Massive patch of loose tiles in bathroom

[Murmansk]

A bloke I know lives in sheltered housing that was built about ten years ag= o and the other day I noticed in his bathroom that a couple of the tiles on= the wall were protruding slightly as shown on this photo (which shows the = tiles viewed from below).

closer inspection I concluded that the all of the tiles on that wall, ab= out 4 square metres, are loose and coming away from the wall, all that=92s = holding them together is the grouting. I can push in the centre and the who= le lot move!

I can=92t think what would cause this to happen. I thought maybe there=92d = been a water leak from the bathroom of the flat above that has come down be= hind the tiles and gradually washed away the adhesive but there are no sign= s of dampness anywhere in the bathroom or in the room behind the stud wall = where the tiles are.

Anyone got any ideas what might cause this?

[The Medway Handyman]

I've come across exactly that on several occasions.

I've always assumed the wall wasn't primed properly, so was too porous & the adhesive didn't stick properly.

[ss]

and the other day I noticed in his bathroom that a couple of the tiles on the wall were protruding slightly as shown on this photo (which shows the tiles viewed from below).

4 square metres, are loose and coming away from the wall, all that?s holding them together is the grouting. I can push in the centre and the whole lot move!

water leak from the bathroom of the flat above that has come down behind the tiles and gradually washed away the adhesive but there are no signs of dampness anywhere in the bathroom or in the room behind the stud wall where the tiles are.

Does water from shower hit this wall?

[Jim K]

ago and the other day I noticed in his bathroom that a couple of the tiles = on the wall were protruding slightly as shown on this photo (which shows th= e tiles viewed from below).

about 4 square metres, are loose and coming away from the wall, all that=92= s holding them together is the grouting. I can push in the centre and the w= hole lot move!

d been a water leak from the bathroom of the flat above that has come down = behind the tiles and gradually washed away the adhesive but there are no si= gns of dampness anywhere in the bathroom or in the room behind the stud wal= l where the tiles are.

sparingly applied readymix tile adhesive

Jim K

[Brian Gaff]

Has he had anything chased into the wall on the other side at all?

Brian

[Murmansk]

He doesn't use the bath area at all as he uses a separate shower

No chasing gone on wall at other side.

[John Williamson]

No, but looking on the bright side, it'll be easy to get them off to re-tile. You can probably clean and re-use the same tiles, if that's the look you want.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Quite common. Probably movement in the wall, or between walls/floor if tiled right into a corner. It could be that the tiles have come loose, or it might be that all the plaster has lost key and is loose. At a place I used to work, all the tiles suddenly fell off a wall in the Ladies, for this reason (fortunately no one was in there, but we heard it). Tile adhesive is not easily affected by damp, but plaster is, and if it was tiled over some earlier finish, that might be too.

Modern tile adhesives are stronger than most tiles, which means the tiles often crack when walls move, but as you go back to older tile adhesives, they weren't as strong (old adhesives are just mortar made up with fine sand), and would often giveway leaving the tiles intact (and reusable).

[meow2222]

A standard way to clean up used tiles is to leave them in water overnight, then the tile adhesive generally just scrapes off.

NT

[Jim K]

then the tile adhesive generally just scrapes off.

unless it's cement based?

Jim K

[Alexander Lamaison]

This happened in the brand new building I lived in a couple of years ago. We were told it was because the tiles had been applied with a two-part adhesive and the tilers had forgotten to mix in the second part. Whether this was true or not, who know. They had to come back and retile the lot.

Alex

[polygonum]

Just what is it about that message which makes it display in a much smaller (and serifed) font than anything else (in Thunderbird 17.0.2)?

Ah! it's Chinese Simplified GB2313.

[Alexander Lamaison]

So it is. No idea how that happened. Bad Emacs!

Alex

[Owain]

Get a proper editor

Owain

[Alexander Lamaison]

Don't even start.

[stuart noble]

Back OT, the tiles may be stuck on ply

[Andy Champ]

We had this once. The tiles fell off and went through the bath - luckily while it was empty of both water and people. (though I suppose that would have broken their fall...)

The wall had been painted, then tiled. The adhesive didn't stick to the painted part.