Hi there,
A bit of professional advice needed please. We moved into a flat about 2,5 years ago and the bathroom had been newly refurbished. Already for about a year now I had been looking at the grouting getting "porous" and beginning to crack. Some of the tiles seemed to start poking out as well. It was only after a leak was apparent on the other side of the bathroom wall that we decided to take the bathpanel apart (no access hatch...) to see what was going on and it seemed there had indeed been a leak for a while as the drylining (?) was grooved around the bath. Initially I thought that the silicone around the bath and the shower screen was faulty so I redid this and when that didn't work it became apparent it was the grouting that was leaking.
I then went ahead and removed the tiles from two of the walls and that wasn't too hard at all as the drylining (I am assuming that is what it is; very thin plastered type of layer - I am a woman with no experience in these things) under the tiles was so wet it was practically off the wall. We are now looking to have someone come and tile the walls for us (a problem in itself finding someone...) but what I really want to know is how can we make sure the walls are protected in the future. What material to use under the tiles, is there specific grouting etc. I would like to be armed with some information so I can also vet anyone who might eventually come and quote for the job. We are pretty desperate as we (2 adults and 2 kids) are currently having shower hunkering in the bath so as not to get the walls wet.. Also if you can recommend someone willing to do this in W9 with a rock solid reputation and skills I would be very grateful!
Sorry for the long saga but I really don't know where to turn to.. HELP!
Thanks for any comments you would take the time out to write.
Buckets

Hi Buckets,

You need to ensure that the walls are tanked, there are a few different solutions, paint on kits, stick on sheeting......

Have you got any pics...

The plaster will have been chased out when the bath was fit if its chased horizontically around the lip of the bath when it was fitted, not as a result of leaking.

As extra peice of mind you could also have the a grout sealer applied.

Oli

I've moved your thread to the Tiling forums where it will get seen my alot more people to assist you in getting advice, you'll need to register to reply though but it only takes a minute and is free so dont worry about that.

I'd remove the dryling and replace the 2 walls with a waterproof tile backer board - 12mm Hardie springs to mind.
Plenty of good tilers in the Tilers Forum but if you have any problems I'am down in Ealing area in 2 weeks time!
and thanks for posting.

Originally Posted by Mrs. Buckets

Hi there,
A bit of professional advice needed please. We moved into a flat about 2,5 years ago and the bathroom had been newly refurbished. Already for about a year now I had been looking at the grouting getting "porous" and beginning to crack. Some of the tiles seemed to start poking out as well. It was only after a leak was apparent on the other side of the bathroom wall that we decided to take the bathpanel apart (no access hatch...) to see what was going on and it seemed there had indeed been a leak for a while as the drylining (?) was grooved around the bath. Initially I thought that the silicone around the bath and the shower screen was faulty so I redid this and when that didn't work it became apparent it was the grouting that was leaking.
I then went ahead and removed the tiles from two of the walls and that wasn't too hard at all as the drylining (I am assuming that is what it is; very thin plastered type of layer - I am a woman with no experience in these things) under the tiles was so wet it was practically off the wall. We are now looking to have someone come and tile the walls for us (a problem in itself finding someone...) but what I really want to know is how can we make sure the walls are protected in the future. What material to use under the tiles, is there specific grouting etc. I would like to be armed with some information so I can also vet anyone who might eventually come and quote for the job. We are pretty desperate as we (2 adults and 2 kids) are currently having shower hunkering in the bath so as not to get the walls wet.. Also if you can recommend someone willing to do this in W9 with a rock solid reputation and skills I would be very grateful!
Sorry for the long saga but I really don't know where to turn to.. HELP!
Thanks for any comments you would take the time out to write.
Buckets

If you let me know where you are..( Location) then maybe i could recommend a good tiler for you.

Originally Posted by Oli

I've moved your thread to the Tiling forums where it will get seen my alot more people to assist you in getting advice, you'll need to register to reply though but it only takes a minute and is free so dont worry about that.

This is a guest post and cannot be replied to by a guest in the tiling forum mate..


Moved back to guest forum..

Thanks for your replies, everyone!

I have had a few guys come over and the general consensus seems to be that the whole bathroom will now need to be retiled as the chances are the new tiles would not match the old ones (different batch). Argh! How likely is this going to be and how noticeable? The tiles seem to be a 13 in a dozen type, slightly off-white, 10cmx20cm.
Tanking around the bath, as Oli mentioned. What is the best way of doing the tanking? Is membrane the best way?
Regarding the location, we are in London W9 (Maida Hill).

Oh and, I tried to register but my activation email never arrived. I might try again later but am currently busy hitting my head on the bathroom wall.

Thanks again!!!

Thanks for all your replies!

I have had a few guys over and the consensus seems to be that the whole bathroom will now need to be retiled as the likelyhood of the new tiles (even when the same kind as the original tiles) matching the old ones is slim. Apparently there are slight colour and even size differences in different batches... So we have just gone astronomical with the quotes.

Tanking has indeed been suggested, I assume membrane is the best way. And flexible grouting and anti-mould silicone.

Oh, and we are in London W9 (Maida Hill) in case anyone knows someone who is really good and can do a good enough job to make sure I will never have to worry about our bathroom again.

Thanks!!!

Hello,

It is me again. Ok, it seems that the opinions on the bathroom job fall into two categories:
1. tank around the bath and tile the whole bathroom to make sure tiles will match
2. no tanking required, use PVA (I thought this was a no-no?) and tile using the special grout. Only tile the two walls that have been exposed. Tiles might be a bit different but after a few weeks this is not noticeable.

The tiles are 10cmx20cm, slightly off-white metro style tiles.

I really don't know anymore.. Any expert opinions?

Thanks!

Buckets

the best corse of action after a faliure is rip out and start again (imo).

you could prime the walls with a tilers primer (NOT PVA!!!!!) apply a tanking system to the bath area, retile, grout with a good quality grout (like ultracolour)
apply new silicone seals and job done.

this is going to be more expensive but the best solution, alternativly :

prime the exsisting two walls, retile, grout and silicone seal again, less expensive, less time but not as good a job
(imo).

best of luck

Thanks cuttintiles. Amazingly all the contractors so far are insistent on the PVA and look at me like I am crazy when I question this.
The contractor today thought the tanking was unnecessary but it seems to me that you might as well put it in..
Ultimately the situation is that we are going to be in this flat for another year max and then selling it on. So what I am after is a solution that will do the job and will last but is not a whole remodelling.
Do you reckon just doing the two walls will end up looking odd?

Thanks!

as i said beforw buckets, the best corse of action is rip out and replace, unless you have 4/5m2 of the same tiles knocking about your house!
if you do not then you need to go to the tile shops with one of your tiles and match them, those tiles are redily available but ofcorse different batches of tiles mean they can be a different colour and or a different size!
the size part is more important than the shade of white as they will be on opposite walls to the originals.

hope this helps

I would tank as its an over bath shower

I think you will struggle to match the tiles as theres a shade variation between batches. trying to match and getting a colour variation will only highlight a previous problem when you come to sell , the same with the shade variation on the grout

one idea to think about is to pick a different colour metro tile and grout and make a feature of it

care needs to be taken if the plasterboard has been saturated that it has dried out without any damage and is still structurally sound

plaster skim needs priming with a suitable primer, not pva

any tiler that reccomends pva needs crossing of your list

If any tiler suggests PVA then show them the door, and as "mikethetile" says the plasterboard may need replacing due to it being saturated and then not being able to support the weight of tiles. you would not want them falling off while in the bath!!!!

Thanks "mikethetile" and "aph257" for your comments. This confirms to me that the few quotes we received so far are a bit suspect..

What about putting an aquaboard or similar on the wall and tiling on that? Would that help with the tiles staying up (no, I really would not them falling off! )? This is such a nightmare... It really is hard to find someone who REALLY knows what they are doing. It's crazy that someone like me with no knowledge of tiling can question things like the whole PVA thing without these guys knowing anything about it. Drats. <--- the bathroom wall

yes you can use aquaboard if you wish or use ordinary plasterboard and tank , often works out cheaper

its a shame that more people dont have your common sense when it comes to these matters, it would save a lot of people heartache

you wouldnt buy a car without finding out about it first so why choose a tradesman without finding out whats involved in the job and the correct way to do it

Thanks Mike! I think I am just a control freak. Having spent so much time worrying about the bathroom walls and watching them get gradually worse I am just determined I will never have to worry about them again. While hoping not to break the bank. I really appreciate you guys taking the time to answer my silly questions.

Only silly question is one that is not asked..

The members love to help where they can and you seem to be getting looked after..

Just an update in case anyone is following this saga. We have found a good (well, I suppose this can only be judged by the end result) company to do the bathroom for us. I have cleaned enough tiles to use on the smaller wall, bathpanel will be from the floor tiles which we still had in storage and the big wall will be.. wait for it.. pebble tiles! I know these are a bit of a marmite thing, but we were not able to find the same tiles we had on the other walls and since the only option was to make a feature wall out of it you might as well go all out. It can go one of two ways... Fingers crossed. Eek!! ;-)

When its done can you put some pics on here?

Did someone say Pebble Tiles?! I like it......I love it in fact...so much so heres one of my pebble rugs that I put into a clients spa...

A spa?.. Niiiice! I never really thought about pebbles before but now that the idea has entered my mind I am really looking forward to seeing how it will turn out. It will be a bit of a patchwork of different tiles but I am hoping the pebbles will tie it all together. I will definitely post pictures once it is all done. Works start next Monday...

nice one buckets, hope it all works out well for you

pebbles sound a lovely idea

very nice pebbs

It is finished! Hurrah! Well, just a few minor finishing touches left to do but my husband had his first shower standing up in a month this morning - now that is how you make a man happy! Our tiler was a Polish guy called Adam from a company called Waltree. They were amazing. The attitude was "no problem" all the way and they used premium materials. The walls have now been tanked to the eye balls with membrane, aquapanel and waterproof grouting. Adam also refreshed the grouting in all of the walls to tie the new tiles in, tile the shower wall with tiles I had cleaned from the ones we took down, built and tiled a bath panel, tiled the pebble wall, grouted that, painted the ceiling, siliconed.. Etc. They really were great. I will try to attach some pictures for you to see. So happy!
I hope everyone will now agree that pebble tiles CAN be used on walls - not just on floors. P.S. These tiles are from Island Stone from the Standard range. Fantastic service with next day delivery (!!) and relatively inexpensive compared to what I thought it would be; £9.47 (+vat) for a tile (400mmx400mm).

very pleased it worked out well for you Buckets, the pics look great, wise choice making a feature wall as no one will ever know of your problems

we welcome decent tilers on here so if you see Adam again ask him to join us

Originally Posted by Buckets

It is finished! Hurrah!

Looks great! Really pleased it turned out ok and you found a decent tiler. Keep his number safe!

Got to say them pebbles look stunning!,never done any work with them and only seen them on a floor before but they look the dogs on the walls.

They are very nice, a bit of a pain to grout though from what I understood. That wall (1,66mx1,75m) took 2,5 bags of Mapei..

like it mrs B

I have to say Island Stone do rock! a good bunch of people, who Ive worked with a lot in the past for something a little bit diff. Mrs B, he did a really nice job for you. So pleased it worked out so well for you in the end.

Enjoy the bathroom now!

Pebbs