Bathroom tile repair

[tthomsen2]

I'm repairing loose tiles in a bath/shower and it's getting more complicated than I had anticipated. The short wall on the opposite end of the shower head appears to have the following layers: tile->adhesive->drywall. I don't think there was a cement or green board, hence the crumbling. Well, all of it is falling apart which has so far exposed only a horizontal and vertical 2" wood strip. Not all of the tiles need to be replaced so how do I patch this up? Do I have to tear out to the studs to replace drywall then greenboard? That will mean removing good tiles and did I mention that I'm not that handy?! Help!!

[bambam]

First, shower walls should be cement board such as hardi backer board. Drywall is not intended for a bathroom; green board is intended for use in rooms where there is high humidity.. ie baths, but NOT as backing for a shower.

I'm afraid the only solution is to tear out the tile, replace the drywall with cement board, then re-tile. It's not a particularly difficult chore, but it is tiring and time consuming.

You can get a decent tile cutter, tile nippers and a diamond tipped circle cutter from any tile supplier ..or from Home Depot for less than a hundred bucks.

Books on tiling are available at any library.

Ken

[Darrell Dorsey]

Green board will crumble just as easily once wet. I had a green board shower, it was total mush.

Post your question here. But it could be likely that the drywall is wet further up and it's just a matter of time before more of it lets go.

Darrell

[sohalloran]

Chester Dawe sell this stuff called Kerdi. It's fairly pricey but after it's on it makes an impermeable water barrier. It's a 3 foot wide sheet of X number of feet and it goes on with a skim coat of ultralite II. You can get corner's, drain's etc. This will solve all of your problems. In order to do it right you have to pay the price. It works out in the long run.

[Darrell Dorsey]

Kerdi is what I'm using in my bath. It goes over drywall with a dryset mortar. I used Kerabond from Lowes.

Again, post and do some reading on the John Bridge forum. Those guys can point you in the right direction.

Darrell