Too much of a gap

[kkelly77]

Hi all,
I started putting up my wall tiles today. All was going fine however, it appears the gap between tiles at the internal corner is way too big(see photo). All tiles are level horizontally and vertically so I assume the walls are off. I couldn't add extra tile as I would be cutting strips a few mm's wide to compensate. Can anyone advise what should I do in this situation?
Also, do you need to let the adhesive set for 24hrs before you can grout or can you grout sooner?
K

 

[Stewart]

You should always check your wall to see if they are plumb with a spirit level as part of your setting out. You should never have a full tile in the corner unless the layout and trueness of the walls allows it. you should always check, then check again that your layout for walls and floor is going work. As for grouting, it depends on what type of adhesive you have used, but my own rule is never to grout the same day!

 

[Alan.P]

As Stewart says, never a good idea to have a full tile to a corner for this exact reason, hard to tell from the picture just how big a gap it is, if it's not ( too ) big you may get away with a larger silicone bead, as for grouting, what adhesive did you use, what size tiles are they as well, if large format, above 300 x 250mm ( rule of thumb ) then a powder adhesive should have been used over tubbed adhesive as this will take a long time to fully set, if it does.

So, a few questions back at you too

 

[doug boardley]

as Alan says, it's hard to tell the gap size from the pics, how wide is the gap (at it's widest)?

 

[foggy34]

as above with this one silicon if poss or opening grout joints slightly on full tiles leading to corner might work

 

[kkelly77]

Let me first start by saying :mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2:

OK, now to answer your questions :lol:

Tile size is 400mmx250mm. I used pre mixed adhesive as thats what the lads in the tile store gave me. I have powder grout for the walls as well as flexi powder adhesive/grout for the floor. The gap at its widest is 13/14mm Spot the new guy! I still have the rest of the room to tile so at least I won't make that mistake again.

K

 

[kkelly77]

as above with this one silicon if poss or opening grout joints slightly on full tiles leading to corner might work

How would I go about doing this? Wouldn't moving the tile now disturb the adhesive that has already set?

 

[Billy Hunt]

Good job the lads in the tile shop sold you the wrong adhesive for those tiles,Always use a cement based adhesive with large format tiles,on the plus side those tiles will remove easily,take them off and nudge them across and fix with proper adhesive,once you have taken ready mix rubbish back to shop.:mad2:

 

[poynton phil]

Talking about the shop selling you the wrong addy, what are the tiles made of?

 

[kkelly77]

Talking about the shop selling you the wrong addy, what are the tiles made of?

Ceramic. I'm so disappointed I've messed dthe job up after so much planning.

 

[poynton phil]

If they havn't been up to long you shold be able to get them off in one piece, as tubbed addy on those sized tiles will take a few days to dry out properly, then just clean them, and the wall off, adjust your setting out and retile, with the proper addy. A pain in the butt i know, but you will get a lot better finish

 

[Alan.P]

Yep, I would strip it off as well, I had a feeling you were going to say tubbed adhesive, the tiles should come off ok, set out again to have cuts to the corners, this will allow you to get over the problem.

PS, if your speed is ok then you could use a flexi rapid set adhesive, you can then grout quicker than waiting for tubbed to set.

 

[kkelly77]

If they havn't been up to long you shold be able to get them off in one piece, as tubbed addy on those sized tiles will take a few days to dry out properly, then just clean them, and the wall off, adjust your setting out and retile, with the proper addy. A pain in the butt i know, but you will get a lot better finish

tiles have been up for nearly 24hrs and seem fairly stuck on. Whats the best way to get them off without damaging the surrounding tiles? I've only got a very limited supply left of replacements.

K

 

[doug boardley]

place a piece of cardboard in the joint and prise the tile away from the wall with a wide scraper. The cardboard should protect the next tile chipping as you lever against it

 

[tommyzooom]

Once you get one off, you should be able to get a paint scraper or wide chisel behind the tiles, you will find the adhesive has set around the edge, but be still soft in the middle of the tile, it should all scrape off ok,. But the sooner you do this, the easier it should be.

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

All good pro advice above, Doug the cardboard is one of my, tricks too. As many more pro tilers on here, I'm sure

 

[kkelly77]

Let me first start by saying a big thanks to all for their sound advice. It is very much appreciated.

I've attached 4 photos. The first is a photo of the original issue, a HUGE gap between tiles at the corner. The second is a photo of the tiles I need to refit. The tiles came off worryingly easy :yikes:. The third photo you can see the gap has significantly reduced to a few mm's :hurray:. The fourth photo I took to show that I needed to widen the grout joint between the 2 full tiles. I think I got lucky with this though as the lower vertical joint will be covered by the shower, the middle with have the shower holder attached to the wall in front of it and the top one...............well, it'll just have to do.

So, in short, success!! Again thanks to you guys for all your help.

K

 

[tommyzooom]

The tiles came off easily because you have used the wrong type of adhesive, unfortunately,for the size of tiles. You should really be removing all the tiles I'm afraid. As has been stated you should be using a cement based (bagged) adhesive.
I can't quite tell from the pictures, but have you tiled over emulsion paint:yikes:

 

[kkelly77]

The tiles came off easily because you have used the wrong type of adhesive, unfortunately,for the size of tiles. You should really be removing all the tiles I'm afraid. As has been stated you should be using a cement based (bagged) adhesive.
I can't quite tell from the pictures, but have you tiled over emulsion paint:yikes:

Everywhere that has been tiled so far is onto new plasterboard. There is part of the other wall that has paint on it. Must have been done some years ago.

 

[faithhealer]

please go back to your tile shop and inform the manager about the addy, ask your reimbursement, might get them to buck their ideas up

 

[Dan]

Just bumping some of the older popular (sometimes not so popular) threads. Probably wont be current discussion these days but I just need to do it. So just ignore the thread if it's not current for you.