hi Homeowner,

There is some advice on removing old tiles in this post. You need to be careful as some of the wall may come away with the tiles and therefore require replastering.

It depens on the age of the house.
In our 50 year old house, the bathroom tiles have been cemented directly onto solid block walls. No amount of lump hammers and chisels were going to take them off. I ended up tiling over them.

Kango hammer from hire shop