www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

I have just registered and have a question. We have had two bathrooms completely gutted and re designed, one as a wet room, installed in our holiday home in the UK. The wet room has no window, just an extractor fan and is only half tiled on the walls (fully tiled in wet-room shower area). We were given a quote for the use of Aquaboard. Without prior consent from us Greenboard was used around shower area only. I have heard that Greenboard is not recommended in areas of high humidity. The floor tiles were laid on the same level as the rest of the ground floor. Apparently, the gradient had not been taken into consideration by the tiler, meaning that the water would run away from the shower and dallmer drain area and out onto the kitchen, laminate flooring. Instead of removing the wrongly laid tiles, the tiler built up the floor and laid a second layer of new tiles over the first. This was witnessed by an independent witness on site and without our knowledge. The difference between the kitchen and wet room floor is now 4,3cm (stumbling step up into the wet room area). Would this be considered an acceptable alternative to removing the tiles and ditra matting, and starting again from scratch, or would this be unacceptable? I have been told, that floor tiles should never be laid on top of each other as they will eventually crack, in addition to the large difference in height to the rest of the floor level. I would welcome your comments.
Thank you
Judy

Green board...do you mean moisture resistant plasterboard...?

Aquaboard....do you mean aquapanel...?


Anyway the tile fixing sounds like its been done by an amateur ....not sounding good at all...

Was it a preformed former that was used...?...

Any pics....

We were not on site, whilst work was being carried out as we do not permanently live in the UK. Our Carpenter, who was also working on site, was the person who witnessed the "goings-on" and felt so incensed by the behaviour that he informed us of what was going on.
Regarding the double layering of the floor tiles in the wet room - i have the following written answer from the trader, when querying the 4.3cm height difference of the floors.
-"It is true to say that i instructed my tiler to relay the floor, as i am very strict about the standard of work and he had not laid it to the height i had specified. The way the floor has been installed is standard for wet floors, is entirely fit for purpose and has been laid accruing to the needs of the room i.e. allowing no water to run out of the wet area. The floor levels are not unacceptable - they are as designed. The step down was always intended (referring to further step down from wet room floor into shower tray area) and was on the original drawing. It is worth noting that the wet floor, like the rest of the installation is covered by our full guarantee as soon as payment is made."
Regarding the aqua board/greenboard this is what he had to say:
-"The aqua board - I hope you will recall the conversation we had on the phone (near the start of the installation) where i referred to having removed all the wall tiles and plasterboard that they were fitted to from the downstairs bathroom. Once this had been removed, we were aware that there was a second layer of plasterboard in place. This means that this timber framed house has been double boarded to prevent the spread of fire. At this point, I informed you that we would reinstate the double layer, so as not to undermine the safety specifications of your house. This second layer is "green board", known for its water resistance and suitability for areas of high humidity like bathrooms. We then proceeded to create a water tight, tanked area prior to tiling using Kerakoll's Idrobuild tanking solution along with their Guintoflex tanking tape. all surfaces were primed with Primer A. So yes, the system was changed slightly during the progression of the project- as was appropriate for the particular installation. This is by no means an inferior solution and actually creates a far higher labour cost- which we have not passed on to you. The walls are fully tanked and water tight and entirely fit for purpose. The tanking solution was specified by me and evolved as was necessary, passivated drywall screws were used (our carpenter is pretty sure they were not) and even had they not been used, the very fact that they were completely encased within the tanking solution would mean that rusting could never occur".

Comments and advice really welcome please. Is is ever acceptable to cover up a layer of tiles with a further layer, because one has made a mistake and the thought of starting again, by removing tiles and ditra matting is too much bother. We were never informed of this mistake nor asked whether we would agree to such a measure of "repair", which we certainly would not have.
The carpenter on site is an extremely trust worthing, good workman and gains nothing from making these remarks without reason. He overheard the conversations an saw the work whilst being carried out and is adamant about what he saw. Please help- Thank you Judy and Marc

The tile fixer boobed big time first time round....

And I wouldnt have doubled tiles,what is the floor substrate made off..?

As for fire rating off walls...

You have a doubled skinned p/board...15min each board so 30min...

one sheet off the fire line range....30 min for one board

But for me I would have spec 12.5mm off hardie backer board fire rating A2...well that's regs for Scotland might be differant in other parts off uk...

Was it a preformed shower tray?...

If you can get another tile fixer to have a look at the job and ask for a detailed report...

Any pics..?...

I have asked an independent bathroom fitter/tiler to make a detailed report. He came and spent nearly three hours with us. He scratched away the surface on the edge of the tiling from the kitchen into the wet room and confirmed that two layers of tiles had been laid on top of each other.These are the written comments referring to plastering and tiling (excluding other areas of bad workmanship) made on his report:
1. Grout contamination in various areas.
2.Extremeley poor finish on plastering.
3. Step down into shower? There is no reasonable answer as to why this is there, if floor height were an issue then the tray should have been raise to suit.
4. Step into shower room from kitchen, this seems unreasonably high for such a small room door trim was removed to look at tile build up and it seems another layer of tiles had been layer beneath (unable to establish whether this layer of tiles covers the whole floor but may be the answer as to why there is a step down into the shower.
5. Poor finish on chrome tile trim and bare edges of tiles let with no trim.
6. Tiling not reflecting the overall standard i would expect.
7. Poorly mitred architrave
8. I would advise a shower door be fitted in a room of this shape and size . I don't think the room benefits in anyway as an open wet room.
The above issues are purely based on my own observations and opinions, i believe the floor height is unnecessary and could have been avoided, i would also strongly recommend an inspection from a qualified electrician to establish that all regulations have been met".

We have had an electrical, safety report carried out and have been asked to make urgent alterations.
THe tray was a pre-formed 900 X 900 shower tray, which was then tiled over./

This report was brushed aside by our bathroom fitter, stating that he did not agree with any of the points. We made an official, written report, including photos and the above report to the tiling association, of which our trader is a member. They have been of no help at all and state that they can do nothing until they are sure no legal proceedings are taking place.

I just wish some one would please give us a clear answer on the acceptability of layering tile over tile. The original bathroom was completely removed and gutted and the bathroom/wetroom a completely new fit, so plenty of room to calculate sufficient gradients and gentle slope into shower area, surely that cannot be legal to cover up such a bad piece of work man ship. I do have photos of the step up, but am not sure how to attach them to this quick reply area? Sorry, lack of technical know how i shall try to work this out in the mean time

/Users/marcflettner/Desktop/IMG_1174.JPG/Users/marcflettner/Desktop/IMG_1239.JPG/Users/marcflettner/Desktop/IMG_1238.JPG

is this how sending pictures works ? hope so
judy and marc