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Hi all

First time poster here

Would just like to ask, if any one know a good method (preferably not too destructive) of getting rid of water residue under bathroom tiles. I have access to the bottom of the bathroom tiles (eg via basement) if thats any help. Though from the basement I dont access directly to the tiles , as the tiles are on top of floor boards.

You see there is a big uncovered gap behind our toilet, the gap is not between the tiles and floor but a gap for accessing the pipes. Anyways due to the gap was facing towards a wall, we had no idea that when we cleaned/washed down the toilet, water will slip through the gap and into/underneath the tiles. Hence now we have water underneath the tiles and is causing near by walls to be very damp...


Any comments and suggestions welcome.



Many thanks in advance

If you have water under the tiles then this will be a huge problem for the adhesive & will start breaking it down over time, especially if they are fixed directly to the floorboards.

There are no real solutions to this problem apart from fixing the cause in the first place & hopefully leaving to dry out without too much damage.

You could try industrail fans/dehumidifiers etc

Thanks for the reply. I've just assessed the damage and sadly it doesnt look too good. So I've decided that I'll take everything apart and redo everything.

Due to tiles are not cheap, are there any tips for removing bathroom floor tiles safely thus able to be re-used?

Also the current design have the tiles set out at a slight angle, allowing the water to automatically run to the drain. Since Im going to make this a DIY, I was wondering how do I accomplish this? What material would I need to use to raise the tiles?

I've heard some tiles contains asbestos, are tiles that are being made now days still contain asbestos? If so, would a normal N95 mask be sufficient for lung protection?

If current tiles still contain asbestos, would plastic tiles be ok for bathroom uses? If not, why not?


Many thanks in advance :)

Try a large flat chisel or old plastering trowel to prise them off, then soak in a bucket of water for 24+ hrs to soften the adhesive on the back of tiles & scrape.

Is it a purpose built wetroom TaskTask? Or just an old drain off point? They make preformed trays nowadays that are angled already but you can get round this with the differing the adhesive & using a level, time consuming & tricky but possible.

I wouldn't think any tiles are made with asbestos these days & as for plastic tiles??? Not sure what you mean

Tiles that contained asbestos were some 6x6 thermoplastic tiles these have been de-classified so any competent person/s can remove and to be perfectly honest it is nigh on impossible to get asbestos out of them so there really is no risk of fibre release, but if they are they must be disposed of as asbestos waste so double bag and contact your local refuse centre who will take them, but as i said if they are bigger than 6x6 then they have no asbestos in them