Help!

[julie bw]

Any advice please. I had porcelain tiles put in my bathroom 12 months ago. Gradually on one wall they have started to lift and are rocking when touched. The wall behind these tiles is clinker block that has been skimmed with plaster. Can anybody advise me why this has happened and will the tiles be able to be put back on again. thanks

 

[scotmk]

I know I am.not a professional and I know you guys don't like spot fixing but I have used spot fixing and they are on solid they are not coming off for anything, albeit mine were a lot closer to the wall and used more dabs and used a good quality adhesive. The plasterboard and skim looks bare and not treated/prepared so the adhesive will not stick to it. This for me would give been the problem.

When I tiled my other bathroom being more of an amuter then, I missed a chunk of wall and it was not prepared properly and the tiles fell off after curing just like the above picture. When I corrected the wall and fixed the tile again the same way it was solid and still is 4 years on.

 

[One Day]

Unleash the hounds!!!

 

[julie bw]

Unleash the hounds!!!

Would you ask for all the walls to be re done or just the one I've shown you.the others have obviously been tiled the same way but aren't coming off! Thanks

 

[One Day]

Spot fixing can work if (and it's a big if) the depth of the spots isn't too great and if overall coverage is high. Because it leads to lazy fixing and shortcuts on preparation, it's not a recognised or recommended method. Yours is one of the worst examples I've seen and invariably the rest will fail in time. My advice would be that it should all be removed, any pva on the plaster should come off too.

 

[julie bw]

Spot fixing can work if (and it's a big if) the depth of the spots isn't too great and if overall coverage is high. Because it leads to lazy fixing and shortcuts on preparation, it's not a recognised or recommended method. Yours is one of the worst examples I've seen and invariably the rest will fail in time. My advice would be that it should all be removed, any pva on the plaster should come off too.

Thanks for that advice. The adhesive used also came off in one piece not on either wall or tile!

 

[One Day]

For it to snap off porcelain as cleanly as that, the adhesive was probably not suitable for porcelain.
Combing adhesive onto the walls at the proper depth, back-skimming the tiles to fill the waffles and fixing properly into a suitable adhesive would give the best possible bond.
They should be fixed so strongly that the plaster skim on the walls would pull off first!

 

[julie bw]

For it to snap off porcelain as cleanly as that, the adhesive was probably not suitable for porcelain.
Combing adhesive onto the walls at the proper depth, back-skimming the tiles to fill the waffles and fixing properly into a suitable adhesive would give the best possible bond.
They should be fixed so strongly that the plaster skim on the walls would pull off first!

Exactly what I thought.that the tiles had pulled the plaster off the wall with them,but obviously not.as for the adhesive.I had bought Bal adhesive originally but he didn't want to use it and bought his own flexifit powder. At one point he ran out and I went to get more but it didn't say it was for porcelain so I questioned him and he said he would guarantee it as he uses it on every job!

 

[Bill]

Looking at the photos of the plaster - I would say that the plaster is in poor condition too.

 

[J Sid]

Exactly what I thought.that the tiles had pulled the plaster off the wall with them,but obviously not.as for the adhesive.I had bought Bal adhesive originally but he didn't want to use it and bought his own flexifit powder. At one point he ran out and I went to get more but it didn't say it was for porcelain so I questioned him and he said he would guarantee it as he uses it on every job!

Good to see he has given you his guarantee, will have no problem getting him back to put it up again

 

[julie bw]

Looking at the photos of the plaster - I would say that the plaster is in poor condition too.

The plaster was fine and didn't have any cracks whatsoever until them tiles went on.

 

[J Sid]

Tiles look a bit heavy for a plastered wall, plus a bag of adhesive every m2

 

[Bill]

The plaster was fine and didn't have any cracks whatsoever until them tiles went on.

The plaster looks a strange colour - plaster wouldn't crack just by having tiles on it, no matter how they are fixed.

Looks like loads of movement on the walls, joints not properly taped and definitely out of plumb.

 

[julie bw]

Ok thanks.should the tiler have known about this if he was a decent tiler.

 

[Bill]

Ok thanks.should the tiler have known about this if he was a decent tiler.

So get the plasterer back.............Probably not able to.

I am not defending the tiler but sometimes customers think it is a quick job to tile a bathroom - well it is if everything is done well. Many times the customer would not be prepared to pay for the cost of new walls that are true and plumb. Sometimes the tiler is between a rock and a hard place. This is also the tile shop problem as they should ask what the tiles are being fixed to and advise accordingly.

 

[Bill]

Another point - in the original post you mention that the wall was only skimmed - is that correct as the clinker/building block should ideally have an undercoat on - that being a plaster coat or a sand and cement render before the finish coat. Please clarify because if it is just a finish coat the moisture absorption may be too high for any other coatings.

 

[White Room]

Skimmed with a single plaster coat or a two part plaster system ?

The walls were mortared then skimmed over with plaster.thanks

first thing I thought of

 

[Bill]

first thing I thought of

So why put plaster on if it is to be tiled?........... I wish more builders would just use render - half our problems with adhesive would stop straight away!

 

[Bill]

Was the substrate ready to tile, as in completely dry as per building regulations?

 

[White Room]

So why put plaster on if it is to be tiled?........... I wish more builders would just use render - half our problems with adhesive would stop straight away!

We used to just render on commercial sites in shower areas for the underground guys....

 

[julie bw]

Another point - in the original post you mention that the wall was only skimmed - is that correct as the clinker/building block should ideally have an undercoat on - that being a plaster coat or a sand and cement render before the finish coat. Please clarify because if it is just a finish coat the moisture absorption may be too high for any other coatings.

If the tiler would have said the tiles won't go on that wall or they need this and that doing I'd have gone with it so the job is done correctly even if it is a bit more expensive.with regards to that wall it is clinker block which had been mortared the skimmed as far as I can remember.

 

[julie bw]

If the tiler would have said the tiles won't go on that wall or they need this and that doing I'd have gone with it so the job is done correctly even if it is a bit more expensive.with regards to that wall it is clinker block which had been mortared the skimmed as far as I can remember.

The wall has never been tiled previously.

 

[Dan]

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