I am getting differing opinions as to how easy (or possible) it will be to remove a few of the tiles in this old mud job. We need to replace the plumbing fixtures but don't want to remove the old (and pristine) tile job. I was told by one tile guy that you could remove selective tiles as long as you weren't trying to retain them (we're not -- we're hoping to fill in with a small mosaic tile, not try to match the old tiles and not try to pretend it's not a "patch" job, just make it a pretty one). Another tile guy said in an old mud job, it's often very difficult to get tiles out because they "bond" so where you might be able to "pop" tiles out of a newer tile wall, you really can't do that with an old mud job. I don't want to start down this road if it's going to end up being a nightmare. Worst case, we can always resort to just covering these holes (which we will no longer need) with chrome covers, but we really would love to remove the row and fill with a pretty mosaic if we can.

So my question is: what is entailed in removing old tiles like this if we just want a few taken out? Can it be done? Or shouldn't we risk it?

Thanks in advance to the tile experts out there!

Here's a photo of our dilemma: this is the old plumbing, which is going... and is very low, so while the new spout could go in roughly the same spot if necessary, the new valve, etc. will be higher up on the wall. We might be able to use the center (current diverter) hole for something, but definitely not the hot and cold on either side as we are installing a thermostatic single lever valve.