I had a go at putting up some tiles in my bathroom (first tiling attempt!) and have done about half of the room but am unsure whether to continue as some of the tiles are a little loose if I press them, especially around the edges and corners. A couple have fallen off when I applied a bit of pressure to them, and the backs of them are completely clean - no adhesive stuck to them at all!

I called a tiler in to have a look and he told me that it looks as though the tiles have not been bedded in properly, and that they should all come down and be started again! Can anyone advise if this is likely? It sounds so to me but just wanted to canvass some opinion?!

Hi domdom to TilersForums.

A few questions, what are the wall substrates, what tile type and size are you using and what adhesive have you used. How was the adhesive applied to the wall, and how was the tile applied after that.
A lot of questions but after giving us the answers we'll be better placed to help you.

sounds like the walls aren't flat! and you are not using enough adhesive,what size of trowel are you using! are you pushing the tiles firmly on to the wall when applying them?

Any loose tile will have to come off but why without seeing can only guess but tilers is right to get a good job you need to start again using the correct adhesive for the surface you are going to tile and for the tiles being used

thanks for the quick replies everyone, lots of questions to answer, I'll try to answer them all but I think I can see where this is going! Two of the walls are old plaster/mortar walls which were previously tiled until I removed them and are a little uneven. One of the other walls is brand new plasterboard. I primed them all with a product called Excel tile primer which was recommended by my local tile shop, as was the adhesive I used, a ready mixed product called Granfix Multifix Adhesive. I put it onto the walls with a tiling spreader (don't know the technical term!) which is about 200mm long and then used the notched edge to create the grooves in the adhesive. The tiles are 300 x 200 and I pressed them on quite firmly, or at least I believed I was at the time, but didn't "wiggle" them as someone has suggested I should have!

Hi domdom.

Mmmm, sounds strange indeed that no adhesive at all has stuck to any of the tiles you've taken off. Your method 'sounds' close enough, aprt from offsetting the tile ( wiggling ) and bring it back into position, this, by the way, is done to try and attain 100% coverage on the back of the tile. The tile size is borderline for tubbed adhesive / addy / sticky. How long was it before you fixed the tiles to them coming away, with a tubbed addy, you have to leave it to 'cure' the curing effect happens on contact with air, the bigger the tile, the longer it atkes to cure, if at all.

So, question time again

How long between fixing and pulling off, what tile type, ceramic, porcelain, other ? and what thickness addy bed did you use.

Thanks

Hi Alan, the first couple of tiles to fall off came off by accident after I literally brushed my elbow against them as I was starting to tile again the day after they were laid. The other two were again a day after being laid and these came off as I applied a bit of presure onto them to see if they were loose. The adhesive tub recommended that a thickness of 3-6mm should be achived after the tiles were laid so I layed it on bit thicker thinking that once compressed with the tile it would reduce to the suggested thickness. There are a few more that seem a bit loose if I apply a little bit of pressure to them so I'm leaning towards writing off the 3 days it has taken me to get this far, biting the bullet and getting an expert in!

oh, and I forgot, they are ceramic tiles.

Mmmm, seems you might have applied the sticky to thick, this then is stopping the curing process so yes, they might come straight off, strange that no sticky has taken, not always as easy as it sounds, same as trying to advise over the net without seeing the job I suppose.

If, as you say, your looking at starting again, I would take the lot off to try and avoid any future accidents. If you are looking at getting someone in, where abouts in the country are you, the TF community is large and widespread, we might be able to fill the position for you.

Well, hope that helps, at least a little

Powdered adhesive is far superior and holds the tiles

The addesive you have used (Granfix Multifix) is a very dry and stiff tubbed addesive, It's not a bad tubbed addesive, there are much worse you could have used, just not very nice to work with. One of its main problems is that it skins over very quickly, meaning that the tile has to be fixed to the wall as soon as the addy is spread.

Did you fix the tiles as soon as the addy was spread (within 10mins)?