ive messed up...is it too late?!

[telski789]

Hi,

ive boxed in a shower at the end of my bath using 18mm marine ply at 750mm wide and the other walls are 2 week old plaster. ive used 2 different ready mixed adhesives to fit the 400x250 tiles (7sq m) and i can tell its gonna take a while to go off due to the size of the tile. both of the adhesives (mapei) say they are shower proof,and now im worried that i shouldbve used a cement based adhesive...,so now i have just the grouting to do,can i use epoxy grout to get me out of the poop as im a bit worried now...also i dont think its helped that i applied the adhesive to the tile instead of the wall...:mad2:

any ideas or help appreciated....

Terry

 

[AliGage]

First thing i would do is see how easy you could get them off again.
tubbed adhesive on that ply will almost certainly de-laminate. The tile size is too big for the adhesive anyway.
Is there there going to be a shower installed?

 

[telski789]

yes,its just a thermostatic one,the tiles on the wood are stuck solid...i dont mind breaking them off as i have spares,would the wall tiles be ok though? im looking at evostick waterproof grout...

 

[AliGage]

You're going to have hot and cold pipes running in the box-work, moisture, heat, steam will all effect the ply. If you want some longivity in your bathroom tiles you really need to change it. Did you waterproof or tank the wet-area?

 

[telski789]

It's just a shower over a bath so I didn't think I'd need to tank it...do I have to? I thought tanking was more for wet rooms??

 

[telski789]

I've emailed you mr gage!

 

[nybor62]

water proof grout is a misconception , they are water resistant apart form epoxy . imo should have been tanked , and a cement base addy used, and ply not good ;to be brutally honest i would start from scratch

 

[telski789]

This is the problem,everyone says something different,I was told marine ply doesn't warp and is waterproof.. And is fine to tile straight onto....I paid £60 for a sheet of rubbish then,I'm gonna have to finish it now and hope it stays ok, I fit lets me down ill rip it out and start again,it's too near finished now,maybe ill epoxy the grout...thanks for your replys fellas

 

[telski789]

By the way what's nbsp??

 

[AliGage]

Marine ply/WBP is not waterproof. The WBP stands for Water and Boil Proof. Most think this refers to the ply or wood itself. It's not, it's the glue. The surface maybe, or what appears to be waterproof, water will puddle. But it's more water resistance from the veneer finish.

 

[telski789]

Ok,do what's the best thing to do then? Do I need to remove the tiles from the walls or just the ply? And what to use to correct it? Thanks,Terry

 

[AliGage]

More concerning though is you paid your adhesive is not drying didn't you?
Most tubbed adhesive will only recommend fixing formats up to 300x300. Your tile exceeds this. Because of the way tubbed adhesive sets or drys some of your fixing bed might not dry.

 

[telski789]

The tub I used says for large tiles,I think ill leave them till Wednesday and see if I can take one off easily...if I can what do you recommend? Thanks,Terry

 

[steve187]

i think the biggest cause for concern would be the tiles on the ply, ply is never a good service to tile onto, i would not try epoxy grout as its extremely hard to use.

by the way welcome to the forum, its good you asked for advice.

 

[telski789]

Ok,thankyou,when I get home ill remove the tiles from the ply,hopefully they won't break as they have the holes in them etc for the pipes,so I should use a cement based adhesive? Which do you reccomend?

 

[telski789]

Update: I've removed tiles from all walls and removed adhesive from tiles,so what do I need to do to make it right? I'm thinking tile primer on walls and ply,then flexible cement based adhesive all round followed by showerproof grout? Any good??

 

[AliGage]

Id take the ply out altogether. I've managed to look at your pictures earlier in the post on my laptop now. If you didn't put anymore timber in the boxing after you took the picture then do so now. Add some timber noggins.

 

[telski789]

Hi,I haven't put any pics up on here mate,what would u use instead of timber? Thanks

 

[AliGage]

Technology! Can't view pictures on the phone. Getting your post mixed up with another.