travertine cleaning (and damage limitation!)

[milmus]

Hi, I've become a 'do it yourself-er' because my tiling wasn't finished properly by the tiler that did my bathroom. I could really use some good advice.

Floors and walls are tiled in honed travertine, the mosiac tiles in the floor of the shower area were 'impregnated' with a colour enhancer and the rest of the floor and walls weren't sealed "because they didn't require it". Now (9 months later) the wall of the shower, tiles and grout, has black mould marks where the shower sprays (despite using a squeegy to clean it down after every use). I've used Lithofin Powerclean and this has helped but stubborn marks remain. I considerd using Lithofin 'Mildew away', but with a ph value of 13 this sounds pretty caustic (might bleach?). Any suggestions?

As soon as I've cleaned it I think I ought to seal it - again I thought Lithofin - what do you think?

Oh yes, and if you've got any advice about what I can do about the hairline cracks in the floor tiles; seems he didn't use the appropriate material to lay them on.

Finally, I've learned from this forum that the walls these big stone tiles are applied to should be suitably load-bearing - but he stuck them straight onto plasterboard stud walling - so they may all come tumbling down anyway!

And, no, I can't get him to come back - he's given up as a self-employed tiler and got a job doing something completely different. You live and learn, eh.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Christine

 

[GazTech]

Hi Christine, firstly welcome to the forums. I'm afraid you have a predicament there, I wouldn't be worrying about grout staining with the fashion of which the big tiles have been fixed. Plz sound out the tiles on the wall by tapping them, if they sound hollow you must think about removing them for your own safety, how large are they and how thick ?

 

[DHTiling]

Also christine have you got any pics of the cracks and mould area's..

 

[grumpygrouter]

Hi Christine, I can't help much with cleaning of the stone regarding mildew as I have never done it. We have a stone specialist that is a member of the forums so hopefully he will be able to advise on that.

As for you weight issue, if the tiles have been fitted to bare plasterboard, you should (probably) be ok as it will support 32kg/m2. Without knowing exactly how heavy your tiles are it is difficult to be accurate. Do you have any spares you can weigh and measure?

As for the floor, what is the base that the tiles were laid onto? Sounds to me like it was timber if you have hairline cracks. Is the floor heated?

 

[TilingLogistics]

Hi, I've become a 'do it yourself-er' because my tiling wasn't finished properly by the tiler that did my bathroom. I could really use some good advice.

Floors and walls are tiled in honed travertine, the mosiac tiles in the floor of the shower area were 'impregnated' with a colour enhancer and the rest of the floor and walls weren't sealed "because they didn't require it". Now (9 months later) the wall of the shower, tiles and grout, has black mould marks where the shower sprays (despite using a squeegy to clean it down after every use). I've used Lithofin Powerclean and this has helped but stubborn marks remain. I considerd using Lithofin 'Mildew away', but with a ph value of 13 this sounds pretty caustic (might bleach?). Any suggestions?

As soon as I've cleaned it I think I ought to seal it - again I thought Lithofin - what do you think?

Oh yes, and if you've got any advice about what I can do about the hairline cracks in the floor tiles; seems he didn't use the appropriate material to lay them on.

Finally, I've learned from this forum that the walls these big stone tiles are applied to should be suitably load-bearing - but he stuck them straight onto plasterboard stud walling - so they may all come tumbling down anyway!

And, no, I can't get him to come back - he's given up as a self-employed tiler and got a job doing something completely different. You live and learn, eh.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Christine

Hi Christine,

Welcome to the Forums

The black mildew you describe grows from behind the tiles in most cases therefore removing it from the surface will only be a temporary measure I fear.

Your more immediate problem seems to be the weight of the tiles on the walls! Can you please tell us firstly how big the tiles are? Secondly do you know if the walls were tanked prior to fixing of the tiles? How often does the shower get used? I suspect the walls were not tanked and coupled with the fact they were not sealed probably means you have water ingress through both the tiles and the grout. The bacteria is then growing and working its way back through the grout. A little test you can do is to pick the worst area (Preferably the lowest tile possible)of the grout and gently gouge the grout out! this best done with a grout rake which can be purchased from most DIY stores its a sort of serrated type blade and they are usually Orange or Blue. Once you have cleaned the grout away if there are black spores at the back then it will confirm my suspicions.

Try and get this done first and answer my questions and we will take it from there.

Kev

 

[DHTiling]

My suspicions as well kev..thats why i wanted to see the growth pattern and coverage of the mould.....

 

[milmus]

You guys are just fab, what a quick response - how do I do the 'thanks' thingy?

I'm going to be away for a couple of days but will investigate and respond asap.

Thank you so much
Christine

 

[DHTiling]

You guys are just fab, what a quick response - how do I do the 'thanks' thingy?

I'm going to be away for a couple of days but will investigate and respond asap.

Thank you so much
Christine

On the right hand side of a post is a thumbsup .....click it and it will thank the said members post.......look forward to your replies when you get back...

 

[milmus]

Hi, me again,
Sorry to take so long to reply! Want to a) respond to questions you were so good as to take the time to raise and, b) offer some product / supplier feedback that may be useful.

Size of tiles - 40.6 cm x 40.6 cm, depth 1.2 cm.

Fixed on to - one external wall - (200 yr old cottage - ie stone, 20" deep, rubble filled, Rendered?? as opposed to plastered I think, you know, the grey stuff, not the brown. One internal (party) wall - either rendered (grey stuff) the same as above, or original horsehair plaster - can't remember which (I know that the latter sticks to the wall like superglue). The other two walls are internal - part solid (breeze block?) and part stud - all plastered. No tanking. I'm not sure that they sound hollow on the stud walls when I tap them, but they do sound different to the solid walls.

Floor tiles (same size) - laid on to timber floor boards overlaid with 10mm ply board (too thin?), and just tile cement on top of that. Floor not heated. Hairline cracks stll creeping and looking worse.

Photos - not sure how to attach / upload these with my posting???

Mildew - was a bit reluctant to scrape away the grout in case I couldn't match it. I guess I should have done really, and been prepared to scrape out and replace it all if necessary. But I had an idea that the mildew was forming on the inside surface as there was also some black mildew on the stone mullions of the bathroom window too, and so maybe active spores 'lurking'? It had formed (in the shower area) on the grout and the tiles, but the growth pattern and coverage didn't suggest it was working its way from the grout to the tile face. Anyway, decided to try Lithofin stuff I found on t'internet - used Wexa to clean it all to start (stinky stuff), then, very warily, used Mildew Away - it shifted the black completely and thank goodness didn't bleach it. Then sealed it with Stainstop (even more stinky). Finally, got rid of all the black on the stone mullion windows with the MildewAway product and Elbow Grease (my own product). Will just wait and see now.....

So, it looks a whole lot better for the time being (apart from the cracking floor) - all I have to worry about now is whether the tiles are going to fall on my head!

Oh, and I bought the Lithofin stuff online from Extensive Ltd in Alresford following some very helpful advice on how to use which products from a chap there called James Lucas. Their website's quite helpful too. If anyone requires product advice for cleaning and maintenance its a good port of call.

I've got repetitive strain injury now, and you'll be bored to death......

Thanks for your patience
Christine

 

[beanz]

Christine, just a thought, but was he insured? This is going to cost money to rectify, and i don't think you should be footing the bill...

 

[milmus]

Do you think I'm in trouble? I hugely doubt that he had insurance. He's gone to ground now. He talked the talk at the outset but it seems he wasn't particularly professional. I'm a bit worried to be honest.

 

[White Room]

The original post was 4 months ago, I would have been screaming to get the tiler back

 

[milmus]

As I mentioned in the original post, I couldn't get him back. Perhaps I should have taken legal action but do you know what, I live in his town and I find him a bit scarey. Doubt that he had insurance anyway (he was doing bathroom electrics and it turned out he wasn't qualified)

 

[beanz]

If you're not comfortable with tackling him, i guess all you can do is move on and chalk this one up to experience. If you get someone in to do work on your house, make sure they have Public Liability insurance. At least that way, if it goes wrong you're covered. Well, as covered as you can be with a slippery insurance company hehe!

 

[Stonearth]

Lithofin is the best in the market from my experience.. so as a mini fix I would definately give that a try first.

Just to add: all stone products are porous and should be suitably sealed and don't let anybody else to tell you otherwise. The sealing process is dead simple and can easily be done on a diy basis.

The sealants are not cheap but you only need a thin layer and 1 bottle goes a long way. Lithofin states that coverage is 1L for 7-15m2, I've found that you can probably do 15m2 plus on travertine and for the denser marble surfaces.

 

[milmus]

Hi, just wondering whether those of you that kindly responded to my first post had any opinions on the 'stickability factor' to the walls as described in my later posting (do I need to wear protective headgear? :builder2: )