E
Entropy
Apologies for the length of first post, but I'll try and pre-empt some of the common questions I have seen asked of people with similar problems.
I have recently had a bathroom/shower tiled in honed and filled travertine and now reading more extensively here realise the job is probably not up to scratch. It is my intention to go back to the builder who did the job and possibly direct to the tiler he subcontracted some of the work to, but I need to know what are sensible solutions to know that I am not being fobbed off and that they might know how to fix the problem properly. It is my fear he won't return, as the work was complete several weeks ago and paid up in full, it's just taken a while to notice and become a little better educated thanks to this forum. All the agreement was verbal, but that's all part of the learning experience I guess.
First up how seriously should I take the weight limits for tiling on plaster? I have two whole bathrooms worth of travertine tiles hanging off newly plastered walls (some plasterboard, some on blockwork, and even some plastered aqua-panel (I don't know why)) and by my guestimate its too heavy. Nothing has moved or fallen off, but obviously I want it to stay that way. It's obviously a huge and expensive task to pull it all down, replace the substrate and re-tile - especially as the travertine looks unlikely to survive removal and so this too would have to be replaced.
One bathroom is bath only and aside from a bit of grout haze which I am still hopeful I will be able to clean up looks good and causes no problems.
The other bathroom however contains a shower, which is leaking slightly. The shower is constructed incorrectly, but am I unsure as to what steps to take to fix things. Construction was as follows:
1) Aqua-panel onto studs on partition wall
2) Aqua-panel was skimmed in plaster along with the rest of the bathroom, which although tiled in the same way I was advised didn't need aqua panel as it wouldn't be getting wet.
3) Watered down coat of waterproof PVA
4) Shower tray siliconed to the wall (aqua-panel).
5) Travertine tiles stuck on with "Bostik showerproof" the adhesive is quite thick and the backs of the tiles are well covered. It seems to have now set good and hard.
6) Whole thing sealed with HG impregtator
7) Grouted with "Granfix Maxigrout"
8) Impregnated again
9) Shower screen and tray siliconed to the tiles
Now I should say that the tiles look acceptable. There is a couple of mm lipping in one or two places, but generally they are pretty good. So how serious is the poor treatment of the substrate (plastering the aquapanel), lack of tanking and perhaps sub optimal choice of adhesive, grout and sealer (I only say that as they never seem recommended here)?
However the shower leaks slightly. The leak is at floor level at the outside corners of the shower tray, so it looks like water is getting between the tile and the wall, running down to the shower tray and then along the tray to the edge, before dropping off on to the floor. Leaking takes perhaps 10 minutes to start, but then up to 10 hours to stop completely. A typical shower leaks maybe quarter of a cup total over that time - nothing drastic, but enough to cause rot or mould if left untreated.
I think I have ruled out plumbing, first by the location of the leak, but also by running the shower into a bucket and allowing that to overflow into the tray and subsequently drain. However even running the shower into the tray without the bucket, which causes a bit more splashing and a bit more steam results in a slight leak.
What is the most likely culprit and is anything other than starting again likely to help?
The tiles do not seem overly porous, but I have only tested with water, not steam. Water on the surface takes over an hour to damp the back of the tile when I tested a spare tile.
Would poor grout account for this much water? If so is pulling it all out and re grouting an option, and if so what grout should I use?
Most tiles cause water beading on the surface, but the grout lines still 'wet out', so I wonder if more impregnator might help? If so am I best sticking with HG, continuing with something like Aqua mix, or trying to remove the HG and then continuing with a more premium sealer/impregnator (if so recommendations please?)
Many thanks for any advise.
I have recently had a bathroom/shower tiled in honed and filled travertine and now reading more extensively here realise the job is probably not up to scratch. It is my intention to go back to the builder who did the job and possibly direct to the tiler he subcontracted some of the work to, but I need to know what are sensible solutions to know that I am not being fobbed off and that they might know how to fix the problem properly. It is my fear he won't return, as the work was complete several weeks ago and paid up in full, it's just taken a while to notice and become a little better educated thanks to this forum. All the agreement was verbal, but that's all part of the learning experience I guess.
First up how seriously should I take the weight limits for tiling on plaster? I have two whole bathrooms worth of travertine tiles hanging off newly plastered walls (some plasterboard, some on blockwork, and even some plastered aqua-panel (I don't know why)) and by my guestimate its too heavy. Nothing has moved or fallen off, but obviously I want it to stay that way. It's obviously a huge and expensive task to pull it all down, replace the substrate and re-tile - especially as the travertine looks unlikely to survive removal and so this too would have to be replaced.
One bathroom is bath only and aside from a bit of grout haze which I am still hopeful I will be able to clean up looks good and causes no problems.
The other bathroom however contains a shower, which is leaking slightly. The shower is constructed incorrectly, but am I unsure as to what steps to take to fix things. Construction was as follows:
1) Aqua-panel onto studs on partition wall
2) Aqua-panel was skimmed in plaster along with the rest of the bathroom, which although tiled in the same way I was advised didn't need aqua panel as it wouldn't be getting wet.
3) Watered down coat of waterproof PVA
4) Shower tray siliconed to the wall (aqua-panel).
5) Travertine tiles stuck on with "Bostik showerproof" the adhesive is quite thick and the backs of the tiles are well covered. It seems to have now set good and hard.
6) Whole thing sealed with HG impregtator
7) Grouted with "Granfix Maxigrout"
8) Impregnated again
9) Shower screen and tray siliconed to the tiles
Now I should say that the tiles look acceptable. There is a couple of mm lipping in one or two places, but generally they are pretty good. So how serious is the poor treatment of the substrate (plastering the aquapanel), lack of tanking and perhaps sub optimal choice of adhesive, grout and sealer (I only say that as they never seem recommended here)?
However the shower leaks slightly. The leak is at floor level at the outside corners of the shower tray, so it looks like water is getting between the tile and the wall, running down to the shower tray and then along the tray to the edge, before dropping off on to the floor. Leaking takes perhaps 10 minutes to start, but then up to 10 hours to stop completely. A typical shower leaks maybe quarter of a cup total over that time - nothing drastic, but enough to cause rot or mould if left untreated.
I think I have ruled out plumbing, first by the location of the leak, but also by running the shower into a bucket and allowing that to overflow into the tray and subsequently drain. However even running the shower into the tray without the bucket, which causes a bit more splashing and a bit more steam results in a slight leak.
What is the most likely culprit and is anything other than starting again likely to help?
The tiles do not seem overly porous, but I have only tested with water, not steam. Water on the surface takes over an hour to damp the back of the tile when I tested a spare tile.
Would poor grout account for this much water? If so is pulling it all out and re grouting an option, and if so what grout should I use?
Most tiles cause water beading on the surface, but the grout lines still 'wet out', so I wonder if more impregnator might help? If so am I best sticking with HG, continuing with something like Aqua mix, or trying to remove the HG and then continuing with a more premium sealer/impregnator (if so recommendations please?)
Many thanks for any advise.
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good luck!!
