Crackle glazed tiles in shower.

[Sean Kelly]

I have a customer that has had his shower tiled in crackle glazed tiles.

When the shower is turned on, water comes through into the hallway. Various tests have determined that the silicone seal around the shower tray is ok. The water seems to be going through the grout on the wall that the shower is attached to. The customer ran the shower again whilst the tiles were covered in polythene. Again, there was no leak.

He is not on good terms with his builder/tiler so all the questions I am asking cannot be answered.

The chances are that the walls are not tanked.
I do not know the substrate.
I do not know what brand of adhesive or what grout is used.

The tile manufacturer stated that the tiles did not need sealing.

I left the customer today, and asked him to do a water test on a spare tile. I am awaiting results.

My hunch is that the water is going through the grout.

These tiles are made in Tunisia, and are very expensive. Tiling the wall again will cost hundreds of £.

I was thinking of a regrout. If the grout came out easily I would grout with normal grout, and seal the grout & tile with Seal Guard. Or, maybe I could use epoxy grout?

What do you guys & girls think?

Thanks
Sean

 

[Andy Allen]

ive allways sealed those tiles when ive used them......they sound like rice krispies when there wet..

 

[Qwerty]

Crackle finish tiles nearly always need sealing. I would just seal the lot and not bother with re-grout

 

[doug boardley]

I always seal them prior to even cutting them, even water off the wet cutter can stain them. I wouldn't use them in a wet area tbh.

 

[Sean Kelly]

I forgot to say that it only took 4 minutes for the water to start dripping into the hallway. This must mean that the tiles are pretty saturated then? I was hoping to do the work this Friday, but that now seems out of the question.

 

[White Room]

Sounds like the walls will be a disaster aswell...

 

[Qwerty]

If the tiles are soaking up and releasing water that fast, then that means that they should also dry up overnight (or after a good few hours too). If the water starts running after 4 minutes, then I suspect that something else is amiss in addition to the unsealed tiles. Is the waste or tray leaking at all??? What height does the water appear at in the hallway.......does it match the first run of tiles, or below this? Any photos mate?

The customers water test should give a better idea

 

[Yorkshire Tiling Services]

Fired earth supply a lot of crackle glazed tiles, they always supply with sealer. These need to be sealed. Also sounds like shower has not been tanked either.
They recommend lithofin KF stain stop. I know so because we have done a lot of Moulton Brown store re-fit tiling, hence have gallons of KF left over that has been supplied for the crackle glaze wall tiles.

 

[jay]

just out of interest is this the tap wall

 

[Time's Ran Out]

As per Jay - and as you stated it's leaking on the shower wall! I'd check that the control valve cover plate has been sealed around and also there is no leaking on the pipework behind the wall.

 

[Sean Kelly]

It is the tap wall, and the customer has had the controls all siliconed up.

 

[kilty55]

pipe work behind the wall sean has that been checked?


eityher way its a rip out as the substrate will be soaking and damaged

the rip out will show you the cause no doubt

 

[Sean Kelly]

Kilty, the customer is an engineer. He has done many tests on this shower. It only leeks when the water hits the tiles that are just below the shower controls. I.e. it has been tested with the shower running into the shower tray and the tiles covered up. It passed this test. This means that the pipework and trap are ok. I'll report back to the customer tonight and give him all the options. Would a sealer (like Seal Guard) really keep water from penetrating the tiles/grout? Cheers Sean

 

[kilty55]

sean, the fact the water is coming into the hallway via the tiling imo means it needs re done,the wall must be soaking and damaged surely?

re grouting or re sealing imo will not sort it long term if the water has damaged the substrate

 

[Sean Kelly]

Kilty, I agree with you. However, there could be a chance that the wall was made of Hardiebacker or something similar. Would this not mean that the wall would still be pretty sound. There is no hint of mouldy smells and no hollow sounding tiles.
This Sherlock Holmes quote springs to mind with with case: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?".

This customer really wants to save his tiles. He is now thinking of removing the wall behind the tiles i.e. the wall in the landing. This might show were the leak is coming from.

One way or another we will get to the bottom of this. Will let you know. Cheers for your input.

 

[Sean Kelly]

Went round to see customer today. I tipped a teaspoon of water onto the middle of a tile. There was no surface tension on the water, and slowly the water disappeared into the tile.
I then coated the tile with Seal Guard sealer. Waited 20 mins and repeated. I then performed the same water test. This time the water stayed on the surface of the tile. 2 hours later the water was still sitting on the tile. These crackle glaze tiles are not waterproof! The French supplier said that they were ok for showers!

I have now coated the shower walls with 4 coats of sealer. The customer will turn on the shower on Saturday.

I did advise the customer that this 'fix' is not guaranteed to work, but hopefully it will.

Cheers
Sean

 

[Qwerty]

Nice one Sean, lets hope it sorts it (even if it is a temp fix)

 

[Sean Kelly]

NEWS FLASH. Customer had a dry shower today!! Long may this 'temp fix' last.

 

[DHTiling]

Result... let's hope it lasts.. you did tell her to be careful what she cleans them with, so not to reduce sealer life.

 

[White Room]

Hope it continues Sean..

 

[Sean Kelly]

Result... let's hope it lasts.. you did tell her to be careful what she cleans them with, so not to reduce sealer life.

Yep, told them not to use anything abrasive or acid based cleaners. I left them some sealer too. I think they will be quite careful with their tiles, they cost a fortune.

 

[DHTiling]

Job sorted then.. Fingers crossed for the customer.