PVA already on wall as per B&Q guide!

[mikethemechanic]

Followed B&Q guidelines putting pva on walls before tiling but now worried tiles are not going to stay on as one already dislodged and adhesion appears suspect.
As it has not been grouted yet what is the best way forward?

[MrSpoon]

give em a bit of a tap and a wiggle to see just how bad the rest are!
has the pva pulled away from the wall with the tile adhesive stuck to the tile? or has the tile pulled off the wall leaving the adhesive intact with the pva? or neither..

[whitebeam]

Did you thin the pva or put it on straight out the bottle and did you use a dispersion adhesive and while I'm at it B&Q are t*****s for giving that information

[frogeye]

Hi mike

I know other more experienced peeps will post soon, but from an old diyer before my conversion to the truth - ie don't use pva - I pva'd my bathroom 15 years ago and although when I came to remove them last year for a refit - the ones near the shower came off fairly easily, they still stayed put for the full 15 years with no worries.

On a safety point, beings some have already fell off and depending on their size maybe it might be worth removing them and trying to salvage what you can? Clean the walls and prime with APD.

I don't think I could live with the will they won't they scenario.

Best of luck in what you decide and lets see what the real pros recommend

frogeye - the friendly gardener

[mikethemechanic]

I am not sure whether pva came off with the tile but it had been on for about four days. The adhesive was not hard as I expected it to be but was instead crumbly like a digestive biscuit. I will inspect others tomorrow to see how well they are fixed.

[frogeye]

sounds more like a problem with the adhesive Dave

I would sleep on it, check tomorrow and if you have to take them off - then bite the bullet and pop back here and ask away. They will want to know all about the installation, So be prepared for some tooing and froing ( are they words?)

I'd leave it now - what ever problems you have will wait till the morning - so I'll have a gin and tonic and yours Dave?

frogeye the happy gardener

[mikethemechanic]

PVA was diluted 3:1

[hillhead]

PVA not great,i have used it before but no more.
Read too many probs on here about it.
phoned my local today for some mapei primerG and they had 10ltrs!!!!!!!!!
i needed loads,lol.

[mikethemechanic]

Cheers till tomorrow

[Fekin]

Good luck with it.

[dock]

mike

the adhesive is crumbly like a biccy cos priming of the substrate when using ready mixed adhesive slows down the set time enormously. factors that can affect drying time;

ambient temperature
largish tile
primed background
porous biscuit or porcelain
adhesive thickness

dock

[mikethemechanic]

Thanks guys for your advice. All tiles on-all now seem secure, I hope they stay there. I will not be PVA ing any more walls to be tiled. Thanks again. Mikethemechanic