Falling Tiles in the bathroom - HELP!!!

[jjavanda]

Please I urgently need some advice here, about 6 months ago I had my en-suite completely ripped out and 3 walls replastered and one wall covered using backerboard. Last week I got my bathroom tiled from floor to ceiling (using approx. 30cm x 30cm tiles). As these tiles are marble they are very heavy and obviously expensive. Anyway I was assured that the walls didn't need priming prior to tiling and that normal adhesive would be sufficient providing a waterproof grout was used (I opted for Cerafix adhesive from B&Q).

I suppose you can guess what happened next, the tiler finished tiling but complained that the adhesive wasn't drying quick enough in order to grout so suggested I put a heater in there. For 2 days on the trot I was awoken in the middle of the night by the sound of crashing tiles, causing not only damage to the tiles but also to my recently installed stone resin shower tray which is now severely chipped. For reasons of safety I have now had to remove all the remaining tiles on the 3 plastered walls (the tiles on the cement board seem to be stuck solid).....

The tiler is at a loss to explain the reason for the tiles falling (although he does seem to accept that maybe walls should have been primed) and I only used him as he came highly recommended (I have since found out that he has only installed marble once before).

I however am left with a part tiled bathroom and am anxious as to find out what went wrong.... is it just because the walls needed priming or is it because marble tiles need a special adhesive??

Ps. can anything be done to repair the shower tray?

I appreciate your comments greatly.

Thanks Jay

[Mark Carver]

[snip]

We had a new bathroom built a year ago. It was only after the job was finished and my wife was giving the shower try a *good* clean that we discovered the shower tray was chipped. I found the following:-

plumber supplied and effected the repair at his expense, and the repair (a year later) is still invisible. It was a very small chip however.

HTH

[jjavanda]

[Dave Jones]

Should also use a natural stone tile adhesive

[Dave Philips]

Are the tiles stuck to the plaster? If so, the plaster needs sealing or maybe it's bad plaster. (It happens)

[Owain]

The tiler will buy you a nice shiny new one on his insurance :-)

Owain

[David Hearn]

Did the tiles come off clean or was the adhesive attached? Knowing this will help figure out whether it was because the tile didn't stick to the adhesive, or the adhesive didn't stick to the plaster.

The fresh plaster (okay, 6 months old) - was that ever sealed? When I've done tiling onto new plaster in the past, I've always PVA'd the walls first. Took less than 1 hour really as it soaked in and died very quickly - which is an indication of how absorbant it is. I suspect the tiles came off with the adhesive, leaving bare plaster behind. If this was the case then its possible that the plaster drew the moisture out of the adhesive, causing it to fail. The fact that the backerboard wall (which I guess is non-absorbant) is stuck solid implies that there isn't a general problem with the adhesive, rather the substrate that it was put onto (ie. plaster).

Who assured you that it didn't need priming? If it was the tiler, then it's probably his fault, and should pay for replacement tiles/shower tray and refitting. If it was the retailer or someone else and you told the tiler, then I'm afraid it becomes more complicated - "I just did what you said" type conversations.

David

[Dave Plowman (News)]

The adhesive I was supplied with for marble tiles was a form of mortar and sets via a chemical action rather than air drying - and pretty quickly. IMHO, 'normal' tile adhesive is for lightweight 'normal' tiles

[Ian_m]

Problem with this stuff is 5 years down the line it has changed colour slightly (not so white) is now very visible. This was on our en-suite sink spotted during snagging a chip. If doing again I would not accept a repair.

[jjavanda]

Thanks for the replies. I can confirm that the tiles came off with the adhesive attached, therefore concluding that is a problem with the plaster.

Ps. because one of the walls is slightly out the tiler has been spotting the tiles rather than the recommeded spreading technique................is this a likely cause?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'd suggest you phone up the suppliers of the tiles and ask them what adhesive should be used for your situation.

[zymurgy]

I've found Cerafix fine for porous wall tiles, but beware using them in any sort of sealed environment, I had tiles lift that had a sealed surface and the adhesive was still wet about 3 weeks after laying (causing the tiles to lift)

My customer, (luckily a friend in this case) was not best pleased !

I used Bal waterproof adhesive in my bathroom without a problem, but I knocked off all loose plaster before laying them.

Check with the tile supplier what they recommend as others have said.

Cheers,

Paul.