Wall Tiles Falling!

[gwales]

I am tiling my bathroom at home and have come across a weird problem that I don't understand.

After about 24 hours some of the tiles are just dropping off the wall leaving a mirror of their underside embedded in the ridges of adhesive left on the wall. Some gental prodding in the area reveals lots of tiles just ready to come off with the lightest of touches.

The adhesive clearly works as it is still firmly on the wall and takes some effort to remove but the bond between the porous back of the tile and the adhesive is non existent!

What can I do to rememedy this, I have had to take two walls worth back down again!

Could it be because I bought cheap DIY adhesive or because I need to seal the backs of the tiles?

Grateful for your help,

Gary

 

[Dan]

What type of tile is it? Ceramic, porcelain etc...
What adhesive did yo use? Ready made (tub), cement based (bag) etc..

Sounds to me like the effects of using a standard adhesive with a low porosity tile like porcelain.

 

[guy1976]

if they are cheap tiles like the ones b&q and wicks sell some of them have a coating of dust on the back of them which needs wiped off before tiling

 

[Varley]

Have you actually floated the tile into the adhesive? I mean has the ribs of the adhesive smeared accross the back of the tile or have you just put the adhesive on the wall and then pushed a tile onto it?

 

[DHTiling]

I am tiling my bathroom at home and have come across a weird problem that I don't understand.

After about 24 hours some of the tiles are just dropping off the wall leaving a mirror of their underside embedded in the ridges of adhesive left on the wall. Some gental prodding in the area reveals lots of tiles just ready to come off with the lightest of touches.

The adhesive clearly works as it is still firmly on the wall and takes some effort to remove but the bond between the porous back of the tile and the adhesive is non existent!

What can I do to rememedy this, I have had to take two walls worth back down again!

Could it be because I bought cheap DIY adhesive or because I need to seal the backs of the tiles?

Grateful for your help,

Gary

hi there, either you left the adhesive too long and it started to skin off before you put the tiles on, or you did'nt twist the tiles into adhesive bed to create a good bond.
Also some tiles have a profiled back and need the backs lightly skimmed to create a good bond to adhesive......Good luck .....

 

[GazTech]

Always a good idea to pop the odd tile off when fixing to see how the bond is,wet sponge the back of the tile will help it grab,or back it out with adhesive

 

[jackdempseys]

what was the wall you where tiling to ,,was it plaster board. old flakey painted wall. ??plaster skim? over old tiles.
did you prime the wall.??

 

[gwales]

Thanks for all your responses.

I have bought cheap B&Q tiles and cheap B&Q ready made adhesive both of which I am now regretting. The wall is plasterboard which previously had tiles on it which i have removed and then cleaned up.

After posting I found some info on the web about the white powder on the back and possibly residual release agent from when the tiles where manufactured (there chinese btw).

Last night I followed advice and bought into BAL adhesive from Screwfix, cleaned the tiles throroughly and found that the white on the back (top and bottom) which looked like a continuation of the glaze was infact a very fine white powder which needs scrubbed off.

After reapplying cleaned tiles with BAL adhesive it was much more difficult to adjust the position of the tile upon bedding it in the adhesive signifiying a signicant increase in adhesion.

Now I need to chase B&Q for not providing correct guidance on a product which is not fit for purpose as sold and resulted in me wasting £30 worth of cheap and nasty adhesive and adding hours onto my job!

There is still one wall of my original effort which appears to be holding together though I am concerned that any tile on that wall could still come down.

Cheers,

Gary