Need help tiling

[Aguero]

Long story short, contractor for the council (MEARS) came and messed up our bathroom and is only willing to put back two rows worth of tiles and nothing else.

All I want to do is just put back the tiles which were taken off (I cleaned them and there ok for putting back on).

As you can see from the pictures below, that's how the wall currently is, I've had someone over and they said that theres no need to plaster or anything, and that the tiles could be put back on straight away.

The walls were previously damp from a leak which is now fixed, and the walls are now dried up after a week being exposed.

Could anyone please guide me on what I need and give me a guide on how to go about it (dumb it down please).

I think all I need is adhesive to stick the tiles on with, the spacers, grout, silicone to close up the sides of the bath/wall, filler to fill in cracks. Unsure if i need PVA.

Please help, had this problem for a week and they are refusing to put back what they took off, broke 5 tiles and we can't get replacements as we bought them 10 years ago.

So yea just need a step by step guide and if you can list the products or items I may need (the exact type of grout etc). Also I will need some white tiles as May do a little design with them to make up for the broken tiles.

Thank you for any replies, hope to hear from you soon.

 

[DHTiling]

Where abouts are you.. mears are local to me.

 

[Aguero]

Brighton mate. Basically at the start they said theyd take 4 rows off and the worker took the whole wall off cause it was all damp. After they did that they said they wouldnt put it all back and that theyd only put back 2 rows next to the bath but nothing else and that they would use cheap white tiles. Raised a complaint against them and unless they do change there mind and redo it like how they found it then ill go as far as i can with them and the council.

 

[mz30]

What damage was done by the contractor and what damages were down to the leak(was the leak the contractors fault?)looks like there is a hell of a lot of tiles removed if they had to remove them for whatever work their doing they should replace them,however if the leak caused the problem prior to their works then they have no liabilty to replace them.If they took 2 courses of tiles down and the rest fell off then the tiles werent sound anyway looking at the pics you posted you would be best suited removing the lot and starting again imho.

 

[Aguero]

What happened was there was a leak under the tub which they said was leaking since the council fitted it (which was around 2003) which I doubt as if it had been leaking for that long I would have noticed. Originally I heard a leaking sound around a week before last friday at which point we called them to come and check it as the bath panel was also starting to show signs of a leak. They came fixed it by just tightening the pipes underneath and said that the water spread up the wall and that a couple rows of tiles would need to come off to let it dry and then they would refit them for us carefully as they knew we didn't have any other tiles of that kind left as we had bought them around 2003.

The guy from mears came and took off the two rows, he then took off the whole wall as he said it was all damp in the process breaking 5 tiles. He then called his supervisor and when he came he said that they would not be refitting all the tiles, only the original two rows, but said that the wall would need to be replastered. They checked the upstairs flat and said theres no leak, they checked outside and said it's fine.

Had a builder over today and he said that the wall does not need to be replastered. He checked outside and said that theres a couple crackes which would most likely have been one of the causes of the wall being damp which needed to be fixed.

The way they found the bathroom is the way it should be returned to us once they have finished there job. They not only refused to do that, but they said that if any other damage is done that it would not be their liability as it's work which needs to be done.

1) They didn't tell us they would not be putting back all the tiles
2) The worker knocked down the whole wall without checking with his supervisor
3) They don't accept liability for any damage done
4) Said they won't do any more than what the original job entitled as the council wont pay them for it.

So why did they knock the whole wall down before checking with the supervisor or the council whether they would pay or be willing to do it before going ahead and leaving us in the lurch.

The supervisor called Liam is the worst person I have ever dealt with, not only has he at numerous times twisted the situation, but he's also lied and come up with excuse after excuse. He said to the council that the tiles has already fallen off before they got to us which they had not, they were perfectly held onto the wall, since 2003 not one of them had wobbled or dropped. If it had then it would be our fault, but the moment they started knocking them down then that becomes there liability. He also said that the plain cheap white tiles are better quality than the ones we have which is obviously not true, these cost alot. The council have also been pathetic and I will be taking this as I said as far as possible.

So now it's either have them smash up the place and do things how they want, in the process most likely smashing more tiles and having them fit there rubbish white ones, or us doing it ourselves. We are not in a situation were we could replace all the tiles or get anyone to come and do it it's just not possible. Also there are obviously smaller sized tiles which were trimmed down, when the guy took them down he didnt number them or anything from the back, so to fit them back it's going to be like a puzzle. Like I said, worst company and person I have ever dealt with.

 

[DHTiling]

Ah it appears Mears are country wide.. .. didn't know that..

Anyway, if they removed them , then surely they should replace?

 

[Aguero]

Ah it appears Mears are country wide.. .. didn't know that..

Anyway, if they removed them , then surely they should replace?

Should be, but they don't think so.

So yea like I need to get the stuff tomorrow to work on it. Can anyone help with what I would need and how to go about it? like in my opening post?

 

[White Room]

The first thing I'd be doing is scrape off as much of the damage plaster as possible, is the undercoat a sand/cement backing...

 

[Aguero]

The first thing I'd be doing is scrape off as much of the damage plaster as possible, is the undercoat a sand/cement backing...

To be honest mate I don't know, I have no experience of tiling. There were a few wet bits of plaster left this morning, scraped them off gently and underneath it was all dry. Some parts of the wall have good plaster on, some parts have no plaster left, and others are back down to the wall. Look at the first and second picture. You'll see where its the grey where the plaster has gone off completely, and the second behind the radiator where its down to the bricks.

Is it possible and safe to use a filler, fill in all the gaps where there's no plaster as well as where there is but some has gone off? I really need some help with what stuff I need to buy so I can go get them tomorrow morning.

 

[Marksmithtiling]

Hi Aguero, I have come across this problem before with councils and housing associations, i sub contract to a maintenance company and do a lot of this type of repair work. In the main you have a plain white 150x150 3 tile high splash back around the bath. If you have put the tiles up yourself then they rarely pay for like for like. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but thats how they work. hope you resolve this with MEARS

 

[Dale44]

If you are doing the job, use a one coat plaster to make good plastering and DON'T USE PVA. Speak to the people at your local tile store about products (grout etc) and watch all you can on you tube to get tips on setting out and tiling.
Another option is to hire a tiler, sure some one on here will live local.
Good luck. Keep asking questions.

 

[Aguero]

If you are doing the job, use a one coat plaster to make good plastering and DON'T USE PVA. Speak to the people at your local tile store about products (grout etc) and watch all you can on you tube to get tips on setting out and tiling.
Another option is to hire a tiler, sure some one on here will live local.
Good luck. Keep asking questions.

Thank you for your replies guys.

Could you please let me know why I shouldn't use PVA? As even the guy from Mears said that they would PVA it.

Right now I think it would be, filling the cracks, use a sealing wall primer, wet adhesive and tile, then grout.

Does that seem right?

Thank you again lads for your replies.

 

[DHTiling]

Thank you for your replies guys.

Could you please let me know why I shouldn't use PVA? As even the guy from Mears said that they would PVA it.

Right now I think it would be, filling the cracks, use a sealing wall primer, wet adhesive and tile, then grout.

Does that seem right?

Thank you again lads for your replies.

http://www.tilersforums.com/tile-adhesive-grout-substrate-preparation/2511-p-v-versus-primers.html