Pending disaster?

[zzr-matt]

Well pretty much finished tiling the bathroom using 23cm x 40cm ceramic tiles. Glued up with Keraflex maxi using a thick bed trowel. As I went along I checked I was getting good coverage on the back of the tile and it was around 95% -> 100% with good adhesion to the wall and the tile. Everything was looking ok.

Then I chipped a tile that had been up a few days. Got the chisel out and removed the tile. After a few sharp blows I managed to crack the tile into pieces and then chisel the pieces off.

On inspection of the back of the tile it would appear that no adhesive is left sticking to them it all stayed on the wall. As I say this took a number of blows with a club hammer to shift so they are held fairly firmly!

What now concerns me is that over time the tiles will just fall off. Do they put some kind of mould release agent on the back of the tile or what? Looking at a fresh tile there doesnt apear to be any shiney slimey goo. I cant think of another reason that the adhesive would have a stronger bond to the wall than the back of the tile so I would expect the adhesive to come off 50:50 on the all and on the tile...

Am I in deep doo doo?

:furious3:

Some additional info... the wall this tile was on has been tanked with MapeGUM WPS if that makes any difference!:furious3:

 

[enduro]

I have had this a couple of times, tiles could have dust on them so adhesive wont stick, what i have done is wet the back of the tiles with a sponge as im fixing them, or used a 6mm trowel and put adhesive on wall and the tile. You will have to wait and see if they come off...P.S dont slam the door when you leave:lol:

 

[zzr-matt]

Its my house! lol

I'm never going to be happy with it now so it looks like the only solution is to take the whole lot down, buy more tiles, chissle the adhesive off the wall and pay someone to fit them properly! Kerching!

 

[enduro]

What u could do is tap the tiles and you will hear if they are fixed ok, they will sound hollow if they have not fixed properly.

 

[DHTiling]

If you can pop them off with just a scraper / chisel then they are not adhered well enough but if you have to smash then off with a hammer and chisel then they are ok....you say you periodicaly checked your coverage and if the adhesive was stuck to the tiles then ...then it should be ok....
Personally on that size of tile i would have back skimmed anyway just to make sure of good contact....
I would try and see if you can just pop one off and if it does then take them down but if there stuck then don't worry....
let us know how you get on.....

 

[zzr-matt]

They sound firm enough. I tried putting my fingers behind one round the window and leaning back and it wouldnt budge.

I've now started removing them in another area and you basically if you put the chisel between the tile and the adhesive and give it a few big wacks with the club hammer it comes off in one piece!

Just uploading some pics...

 

[zzr-matt]

Fresh tile out of the box:

One that came off with use of the hammer and chisel:

and the pattern in the adhesive left behind....

To me it looks bad... Didn't realise you were supposed to skim the back as well as the wall... ah well ya live and learn. I'll make a better job of it second time round!

When I was pulling them off as I was going along the adhesive was covering the back of the tile fully. The tile back was covered and the wall was covered and there were peeky bits between the two where I pulled them apart so I assumed everything was cool! Whoops

 

[DHTiling]

Is the adhesive still soft or is it rock hard to touch....

 

[zzr-matt]

Rock hard to touch...

 

[DHTiling]

I still think if you need a hammer and chisel to get them off then they are ok....

 

[zzr-matt]

mmm whats the best way of removing the adhesive from the wall? It really has bonded well to that!

You can get them off by getting a screw driver under a corner and gently twisting it, pop and its off. Got about a 20% breakage rate so far....

 

[zzr-matt]

Just been to try the single tile that I put up as a temporary splashback behind the basin downstairs... Thew it up a while back with some cheap unibond tubbed stuff that was in the garage...

That damn thing is completely bonded to the wall, snapped a corner off and some plaster trying to remove it. I can only assume I mixed the keraflex wrong

 

[DHTiling]

If they are coming of that easy then YES!! take them off....scrape ony loose and high bits of adhesive off.. prime.. and then just tile over it...make sure the adhesive isnt to dry as this will make poor contact...good luck...

 

[zzr-matt]

I think I will try and get them all off tomorrow, count up the breakages and have a look at getting the adhesive off / priming it then I'll just try and find someone to do the job for me!

I'm just worried I'm going to do it again and be in the same situation

 

[Dan]

Is it just cement based adhesives that need to be left for a period of tie before the adhesive is fully cured?

I'm thinking as the pattern is in the adhesive so neatly the tiles have been pushed into it enough.

That to me looks like the tile has been stuck, the adhesive has 'dried' but it hasn't built up strength yet.