Split Face Tiles in Wetroom ? - Tile Advice

[lewie]

Has anybody ever come across split face tiles used on walls in a wetroom ?

Lewie

 

[John Benton]

Definite nono IMO unless on a feature wall away from any wet areas.

They are notoriously difficult to grout and clean off and secondly they harbour bacteria making them very difficult to clean because of the style shape of the tiles.

 

[ashley600]

As john said deffo not a good idea. I had to reject £4.5k of split face from original style after the customer thought they would look great for a whole bathroom.

Orginal style said that they were suitable for wetrooms too!! But I can't image just how bad they would look after the grout had made a mess of them.

 

[Stef]

You could use them provided the substrate is waterproof but as said above defo not a good idea.

 

[lewie]

Thanks for your replies.

This wetroom has a leak. The walls of this wetroom are completely fitted with split face tiles. They are not grouted. I wouldn't have expected them to be. There are gaps between the pieces of tile on the split face. The room has allegedly been tanked using an impey system. The leak has already been 'repaired' three times, tiles removed, tanked, fibreglassed,tiles refitted, etc, but there's still a problem.

The shower head is of the soaker variety and my thoughts are that the water is getting between the split face tiles and in behind and then finding it's way into the ceiling below, probably through the corners of the walls.

The client is minted and says 'just fix the leak'.

Any thoughts ?

Lewie

 

[Stef]

Even if the water gets behind the tiles & against the walls it shouldn't leak if its been tanked properly.

 

[lewie]

That's the dilemma. One can only assume that it wasn't tanked properly in the first place. To do the job would probably mean stripping most, if not all of the wall and the floor tiles off, tanking it properly and then re-tiling the floor and walls. Almost certainly the pre-formed tray will come up with the tiles so the cost could be astronomical.

It doesn't help that the chap who uses the wetroom lets it fill up so that there's four inches of water in the tray. Might mean that the water doesn't drain away properly and there's a plumbing problem to boot.

 

[ashley600]

Get the drain looked at as its either blocked or has a poor flow rate. Also look at fitting a flow restricter in the shower head. If it still leaks no choice but rip it out and start again with suitable tiles.

 

[Mr Tiler]

Is this the split faced stone tiles?

 

[Qwerty]

Is this the split faced stone tiles?

I'm sure it is Ash

 

[CJ]

Here ya go Ash

Multicolour Split Face Mosaic Tiles

 

[Mr Tiler]

Here ya go Ash

Multicolour Split Face Mosaic Tiles

exactly what I had in mind cj cheers buddy

 

[One Day]

I've done this before. I waterproofed the area using Kerdi board and tape. Fixed split face white quartz and I back buttered each piece to make sure all gaps were filled, then each piece was laid almost like a brick - I pointed a touch of adhesive onto the edges of the piece before - again, trying to leave no gaps open. I know water can/will soak through to the kerdi but then finished off by absolutely soaking the lot in impregnating sealer.
Job looked great and my customer seemed happy to make even more work for her cleaner!

I warned her that I would be making a mould-garden but she wanted to risk it.

 

[lewie]

Pretty sure the client got them from Beltrami and these seem to be the onesArdesia Nera beltralinea strips stoneskin - Slate | Beltrami

 

[lewie]

An update - Informed customer of my/your concerns. She said she'll find another tile, then she wants me to come back and rip the split face out and replace with the new tile. She has two wetrooms done in exactly the same fashion. Mental!