Finishing off a ceiling - Do we have too much gap?

[KylieZona]

Hi all,

We were feeling all very pleased with our first attempt at a tiling job until we started thinking about how to finish the tiles at the ceiling. Examining a B&B's bathroom one weekend we noticed their apparently immaculate 2mm grout lines at the ceiling. Then we went back and looked at ours and well it's pretty wonky.

The biggest gap is 9mm. (See pics below).

So my question to the experienced bods is:

• Is it possible to finish off the job as is and it look decent (or will it annoy the heck out of me for life?) If it is possible, what do you recommend?
• If not, should we remove the offending tiles and have a more serious attempt at getting a smaller gap with the ceiling. And erm what's the best way to remove single tiles with minimal damage?

Oh and should we grout up to the ceiling or it it better to use caulk/sealant?

Thanks in advance foryour time.


bathroom2.jpgbathroom1.jpg

[tommyzooom]

To be honest, I couldn't look at that, I would pull off the top tiles and redo. Your ceiling is a bit up and down, so you should mark both sides of the tile and cut to that line, following the slope of the ceiling

[Phil Hobson]

Hi Kylie and Oh dear, a valiant attempt, but that gap will drive you nuts. No easy fix, I'm afraid. I would remove the cuts and replace, nothing apart from a cove will hide the cutting, we would need to know the substrate/ adhesive used, to advise on best way to remove. Sorry.

[Phil Hobson]

Sorry Andrew, post overlap.

[Dave]

Agree with the above,,,deffo need to remove and replace..

[KylieZona]

Thanks so much for your reply Tommy & Phil. You have confirmed my worries. Being a bit of a perfectionist I don't think I can live with it either. I'm not 'feeling' the coving option.

Phil - I have used Super Fix - Waterproof and Flexible Tile Adhesive. It's a ready mixed jobby. I couldn't find any other detail that looked useful (like an ingedients list). Is that enough to go on for removal advice?

[KylieZona]

Thanks Dave too

[CJ CERAMICS]

Remove and re-do as stated the finishing touches are the most important they can ruin an other wise good job if you rush them.

chris.

[Phil Hobson]

Hi Kylie, is your wall (substrate) solid plaster, plasterboard, sand and cement render etc.? the good news is as you have used a tubbed adhesive, the tiles should be easy to remove. But depending on the make up of your substrate, it is a case of how much damage you might cause by removing the cuts. Good luck.

[andy allen]

no easy way to remove them im afraid, good thing is you havn't grouted them yet, this will prevent the tiles below chipping, only way to do it is a hammer and bolster and chisel away, make sure you cover the bath, basin and loo, to prevent any damage......good luck..

[KylieZona]

Thanks again Phil. A-HA Substrate (I did not know that word, Im going to sound like a pro after tonight!). It's cement board on one side and solid plaster on the other.

Think it's a hammer and screwdriver job - tap it and see?

[Dave]

Use a thin blade scraper and pry one of those cuts off, use apiece of cardboard to protect the tile edge and with it being dispersion adhesive a cut should pop out.. then go in from the side of the remaining cuts to remove them..

If the first one will not pop off with ease then use a hammer to break that one cut into smaller bits and remove t hat one that way, then continue to remove the cuts in whole..

[Phil Hobson]

Good news Kylie, cement board and solid plaster is much better than plasterboard, for removal of tiles, less damage to the substrate (wall ha ha) just take things slowly you will find it easier to take one cut off first, maybe break through the centre of tile. Then carefully remove the rest, once you have taken out the first tile you might be able to lever off the remainderof the cuts. Trial and error. Any more questions, just ask, good luck.

[Phil Hobson]

Sorry Kylie, Dave beat me to it, my slow typing, but I think we all agree on the best way to remove the cuts.

[KylieZona]

Ahhh brilliant. Thanks so much guys. I really appreciate your guidance. I'll give it a whirl and will post some new piccies for your amusement/admiration (HAHHA) once the job is fixed.

[paul damian]

Kylie i would recomend caulk next to ceiling, safest bet.

[Colour Republic]

What size are those tile Kylie? I mean the full ones before they were cut?

[KylieZona]

Hello again,

I took the good advice of my Tile Forum mentors and went for it. I used a palette knife and a wrecking bar to jimmie the offending tiles off (and a few others managed to come off in sympathy as well - which was a bit of a pain). I was surprised at how easily they came off. I was half expecting huge chunks of the wall to come off. There was barely any damage to the plastered wall or the cement board. There was the tiniest flake that came off the plaster but I didn't bother to repair it. I originally left the two central tiles (above the window) because I thought they were good enough but in the end my cutting was pretty good so I took them off too and replaced them with some better cuts.

DeTiling.jpg

So the before and after snaps:

before1.jpgafter1.jpg

before2.jpgafter2.jpg

So almost done...

AlmostDone.jpg

The biggest gap before was 9mm and now the biggest gap is 3mm.

I was not happy at all with the job before but I feel pretty chuffed now. There still a long way to go (and plenty of mistakes to make) but at least I'm not cringing at the ceiling every time I walk in the room now!

Thanks so much for all your advice and encouragement - it massively appreciated!

Colour Republic - the tiles are 40cm (H) x 25cm (W).

[pjc]

i like coving would be easy imo and look better but would need to be neater

[Phil Hobson]

Hello again,

I took the good advice of my Tile Forum mentors and went for it. I used a palette knife and a wrecking bar to jimmie the offending tiles off (and a few others managed to come off in sympathy as well - which was a bit of a pain). I was surprised at how easily they came off. I was half expecting huge chunks of the wall to come off. There was barely any damage to the plastered wall or the cement board. There was the tiniest flake that came off the plaster but I didn't bother to repair it. I originally left the two central tiles (above the window) because I thought they were good enough but in the end my cutting was pretty good so I took them off too and replaced them with some better cuts.

DeTiling.jpg

So the before and after snaps:

before1.jpgafter1.jpg

before2.jpgafter2.jpg

So almost done...

AlmostDone.jpg

The biggest gap before was 9mm and now the biggest gap is 3mm.

I was not happy at all with the job before but I feel pretty chuffed now. There still a long way to go (and plenty of mistakes to make) but at least I'm not cringing at the ceiling every time I walk in the room now!

Thanks so much for all your advice and encouragement - it massively appreciated!

Colour Republic - the tiles are 40cm (H) x 25cm (W).

Much better Kylie,

[whitebeam]

Have you dot and dabbed the tiles with tubbed adhesive...

[Phil Hobson]

Omg just looked at the first pic, never spotted that Mark

[KylieZona]

Cheers Phil - Your advice was tops

[KylieZona]

Yes dot and dabbed... rather than all over the wall. Is that not good?

[Phil Hobson]

Sorry Kylie, not good, if you search the forum for dot and dab, you will find it is very bad practice.

[KylieZona]

Ugh I've just read a bunch of the forum posts - I didn't realise. It probably explains why some of the tiles fell off with the slightest touch.

Looks like I will be removing tiles again tomorrow

[Phil Hobson]

The person who never made a mistake, never made anything!

[whitebeam]

Should'nt be to difficult to remove...

[Bathfix Bob]

Yes, I fitted a new bath yesterday for a landlord I work for, tennent had tiled a week before down onto the old bath with dot & dabbed tubbed addy.
I tried my best not to disturb them but 4 popped off after the slightest touch.

[KylieZona]

We've just removed 3/4 of the tiles and like you say, Bob, many popped off with barely any effort. They were coming off really easy on the plaster but there is some damage to the cement board. I'm hoping we can just tile over it.

I'm going to watch some videos on all over adhesive techniques now and see what the forums say about the cement board.

I'm thinking of painting the bathroom red to reflect how much I've bled for the blighter!

Third time lucky!