Y
YNWA2012
Hi All,
I have for the past 24 hours getting to grips with a lot of issues with regard to tiling and how a job in my home has gone a wee bit wrong.
So the story begins with a total bathroom refit. Quotes gathered picked the best company and the job commenced.
The room was a bare room with the walls boarded and skimmed and some dot and dabbed boards on one wall.
The tiler had said on a number occasions one of the main walls was not straight and constantly showed his spirit level to the wall showing gaps etc. At this point I asked will the tile we have chosen work will the wall be straight do we need other materials etc etc. The answer all will be fine I have worked with these conditions before.
Ok it may be worth mentioning at this point the tiles we purchased were travertine H&F for the walls 30 x 45 and for the floor 30 x 60 (very heavy tiles). Oh and a boarder made from little mixed marble chunks on a mesh.
All pipe work was done and the new show tray was set in place and protected with a cover.
So the tiling commenced about 2 weeks ago when I noticed that the tub of ready mix adhesive said "Trade Ceramic Tile Adhesive". I straight away asked the question this says ceramic these are stone tiles.......! I was told don't worry this is the best stuff for the job and will allow me to get the wall straight. I did start think this was wrong but often huge amounts of trust is put in the person who you have chosen to carry out the work.
Anyway long story short.....The tiling was almost complete when two tiles fell off the wall whilst I was present in the room. Smash bang and a couple of wasted travertine tiles wasted but no injury. However at this point it became apparent that something was not right. The tile adhesive being used was not drying on one particular wall in my opinion due to the fact it was firstly the wrong type of adhesive and also that the amount of adhesive behind the tiles was excessive and in most places way beyond 6mm. Two other walls had the same adhesive but it seemed the tiles were pretty solid!
So it was decided that there was a safety issue and possibly a long term situation where tiles would simply start fall from the walls.
Incidentally I am not an expert on wall primer but the Tiler working on this job had used a PVA on the plaster prior to applying the travertine tiles with ceramic adhesive.
Since all the tiles have been ripped from the walls the primer is visible as a clear skin like film on the plaster.
So where do I go from here. My questions and what I really want to achieve is a step by step guide of how I can get this tiling job back on board and stop any further delays and or risk of losing more money from tiles being removed etc.
I have been advised that taking the bad wall back to brick and then having a sand and cement scratch coat would be ideal. One of the walls where the tiles have been taken of has pulled all the plaster board of anyway so this will have to happen here.
I have since spoken to the technical people at “Bal” who have suggested what seems like very good product advice to ensure the very best adhesives, grout, sealer, primer etc is used.
The tiler told me Cement based powder adhesive cannot be used to fix stone tiles to plaster walls however “Bal” technical have advised that with a relevant primer this is normal practise!
Any professional advice and information will be greatly appreciated as I still need to get this job sorted.
I have some pictures if this will set the scene further!
Cheers
I have for the past 24 hours getting to grips with a lot of issues with regard to tiling and how a job in my home has gone a wee bit wrong.
So the story begins with a total bathroom refit. Quotes gathered picked the best company and the job commenced.
The room was a bare room with the walls boarded and skimmed and some dot and dabbed boards on one wall.
The tiler had said on a number occasions one of the main walls was not straight and constantly showed his spirit level to the wall showing gaps etc. At this point I asked will the tile we have chosen work will the wall be straight do we need other materials etc etc. The answer all will be fine I have worked with these conditions before.
Ok it may be worth mentioning at this point the tiles we purchased were travertine H&F for the walls 30 x 45 and for the floor 30 x 60 (very heavy tiles). Oh and a boarder made from little mixed marble chunks on a mesh.
All pipe work was done and the new show tray was set in place and protected with a cover.
So the tiling commenced about 2 weeks ago when I noticed that the tub of ready mix adhesive said "Trade Ceramic Tile Adhesive". I straight away asked the question this says ceramic these are stone tiles.......! I was told don't worry this is the best stuff for the job and will allow me to get the wall straight. I did start think this was wrong but often huge amounts of trust is put in the person who you have chosen to carry out the work.
Anyway long story short.....The tiling was almost complete when two tiles fell off the wall whilst I was present in the room. Smash bang and a couple of wasted travertine tiles wasted but no injury. However at this point it became apparent that something was not right. The tile adhesive being used was not drying on one particular wall in my opinion due to the fact it was firstly the wrong type of adhesive and also that the amount of adhesive behind the tiles was excessive and in most places way beyond 6mm. Two other walls had the same adhesive but it seemed the tiles were pretty solid!
So it was decided that there was a safety issue and possibly a long term situation where tiles would simply start fall from the walls.
Incidentally I am not an expert on wall primer but the Tiler working on this job had used a PVA on the plaster prior to applying the travertine tiles with ceramic adhesive.
Since all the tiles have been ripped from the walls the primer is visible as a clear skin like film on the plaster.
So where do I go from here. My questions and what I really want to achieve is a step by step guide of how I can get this tiling job back on board and stop any further delays and or risk of losing more money from tiles being removed etc.
I have been advised that taking the bad wall back to brick and then having a sand and cement scratch coat would be ideal. One of the walls where the tiles have been taken of has pulled all the plaster board of anyway so this will have to happen here.
I have since spoken to the technical people at “Bal” who have suggested what seems like very good product advice to ensure the very best adhesives, grout, sealer, primer etc is used.
The tiler told me Cement based powder adhesive cannot be used to fix stone tiles to plaster walls however “Bal” technical have advised that with a relevant primer this is normal practise!
Any professional advice and information will be greatly appreciated as I still need to get this job sorted.
I have some pictures if this will set the scene further!
Cheers
