Emergency new tiles falling off, help!

andy-p- · Post by **andy-p-** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 1:20 pm

I had some tiling done in a shower cubicle. The tile adhesive is stuck to the walls fine but the tiles are falling off!
You can see where the tiles have been pushed onto the glue and the glue has the imprint of the tile pattern on it! the tiles that are coming off have no adhesive on them what so ever, they look like they have just come out of the box!
the backing in the cubicle is a speacial moisture resistance ply which my mate the tiler pva'd and let dry before he started
My mate done this to help me out so i'm not blaming him but could do with so advice on this one and tell me why this has happened and what to do about it please?
thanks andy

sparkydude · Post by **sparkydude** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 4:03 pm

Sounds to me that the tile adhesive was either past its prime, or that it was going off before he put the tiles in it so that they have not formed the correct adhesion. Walls being tiled shold never be PVA'd as the majority of posts here will tell you .

If this many have come off then i suggest you get your mate to have a look at it and see what he reckons and if all else fails ge the manafacturer of the adhesive to come out and look at the job and then tell you whats happened.

Nick

tim'll fix it · Post by **tim'll fix it** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 4:38 pm

where shall we start

Plywood is a crap substrate for tiling onto, if expands and contracts in damp conditions, it rots over time too, and tile adhesive wont stick to it very well as it cant adhere to it.

you should have used cement based boards for the cubicle really like aquapanel

secondly PVA should not be used as a tile primer, it becomes active again in wet/hot conditions (like a shower)

so your mate didnt really do you any favours to start with

what type of tiles are they ceramic, porcelain or natural stone

and what type of adhesive did he use

tim'll fix it · Post by **tim'll fix it** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 5:03 pm

how to build a shower

http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/building_a_shower.htm

why not to use PVA

http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/tilin ... se_pva.htm

andy-p- · Post by **andy-p-** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 5:08 pm

the tiles are ceramic and the glue is cerafix both from b&q.
I did question the person who put in the ply but he said its waterproof stuff that can be used outside and he always uses it for shower cubicles £25 a sheet.
It has stuck to it well but just not to the tiles

andy-p- · Post by **andy-p-** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 5:44 pm

Thanks for your help
shall i have the rest hacked off and start again or just stick the ones that fell off back on then grout?

sparkydude · Post by **sparkydude** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 6:06 pm

If it was me, i would hack the lot off, replace the plywood with a cement based board such as hardibacker , and then re-tile over the top , At least that way you will be safe in the knowledge its not going to fall off again when you get it wet .

Nick

skiking · Post by **skiking** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 6:11 pm

What I'd also be concerned about is why the tiles have seperated cleanly from the cement. Is there a problem with the cement used ?

andy-p- · Post by **andy-p-** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 6:22 pm

perhaps the back of the tiles needed to be dampened to get the adhesive to stick they are abit chauky on the back. i just got 1 from the box and if you put your hand on it you get a chauky film on your hand!

sparkydude · Post by **sparkydude** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 6:27 pm

that may have something to do with it, no proper adhesion from the adhesive to the chalky surface, but i still think if you replace these ones, how long will it be before the rest start to fail???
I think you need to follow the link to how to do it from UHM and this will point you in the right direction

Nick

andy-p- · Post by **andy-p-** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 6:55 pm

ok thanks for that. just found out what sort of ply was used for the background 'wbp ply'

tim'll fix it · Post by **tim'll fix it** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 7:04 pm

wbd ply is one way of making a shower enclosure just not the best.

Personally I know I seemed to preach a bit in my first post but if the majority of tiles are stuck then just stick the few that fell off back on and learn for next time

have you grouted yet

sounds like the dust is the problem here,

andy-p- · Post by **andy-p-** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 7:23 pm

no not grouted yet. I may go back to b&q and have a moan about the chauky/dusty stuff on the back see what they say. Cant be normal

tim'll fix it · Post by **tim'll fix it** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 8:40 am

its a common thing the dust

just stick the loose ones up and grout