All the above would be true IF it is regular (oil or latex) paint. Aren't there companies that will apply epoxy to your old tub an tile to make them look like new? The pics of their work show the tile and grout all the same color as in your pics. It does scratch off, so I think you need to first figure out what is on the tile before you remove it. I have no clue but to razor blade some off and see what dissolves it before you start spraying or whatever. Good luck on that one. -Babka

Ok ill be the person that tells you that you cant just do one wall. You will be redoing the entire shower at this point so just plan on it. Trying to fix that one wall and matching those tiles isn't worth it in the end. Also they arent anything but plain field tile that are easily still found. People get this I found a treasure in their head and loose perspective that they aren't anything special. I am not trying to insult you or put the bath down it actually looks like every bath in NYC from that era. Its a nice vintage look but unfortunately you argent saving some rare expensive architectural detail. I would demo the shower area and salvage as many tiles as you can. Order from one of the vendors mentioned above and they will be a close match. i would run the old tile up to the shower door trim centerline. From there I would use the new tile in the shower. Problem is even if the tiles match their will always be a slight mismatch in color. The hardest part of that redo will be the demo. I bet those are set in 2-3" of mud and metal lathe. That is why they went the route they did. Removing those walls without damaging surrounding walls is not easy and not cheap!! Then you have to build your walls out to match the new and old, again not easy and not cheap. This is why these are just torn out and started from scratch. I have done a few of those and it always starts as will just do this one spot and then its to the studs and all new. good luck and plan ahead!

The tiles should be left in tact. The 'break' will happen with the WEAKER material. The molding will certainly break before the tile. You will need more molding that's for sure. And PLEASE have MORE VINYL on hand for this. Most vinyl planks can ONLY handle ONE installation. The edges on the planks OFTEN break when they are removed. It is the nature of the beast. Vinyl is BRITTLE and it LOVES to chip/break if it is handled too roughly. I like to tell clients to PLAN on having to REPLACE (ie. purchase more) up to 25% of the removed vinyl planks. Yah. As much as 25%. That means your regular 5% waste/left over that you have tucked away (you do have that, right?) isn't going to cover the loss you are ABOUT to have. Before you do anything, please contact the store where you purchased the vinyl and see if you can get more of it...you will want to have it on hand when the removal goes on. Just make sure you can return any unopen boxes. And remember: you MOST LIKELY will have DIFFERENT DYE LOTS...which can mean different colours. Once you have everything installed once more, try to keep 1-3 boxes for future repairs. Once these floors have been on the market for 18 months of more, they are DARN NEAR impossible to find again. The manufacturer makes a limited run and then they STOP making it. IF you need a repair in, say, 5 years you will NEVER find this stuff again. Never. So keep up to 100sf on hand (that depends heavily on HOW MUCH flooring you have installed).

DoT 5 silicone brake fluid may soften the cured silicone. There are so many silicones that I hesitate to use any term stronger than "may." It is possible that the gleaner of all chemical inventions, Loctite, may offer a deliberate solution. Ethyl alcohol is only good for removal when the silicone is still wet. Edit: I also found this after a search. https://onlinesupply.net/Shop-Janitorial/Adhesives/REMOV-8?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqaOEhbfK_wIVhbjICh0caQ32EAQYAiABEgJTj_D_BwE. Other products may also be effective, such as https://www.ulbrich.at/chemical-technical-products/Dow_Corning_Cleaning_Solutions_for_Cured_and_Uncured_Silicone.pdf