Cracked Tiles

[Mrsbarwocle]

i had my bathroom professionally tiled in March, after 3 weeks several of the tiles on the wall where the shower is fitted had lots of hairline cracks, they were replaced by the tiler but the same thing has happened again. I am reluctant to buy more tiles if the same thing is going to happen again, does anyone have any ideas why this may have happened?

 

[Dave]

Hi ..

What is the substrate ?

 

[J Sid]

Adhesive bed to big / dot and dabbed if crazing type of cracking, or if straight crack possible movement in wall.
Was it tiled onto ply?

 

[Mrsbarwocle]

It an internal plasterboard wall, built in the 1960s, and was previously the toilet with wallpapered walls. Had the bathroom and toilet knocked into one room in March and so the wall affected is now where the shower is fitted, hope that makes sense! I am grateful for any suggestions, thanks.

 

[J Sid]

Any photos

 

[Mrsbarwocle]

You can't see the cracks on a photo as they are so fine, but I believe the tiler used the dot and dab method to fix the tiles to the wall, having read other websites it looks like this is a big no no in the tiling world.

 

[J Sid]

I saw a whole wall of white villeroy and boch tiles go like fine crazy paving which had been dot and dabbed

 

[cam_low]

rip out and redo ! sad to see this bugger rearing its ugly head again.

 

[Mrsbarwocle]

rip out and redo ! sad to see this bugger rearing its ugly head again.

Thanks for your advice, got the job done by a local bathroom fitter so am nervous to see what his reaction will be when I go back to complain, but I certainly can't afford to pay someone else to sort it out.

 

[Mrsbarwocle]

I saw a whole wall of white villeroy and boch tiles go like fine crazy paving which had been dot and dabbed

Thanks for your advice, got the job done by a local bathroom fitter so am nervous to see what his reaction will be when I go back to complain, but I certainly can't afford to pay someone else to sort it out.

 

[J Sid]

You should not either worry about upsetting the plumber or worry about getting him to redo the job.
If he is not capable of doing the job right, which he has quoted for and been paid for, he should employ a tiler to do it.
He has had the opportunity to put it right and failed so I believe you are within your rights to get your our tiler in to rectify the work and your plumber will have to pay.

 

[Dan]

Keep us posted.

 

[Mrsbarwocle]

Keep us posted.

The bathroom fitter has told my husband there is nothing wrong with dot and dab, I can see I am going to have a fight on my hands

 

[J Sid]

So what is his reasons for the tiles cracking?
They are fine on other walls.
They are not cracked when they come out the box.
Tell him it needs to be right and he will need to buy the replacement tiles, make sure he gets the same batch.
Try to get some photos of the cracks and take photos as they are removed and as the new ones get fixed.

 

[Dan]

British Standards for tiling states that dot and dab doesn't leave enough coverage on the back of the tiles. Which for wet areas including showers is 80 - 100% coverage. To prevent failures like yours! You can link the plumber to here to buy the standards for tiling, BS5385 BS 5385-4:2009 - British Standards for TIling

It's less to do with the method than the result of it. There just wont be coverage on the back of those tiles. If one was popped off, I bet not even 30% is covered on most, and that's not even good enough for tiling in dry areas (walls only) like perhaps a downstairs loo or most of a kitchen. Which is 60 - 80% if I remember rightly.

Plumbers can't always tile correctly just because they've done a few and it hasn't failed before.

You need to document things, perhaps communicate via email so it's all in writing, then perhaps consider legal action if nothing else can be done. I'd also ask for his public liability insurance details. I don't think you can claim until there is damage done somewhere which crazing isn't always classed as depending on the cause. But it'll make him realise the problem isn't going away.

Be professional when you've communicating and don't lose your rag. Don't give him a reason to ignore your calls or emails etc.