Help! Tiled whole bathroom with Tubbed adhesive only to find out it’s not showerproof

[Bbbecca7]

In a bit of a nightmare here

We recently spent a lot of money having our bathroom re-plastered (plaster board and skimmed) to make the walls smooth and square ready for tiling

My dad and husband have been tiling it and have done a lovely job! (My dad has done it a few times but it’s my husbands first time)

HOWEVER.. popped to b&q with my husband today to buy more adhesive and when I read the tub it said only suitable for areas of intermittent wetness.. not suitable for showers! (The b&q shelf label refers to it as waterproof and so dies the description on their website but the tub says otherwise)

We have rang the helpline and the guy said it is waterproof but not shower proof (eh!?) but that it should be fine if it is sealed and grouted properly. And that he has told others this and known it used.

The shower in question is an over bath shower so it won’t get as much water contact as a proper shower but I’m still concerned

Is there some kind of sealent/waterproofing membrane type thing I could apply between tiles before grouting?

What would you guys do in my position? It’s our first house and don’t want any disasters .. but also don’t want to make them pull the tiles off and have to potentially buy new ones at £200!

The tiles are very well stuck on and not able to be pulled off

Any help would be massively appreciated.. I’m trying not to act too annoyed at their mistake as they’ve done a brill job and worked very hard and I don’t want to be ungrateful but the mood isn’t great between us right now!

 

[widler]

Sounds like you have used ceramic tiles, it will be fine as long as it’s solid, people in the tiling world are still ripping out bathrooms to this day from the 80s done the same way as you with no problems.
Don’t believe everything you read on the net

 

[Waluigi]

Let’s not kid ourselves though. It was still the wrong adhesive to use and the wall still should’ve been tanked. It might last many decades without issues, it might not.

 

[Bbbecca7]

Thankyou for all of your advice. It’s been really helpful! I fully accept it was the wrong adhesive, but they’ve done a great job and I’m loathe to ask them to pull them off and start over. As you can imagine with small tiles it’s taken a while and they look great. I am a massive worrier though!

My dad has always done his own bathrooms and he is no expert but he’s always done a good job .. (even if it is a case of “buy whatever’s in B&Q”) ..and they’ve always lasted

Personally I over-research everything I do and it would not have been my choice of adhesive but I am going to make sure they get a good quality grout from a professional tile shop and I’ll also get some grout sealer. Although we haven’t tanked so far I will make sure the remaining plaster (wall edges and around under bath) are tanked properly, although not ideal it’s better than nothing.

Thanks again though guys, it is what it is but I definitely feel a lot better about it now 🙂

 

[widler]

But what we did years ago was the right way ? You watch, in another decade or two everyone will be doing it wrong today.
And tanking, although its the right way now, no one heard of it until a few years ago, tile shops we not selling it a few years ago bever mind tilers using it

 

[Waluigi]

I’ve been tanking for 15 years plus

I’m not saying before that time it was wrong, just that it isn’t as good as the way we now do things.

 

[widler]

I never have seen tanking or ditra in any shop in burnley or the surrounding areas before ten years ago, my mate who has been In the tile industry for a few decades and opened his own shop about 7 years ago , never heard of matting or tanking before he opened his shop.
You must be one of a few who has been tanking domestic showers the past 15 years , cos nigh on every tiler I talk too are the same as me

I’ve been tanking for 15 years plus

I’m not saying before that time it was wrong, just that it isn’t as good as the way we now do

 

[Boggs]

Tanking? What’s tanking?

 

[Waluigi]

I never have seen tanking or ditra in any shop in burnley or the surrounding areas before ten years ago, my mate who has been In the tile industry for a few decades and opened his own shop about 7 years ago , never heard of matting or tanking before he opened his shop.
You must be one of a few who has been tanking domestic showers the past 15 years , cos nigh on every tiler I talk too are the same as me

Been doing it myself ever since I went self employed in 2002. Every single shower. Started off using Kerdi and WP1 and Homelux then Mapei and now Tilemaster. I’d say it’s been common for more than a ‘few’ years. I admit that I must’ve been an early adopter.

Kerdi has been around since the late 80’s.

Before tanking, we always used to fit Knauf Aquapanel. This was early 90’s.

Just saying how it was done round my way.

 

[Jacko]

9/10 of my customer ask if they can get away without tanking. Not too worried if the bathroom is downstairs, but, I highly recommend it upstairs.

I always use Powder based adhesives.
Only time I use tub adhesive is on Kitchen Splashbacks.

Back to the OP, you should be alright. I suggest not using the shower/ bath until you have completed the job (Grout and bead).

 

[Steve6690]

25 years ago a friend of mine (who was unemployed and needed the money) tiled my bathroom with Villeroy and Boch tiles, all four walls, floor to ceiling. He tiled directly on to painted plasterboard. From memory he used a tubbed(?) Bal "waterproof adhesive" and waterproof grout. I remember having a row about the adhesive because he had a mate who was supposedly a professional tiler and he'd told him you didn't need waterproof adhesive as long as you used waterproof grout. I bought the waterproof adhesive anyway.
I suspect he used the 5-spot method of applying the adhesive too.
Since about 3 years ago we fitted a shower and that's become its main use. Last month I ground out all the grout and trims, re-grouted and replaced trims. Point is, the tiles are still on and nowadays it would be considered a bodge job. It was probably a bodge job back then too, for all I know 🙂.
I think what I'm trying to say, completely unqualified, is that it'll probably be ok and if it were me, I wouldn't be ripping tiles off and re-doing it.