MDF bath panel behind tiles was getting wet - shuould I be worried?

Hi ,

Just want to get your opinion on something that has happened in my bathroom.

I recently had a new bathroom fitted. A bathpanel was made out of moisture resistant MDF which was then tiled over.

However due to the tilers failure to properly seal area where the floor tiles meet the bath panel tiles, water got into the wood over the last three months of showering. I noticed this because one of the bathpanel tiles started to protrude.

The tiller came to fix it when I told him.

On removing the tiles it seemed that the MDF had been soaking up the water and it creeping upwards. This had led to a good lot of black stuff on all the bottom of the wood (I assume this is mould) and this is what had pushed the tile out.

He has now repaired the tiles that were popping out, and is going to return to do the siliconing in a few days.

However, I was slightly worried that permanent damage may have been done. Basically the water was getting in and soaking into the wood, and creeping upwards. The bottom 2- 3 inches or so was black when he removed the tiles.

Although the tiles have been placed over, and silicon will be applied so water should now stay out. Is this something I should be worried about. The tiller seems to think it will be find and dry out naturally, even though we did not give any time for the wood to try without the tiles on.

Any advice is appreciated.

David

Reply to
David Smithz
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tiling onto wet mdf is a total bodge. I'm doubtful it would last long, though admittedly I've never tried doing this, for obvious reasons.

NT

Reply to
meow2222

Well damp mdf is probably a better way of putting it. And when you say it wont last long, do you think the tiles would just fall off over time? Or will the wood rot away. At least if the tiles fell off, then I could put let it dry this time and put it back on.

I've already shelled out lots of money on this set up and it's causing me stress thinking that it will all be for nothing.

What should I do?

Any other thoughts or opinions.

Cheers

Reply to
David Smithz

The root cause of the problem is water getting _out_ of the bath and onto the floor in the first place. You need to fit a bigger shower screen and/or modify your showering behaviour. A wet floor is a recipe for disaster when stepping out of the bath. At the very least, put a bathmat down on the floor when showering to catch any splashes and give you a non-slip surface.

MBQ

Reply to
manatbandq

..but there's no way in hell, ok maybe only in hell, that I'd use MDF in a bathroom. Same applies to so-called moisture resistant chipboard floors.

Reply to
adder1969

What should I do is a good question. The proper solution is to remove all the mdf and use something suitable, which I gather would mean retiling. If the patch affected is small, it might be tempting to try and bodge it back in the knowledge that it will fall off later on, giving you enough time to sort out suppplies and time to do it properly.

NT

Reply to
meow2222

I am about to construct a bath panel to finish off my recently decorated bathroom. I want to tile onto it, so what would be the best material for this ?

Reply to
david.genet

The tiler should seal the bottom edge of the panel as well as the bottom part of the back.

Look on the bright side, if he'd tiled onto ply you wouldn't have known until the ply rotted away and the tiles fell off.

That will have happened some months later, and getting him back to fix it may not have been possible.

cheers, Pete.

Reply to
Pete C

fibre cement sheet probably

NT

Reply to
meow2222

Bath panels in my house were painted hardboard. No sign of any problems whatsoever after 30 years. They are now tiled plywood and I dont expect any problems with this either. Make sure it's stiff and well sealed first oitherwise it will warp when you tile it (as I found out at first attempt - LOL).

Where do you expect all the water to come from? If there's enough to rot a tiled bath panel then I would be far more worried about other things (floorboards, joists, etc) than the bath panel! We're not, after all, talking about the panels in a shower cubicle that are regularly soaked.

The OPs problem, as described, is caused by water escaping from the bath during showering. He needs to first fix the cause then address the symptoms.

MBQ

Reply to
manatbandq

Use 'Hardibacker' or 'Superflex' cement based boards. Ideal for we areas and available at most timber/builder merchants

-- Cordless Crazy

Reply to
Cordless Crazy

I used aquapanel for all the walls so I suppose more of the same will do, plus it would be a good use for those leftover ceramic screws..........

Cheers

Reply to
david.genet

Wee it's a concrete floor (I'm in a flat) and a steel bath. When I moved in there had already been a dripping leak for many years it seems. Not a pretty sight but was sorted.

It's a very small area, and like I said the bath panel was black about 2-3 inches from the bottom.

Changing the bath panel would be tricky. It's a very tight space as a small bathroom and it would mean cutting out and then building in some different solution.There is not access to the entire side of the bath panel.

I did speak to the original plumber who build the side panel. He said not to lose any sleep over it, and said perhaps we should drill an air hole from an adjacent cupboard (which I have a condenser dryer in) to underneath the bath area to allow the damp wood to dry out.

Still, it was stressful getting this all fitted, now it is done, it is still causing me stress. £4k spent so far. How much more do I have to spend?

(boo hoo)

Reply to
David Smithz

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