Bathroom tiling nightmare - HELP

[Mrs. Buckets]

Hi there,
A bit of professional advice needed please. We moved into a flat about 2,5 years ago and the bathroom had been newly refurbished. Already for about a year now I had been looking at the grouting getting "porous" and beginning to crack. Some of the tiles seemed to start poking out as well. It was only after a leak was apparent on the other side of the bathroom wall that we decided to take the bathpanel apart (no access hatch...) to see what was going on and it seemed there had indeed been a leak for a while as the drylining (?) was grooved around the bath. Initially I thought that the Silicon around the bath and the shower screen was faulty so I redid this and when that didn't work it became apparent it was the grouting that was leaking.
I then went ahead and removed the tiles from two of the walls and that wasn't too hard at all as the drylining (I am assuming that is what it is; very thin plastered type of layer - I am a woman with no experience in these things) under the tiles was so wet it was practically off the wall. We are now looking to have someone come and tile the walls for us (a problem in itself finding someone...) but what I really want to know is how can we make sure the walls are protected in the future. What material to use under the tiles, is there specific grouting etc. I would like to be armed with some information so I can also vet anyone who might eventually come and quote for the job. We are pretty desperate as we (2 adults and 2 kids) are currently having shower hunkering in the bath so as not to get the walls wet.. Also if you can recommend someone willing to do this in W9 with a rock solid reputation and skills I would be very grateful!
Sorry for the long saga but I really don't know where to turn to.. HELP!
Thanks for any comments you would take the time out to write.
Buckets

 

[cuttintiles]

as i said beforw buckets, the best corse of action is rip out and replace, unless you have 4/5m2 of the same tiles knocking about your house!
if you do not then you need to go to the tile shops with one of your tiles and match them, those tiles are redily available but ofcorse different batches of tiles mean they can be a different colour and or a different size!
the size part is more important than the shade of white as they will be on opposite walls to the originals.

hope this helps

 

[mikethetile]

I would tank as its an over bath shower

I think you will struggle to match the tiles as theres a shade variation between batches. trying to match and getting a colour variation will only highlight a previous problem when you come to sell , the same with the shade variation on the grout

one idea to think about is to pick a different colour metro tile and grout and make a feature of it

care needs to be taken if the plasterboard has been saturated that it has dried out without any damage and is still structurally sound

plaster skim needs priming with a suitable primer, not pva

any tiler that reccomends pva needs crossing of your list

 

[aph257]

If any tiler suggests PVA then show them the door, and as "mikethetile" says the plasterboard may need replacing due to it being saturated and then not being able to support the weight of tiles. you would not want them falling off while in the bath!!!!:yikes:

 

[Buckets]

Thanks "mikethetile" and "aph257" for your comments. This confirms to me that the few quotes we received so far are a bit suspect..

What about putting an aquaboard or similar on the wall and tiling on that? Would that help with the tiles staying up (no, I really would not them falling off! :lol🙂? This is such a nightmare... It really is hard to find someone who REALLY knows what they are doing. It's crazy that someone like me with no knowledge of tiling can question things like the whole PVA thing without these guys knowing anything about it. Drats. :mad2: <--- the bathroom wall

 

[mikethetile]

yes you can use aquaboard if you wish or use ordinary plasterboard and tank , often works out cheaper

its a shame that more people dont have your common sense when it comes to these matters, it would save a lot of people heartache

you wouldnt buy a car without finding out about it first so why choose a tradesman without finding out whats involved in the job and the correct way to do it

 

[Buckets]

Thanks Mike! I think I am just a control freak. Having spent so much time worrying about the bathroom walls and watching them get gradually worse I am just determined I will never have to worry about them again. While hoping not to break the bank. I really appreciate you guys taking the time to answer my silly questions. :smilewinkgrin:

 

[DHTiling]

Only silly question is one that is not asked..

The members love to help where they can and you seem to be getting looked after..

 

[Buckets]

Just an update in case anyone is following this saga. We have found a good (well, I suppose this can only be judged by the end result) company to do the bathroom for us. I have cleaned enough tiles to use on the smaller wall, bathpanel will be from the floor tiles which we still had in storage and the big wall will be.. wait for it.. pebble tiles! I know these are a bit of a marmite thing, but we were not able to find the same tiles we had on the other walls and since the only option was to make a feature wall out of it you might as well go all out. It can go one of two ways... Fingers crossed. Eek!! ;-)

 

[aph257]

When its done can you put some pics on here?

 

[Pebbs]

Did someone say Pebble Tiles?! I like it......I love it in fact...so much so heres one of my pebble rugs that I put into a clients spa...