Help!: Dodgy tiling nightmare

[theskiingbear]

Hi, hope you can help me. We're in the process of having bathrooms refitted. Tiles, ceramic approx 400 x 200mm in our shower enclosure appear to be badly adhered to the wall - tap them and there are hollow areas. We've terminated our contractor, not literally alas, as this is one of many issues. We dont know what has been used to apply tiles, if the plasterboard under the tiles has been tanked and it looks like he's used floor grout for the walls - its very coarse. I can tell you this as we've had a top guy from BAL out to have a look at our floors, also not good. Also the apex where the tiles meet on the shower wall has also been grouted and then covered with silicone, which I see from forums is a no no. Another problem albeit smaller.

Question I have is : is there any way we can determine if the walls have been tanked without taking all the tiles down? Given the adhesion issue and the fact that we dont know whats going on under the tiles do you reckon we just cut our losses - a total of £2K across all our floors and wall tiles - remove the lot and redo?...

[Dave]

Hello and welcome, what did the PST from BAL say to do to check for the tanking etc..?

[mikethetile]

pics would help

but if its as bad as you say then you have answered your own question. its better to lose 2k now than have to live with it and then end up redoing it anyway

[whitebeam]

Could you not take up a tile to determine whats underneath

[theskiingbear]

I dont think he did say, he came specifically to talk about our floors but I asked him to have a look at the walls while he was here. I can ask him but I thought you guys might have an idea

[theskiingbear]

THe tiles look Ok to be fair, not the best grout jonb, buit not horrendous. I think you are right and I think I already knew that, you live and learn eh.

[theskiingbear]

Shoul we be able to see the tabking material, supposed its like a latex film?

[kilty55]

hmm do you have pics we can see?

did you specify that you wanted tanking to the tiler? the grout can be removed thats on your walls and re grouted and same for the silicone over the grout issue that can be resolved

the main issue from what you have said is it sounds like your tiles may have been dot and dabbed if they sound hollow,do they all sound hollow? also do the floor tiles sound hollow?

what was mr bals verdict then on the fllors and walls?

[Scott]

What was the specific problem with the floor you had them come out for?

[PJPro]

If it was me, I'd live with it and see how things went. You might as well get some use out of the tiles which have been laid rather than just taking them all down. Of course, water may get into places you'd rather it didn't causing greater expense downstream.

Was a skim of plaster applied to the plasterboard before tiling? If the tiles have been applied directly to the plasterboard, it could prove tricky to remove the tiles without damaging the board.

[faithhealer]

if you remove the grout (even just a couple of inches) you should be able to tell if it has been dot and dabbed and see any tanking membrane

[kilty55]

a response would be good?

[theskiingbear]

The guy from BAL reckons the subfloor is incorrect, 6mm ply and as a result of this and the fact that unsuitable adhesive and grout has been used, we;ve got movement in the floor and this is causing cracks in the grout lines. The bathroom floor and entrance floor, which has the same issue, are all having to be removed and refitted. Real bummer.

We didnt specify that the plasterboard should be tanked, nor did we specify grouts and adhesives. We believed we had a professional doing the job, which we now know wasnt the case. Until we had the issues we hadnt even heard of tanking. We have got a contractor coming in to finish and make good the bathroom refit and he is bringing a tiler in to sort out the floors and potentially wet areas. I'm pretty sure, given other issues we've uncovered that our contractor didnt tank the walls. We are so reluctant to redo the walls though, as we have got 2 areas to redo and the showers are in e.g. our ensuite and main bathroom as both were fitted by our first contractor. When the tiler comes we will discuss it with him and see what he reckons. The suggestion to remove grout to see whats below is a good idea and we'll discuss this with the tiler. If it all has to come off the walls and be redone, then so be it as I'd hate to be storing a major can of woop ass for later.

If only you could buy hindsight.....

Many thanks to all who have contributed. Sorry I havent replied but we've been trying to sort it all out.

[Dave]

I do hope your new contractor does it right this time around.

Thanks for getting back to us.

[theskiingbear]

Hi Kilty, no not all the wall tiles sound hollow and likewise on the floor. BAL guy reckons the floor is a definite lift and replace. On the wall tiles he said it is harder to judge without taking them off but he does think they have been spot fitted, hence the hollow aspect. That in itself he said is a problem but we could wait and see if the tiles come off in time. But the BAL guy raised the issue of tanking, avising us that it should have been done and if we werent sure if it had been we should redo the wet areas....

[Dave]

but he does think they have been spot fitted,

He thinks..?.. why didn't he check.?.. not good from a BAL Pst..

[theskiingbear]

He thinks..?.. why didn't he check.?.. not good from a BAL Pst..

Wouldnt they have to be removed to check?

[Dave]

Well yes if he was determine why.. they have done this before on other jobs.. my point is why did the PST just over look it and not do his job properly..?

[theskiingbear]

I dont know but I dont want to criticise as we werent even sure if BAL materials had been used and he still came out to have a look for us. But thanks for the point on this. We'll ask our tiler to make a thorough assessment.

[jay]

any pics

[Oli]

Can you post up some pictures for us so we can see what were talking about?

[kilty55]

its not law to tank anything.....it is however good practice but it does not warrant ripping out tiles if your thinking of claiming money back from the 1st tiler you used in this instance imo

it would have been better tanked yes,but that really is down to the tradesman and the client before they start