Help! Tiled whole bathroom with Tubbed adhesive only to find out it’s not showerproof - Tile Advice

[Bbbecca7]

In a bit of a nightmare here

We recently spent a lot of money having our bathroom re-plastered (plaster board and skimmed) to make the walls smooth and square ready for tiling

My dad and husband have been tiling it and have done a lovely job! (My dad has done it a few times but it’s my husbands first time)

HOWEVER.. popped to b&q with my husband today to buy more adhesive and when I read the tub it said only suitable for areas of intermittent wetness.. not suitable for showers! (The b&q shelf label refers to it as waterproof and so dies the description on their website but the tub says otherwise)

We have rang the helpline and the guy said it is waterproof but not shower proof (eh!?) but that it should be fine if it is sealed and grouted properly. And that he has told others this and known it used.

The shower in question is an over bath shower so it won’t get as much water contact as a proper shower but I’m still concerned

Is there some kind of sealent/waterproofing membrane type thing I could apply between tiles before grouting?

What would you guys do in my position? It’s our first house and don’t want any disasters .. but also don’t want to make them pull the tiles off and have to potentially buy new ones at £200!

The tiles are very well stuck on and not able to be pulled off

Any help would be massively appreciated.. I’m trying not to act too annoyed at their mistake as they’ve done a brill job and worked very hard and I don’t want to be ungrateful but the mood isn’t great between us right now!

 

[WetSaw]

Tile adhesive and grout ( not epoxy grout) are not waterproof. Water resistant yes, in the fact that once cured aren't affected by water but that doesn't mean water won't pass through it. Tubbed adhesive dries by dispersion, air drying. If you don't want to take them all off again to tank ( waterproof) the walls then leave it a while before you grout to ensure the adhesive has set. Then use a good quality grout and silicone to finish.

 

[Bond]

You could use an epoxy grout, or a grout protector once grouted.

 

[Spare Tool]

As long as its well grouted (with a good make of grout) and sealed with a bead of silicone in corners and around bath it'll more than likely be fine. You could also spray the grout after its dried with LTP grout sealer, makes grout a lot more water resistant..

 

[Bbbecca7]

Thanks to both of you for your replies! It’s given me a bit of hope!

I’m definitely going to look in to the epoxy grout and the grout protector!

The tiles are very small (70mm x 100mm) so they’ve dried well and have been left for a week and a half and won’t be grouted until next week

 

[Waluigi]

provided the plasterboard was properly primed and not just sealed with a PVA and water solution it’ll probably be fine.

No professional in the industry can run a business on a ‘probably’ so it’s not ideal but you might get away with it as a DIYer.

Incidentally the way a professional Tiler would usually prepare a wall if it’s been newly plasterboarded is to never plaster it but tile straight on to the plasterboard in dry areas, in wet areas the plasterboard would be ‘tanked’ and then tiled. Tanking is a waterproof membrane which is either painted on as a paste or a kind of waterproof wallpaper is applied.

Tile adhesive wise I think most pros use powdered adhesive for pretty much everything.

I’d definitely consider epoxy if I was worried. Not easy to use and not cheap I’m afraid.

 

[Boggs]

Which one did you use?

 

[Dumbo]

To be honest that's how we used to do it years ago im sure you will not have a failure due to materials used if it fails it will probably down to workmanship and by that I mean grouting or siliconing .

 

[hmtiling]

Please don't get the grout from b&q. Epoxy may not be a good choice for DIY.
A decent brand of grout and silicone and i wouldn't worry at all

 

[Waluigi]

If you do use a standard grout (non epoxy) then it’s essential that you really push the grout into the joints with a proper grout float. After grouting is complete then seal the grout as per MI

As already mentioned it’s likely to be fine, the usual cause of failures is a silicone joint fail, grout joint fault or crack especially on the internal wall junction and any other abutments. Also shower valve seals where pipes pass through the wall or shower shrouds aren’t properly sealed.

 

[widler]

Sounds like you have used ceramic tiles, it will be fine as long as it’s solid, people in the tiling world are still ripping out bathrooms to this day from the 80s done the same way as you with no problems.
Don’t believe everything you read on the net

 

[Waluigi]

Let’s not kid ourselves though. It was still the wrong adhesive to use and the wall still should’ve been tanked. It might last many decades without issues, it might not.

 

[Bbbecca7]

Thankyou for all of your advice. It’s been really helpful! I fully accept it was the wrong adhesive, but they’ve done a great job and I’m loathe to ask them to pull them off and start over. As you can imagine with small tiles it’s taken a while and they look great. I am a massive worrier though!

My dad has always done his own bathrooms and he is no expert but he’s always done a good job .. (even if it is a case of “buy whatever’s in B&Q”) ..and they’ve always lasted

Personally I over-research everything I do and it would not have been my choice of adhesive but I am going to make sure they get a good quality grout from a professional tile shop and I’ll also get some grout sealer. Although we haven’t tanked so far I will make sure the remaining plaster (wall edges and around under bath) are tanked properly, although not ideal it’s better than nothing.

Thanks again though guys, it is what it is but I definitely feel a lot better about it now

 

[widler]

But what we did years ago was the right way ? You watch, in another decade or two everyone will be doing it wrong today.
And tanking, although its the right way now, no one heard of it until a few years ago, tile shops we not selling it a few years ago bever mind tilers using it

 

[Waluigi]

I’ve been tanking for 15 years plus

I’m not saying before that time it was wrong, just that it isn’t as good as the way we now do things.