Shower room floor repair

[jackg]

I had to lift some Ruabon quarry tiles to access hot and cold water pipes that fed the basin in the shower room as the hot had a dent in it where you put your foot, I re-routed the pipes round the shower plinth and wall.

The water had been leaking for 6 weeks to 2 months unknown as it had drained into the corner of the room where the 4" waste comes down from the bathroom upstairs.

The structure of the floor is this:
1. Ruabon quarry tiles
2. Adhesive- black colour
3. Cement
4. Scree.
5. concrete base.

I am not sure how long to leave it to dry out, the area lifted and where else the water went under the floor as well.
I am not entirely sure on the repair for the floor.
Scree then cement but not sure of the mix, 3 or 4 to 1?
And the adhesive I am guessing is std floor tile adhesive for quarry tiles?

I lifted the flat tiles and will sand off the grout and cement but I broke some of the cove base round top (skirting) and the two internal and external angle tiles.
Ruabon have not been manufacturing for 2 years and they can supply red but not heather cove base round tops but have none of the small angles I need.
Any suggestions for supplier for these please.

[david campbell]

not sure where to get you tiles but the screed should be 4/5-1 mix ratio,3-1 is more for concrete work like foundations,you will need to leave it until you are sure the area has dried out there is no way of knowing this unless we could see it,and use a flexible cement based adhesive and grout when replacing tiles

[jackg]

Thanks, perhaps I should clarify. there was a thinnish layer of cement on top of the scree and it was quite hard to grind through, or thats what it looked like to me and I am not sure what mix to use for that. So I was thinking 3 or 4 to 1?

I was not aware that the scree was a cement mix , the scree below it broke up quite easily when I probed it with a screwdriver.

Four pics are: ImageShack Album - 4 images

[365drills]

The top layer was probably self levelling compound by the way you decribe it.

Most cement based screeds should be left 2 to 3 weeks until dried but then of course they are freshly laid so its the water that is used to make them that is drying out and the cement is curing and hardening rather than flood water which has come along later.

If you can let it dry out naturally a couple of weeks should be the max. If you put a commercial dryer into the room to move it along then check after a few days. Turn the dryer off and if there are no damp patches then you are good to go.

The reason that you should wait a couple of hours is because the commercial heater dries top down.

Ive had experience of this when creating an entire floor for a kitchen.



Ive had experience of large scale work



I had to wait weeks for the cement to dry. If yours is a small damp patch in one room
you should be able to get it dry in less than 3 days. Quicker with an industrial room dryer.