Wall tiles not adhering

[randal]

Hi

Attempting to retile the bathroom. Was recommended granfix multifix at the tile store, but having problems getting it to stick. Bucket reads: ready to grout in 24 hours. Using ceramic tiles 25x40cm.

Walls are skim over plaster and plasterboard. Haven't used any primer as was told it was not necessary. Smoothed the wall pretty thoroughly after removing original tiles, and cleaned surfaces as much as practical.

Tiling was completed on Monday, but found on Tuesday some tiles came off when removing the spacers. Left the remaining tiles until today (Wednesday), more than 48 hours after fixing, and checked adhesion by tapping each tile; found many of them are not properly stuck. Managed to lift off a large %age by raising the corner a couple of mm from the wall with tip of a chisel. One even came off unprompted, taking a large chip from the bath. The adhesive appears to be contacting the tiles properly as the glue notches are spread and the pattern on the back of the tile is impressed into the adhesive, but tile is coming off completely clean.

At a bit of a loss. Apart from having to essentially start from scratch including removing the few remaining tiles and preparing the wall again, I have no idea what went wrong. Is there some trick I'm missing other than lathering adhesive on the wall with a notched trowel and wiggling the tile on? Am I too impatient and do I need to wait longer before the tiles stick properly? Did I get a bad batch of adhesive and if so can I get my money back? Do I just call in a professional to fix the lot and replace the bath at the same time?

Any help appreciated.

thx
r

[Mooncat]

I found that ready-mixed adhesive took a lot longer than claimed it would take to harden. After a week I found that I pulled a tile in when using a screw into a wallplug to hold a fitting.

Also, It's best to tile onto render if you want a permanent job, unless you want to change the tiles after a couple of years.

[ultimatehandyman]

I just did a quick google and quite a few people seem unhappy with that adhesive.

It has not been subjected to frost before use has it?

[tictic]

hi mate
firstly the tubbed you have used is "not the best"..cough..cough..its carp..

also i would recommend any tile thats 300mm and above you use a bagged adhesive

suggest you strip and clean walls as best you can, if any damage just either dot/dab or screw new plasterboard,if going this route dont skimm..

then prime plasterboard with bal primer or bal apd then use a single part flexible adhesive and flexible grout.

tubbed adhesive is a dispersion addy,cures with the air so big tile with 2mm spacer will take a longgggg time to set.

bagged adhesive sets with a chemical reaction in about 3hrs...the good stuff to use...

so i would advise a single part flex addy for you..dont get the rapidset if your not experienced.

[randal]

Thanks all for the replies. Spent a tedious weekend pulling the remaining tiles off and cleaning off the cement that had stuck.

Managed to find 20kg of BAL single part flex at another tile store nearby, which was much easier to work with. Not sure why the tubbed was recommended by Tile Depot in the first place.

Got about half the tiles back up this evening. Hopefully they'll all stick this time.

r