Please I urgently need some advice here, about 6 months ago I had my
en-suite completely ripped out and 3 walls replastered and one wall
covered using backerboard. Last week I got my bathroom tiled from
floor to ceiling (using approx. 30cm x 30cm tiles). As these tiles are
marble they are very heavy and obviously expensive. Anyway I was
assured that the walls didn't need priming prior to tiling and that
normal adhesive would be sufficient providing a waterproof grout was
used (I opted for Cerafix adhesive from B&Q).

I suppose you can guess what happened next, the tiler finished tiling
but complained that the adhesive wasn't drying quick enough in order
to grout so suggested I put a heater in there. For 2 days on the trot
I was awoken in the middle of the night by the sound of crashing
tiles, causing not only damage to the tiles but also to my recently
installed stone resin shower tray which is now severely chipped. For
reasons of safety I have now had to remove all the remaining tiles on
the 3 plastered walls (the tiles on the cement board seem to be stuck
solid).....

The tiler is at a loss to explain the reason for the tiles falling
(although he does seem to accept that maybe walls should have been
primed) and I only used him as he came highly recommended (I have
since found out that he has only installed marble once before).

I however am left with a part tiled bathroom and am anxious as to find
out what went wrong.... is it just because the walls needed priming or
is it because marble tiles need a special adhesive??

Ps. can anything be done to repair the shower tray?

I appreciate your comments greatly.

Thanks
Jay

wrote:

[snip]

Ps. can anything be done to repair the shower tray?

We had a new bathroom built a year ago. It was only after the job was
finished and my wife was giving the shower try a *good* clean that we
discovered the shower tray was chipped. I found the following:-

http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/0-370

The plumber supplied and effected the repair at his expense, and the
repair (a year later) is still invisible. It was a very small chip however.

HTH

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply

Mark Carver wrote:
wrote:

[snip]

Ps. can anything be done to repair the shower tray?

We had a new bathroom built a year ago. It was only after the job was

finished and my wife was giving the shower try a *good* clean that we

discovered the shower tray was chipped. I found the following:-

http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/0-370

The plumber supplied and effected the repair at his expense, and the
repair (a year later) is still invisible. It was a very small chip
however.

HTH

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply

wrote in message m...
Please I urgently need some advice here, about 6 months ago I had my
en-suite completely ripped out and 3 walls replastered and one wall
covered using backerboard. Last week I got my bathroom tiled from
floor to ceiling (using approx. 30cm x 30cm tiles). As these tiles are
marble they are very heavy and obviously expensive. Anyway I was
assured that the walls didn't need priming prior to tiling and that
normal adhesive would be sufficient providing a waterproof grout was
used (I opted for Cerafix adhesive from B&Q).

I suppose you can guess what happened next, the tiler finished tiling
but complained that the adhesive wasn't drying quick enough in order
to grout so suggested I put a heater in there. For 2 days on the trot
I was awoken in the middle of the night by the sound of crashing
tiles, causing not only damage to the tiles but also to my recently
installed stone resin shower tray which is now severely chipped. For
reasons of safety I have now had to remove all the remaining tiles on
the 3 plastered walls (the tiles on the cement board seem to be stuck
solid).....

The tiler is at a loss to explain the reason for the tiles falling
(although he does seem to accept that maybe walls should have been
primed) and I only used him as he came highly recommended (I have
since found out that he has only installed marble once before).

I however am left with a part tiled bathroom and am anxious as to find
out what went wrong.... is it just because the walls needed priming or
is it because marble tiles need a special adhesive??

Should also use a natural stone tile adhesive

Are the tiles stuck to the plaster? If so, the plaster needs sealing
or maybe it's bad plaster. (It happens)

wrote:
Ps. can anything be done to repair the shower tray?

The tiler will buy you a nice shiny new one on his insurance :-)

Owain

wrote:
Please I urgently need some advice here, about 6 months ago I had my
en-suite completely ripped out and 3 walls replastered and one wall
covered using backerboard. Last week I got my bathroom tiled from
floor to ceiling (using approx. 30cm x 30cm tiles). As these tiles are
marble they are very heavy and obviously expensive. Anyway I was
assured that the walls didn't need priming prior to tiling and that
normal adhesive would be sufficient providing a waterproof grout was
used (I opted for Cerafix adhesive from B&Q).

I suppose you can guess what happened next, the tiler finished tiling
but complained that the adhesive wasn't drying quick enough in order
to grout so suggested I put a heater in there. For 2 days on the trot
I was awoken in the middle of the night by the sound of crashing
tiles, causing not only damage to the tiles but also to my recently
installed stone resin shower tray which is now severely chipped. For
reasons of safety I have now had to remove all the remaining tiles on
the 3 plastered walls (the tiles on the cement board seem to be stuck
solid).....

The tiler is at a loss to explain the reason for the tiles falling
(although he does seem to accept that maybe walls should have been
primed) and I only used him as he came highly recommended (I have
since found out that he has only installed marble once before).

I however am left with a part tiled bathroom and am anxious as to find
out what went wrong.... is it just because the walls needed priming or
is it because marble tiles need a special adhesive??

Ps. can anything be done to repair the shower tray?

I appreciate your comments greatly.

Thanks

Did the tiles come off clean or was the adhesive attached? Knowing this
will help figure out whether it was because the tile didn't stick to the
adhesive, or the adhesive didn't stick to the plaster.

The fresh plaster (okay, 6 months old) - was that ever sealed? When I've
done tiling onto new plaster in the past, I've always PVA'd the walls first.
Took less than 1 hour really as it soaked in and died very quickly - which
is an indication of how absorbant it is. I suspect the tiles came off with
the adhesive, leaving bare plaster behind. If this was the case then its
possible that the plaster drew the moisture out of the adhesive, causing it
to fail. The fact that the backerboard wall (which I guess is
non-absorbant) is stuck solid implies that there isn't a general problem
with the adhesive, rather the substrate that it was put onto (ie. plaster).

Who assured you that it didn't need priming? If it was the tiler, then it's
probably his fault, and should pay for replacement tiles/shower tray and
refitting. If it was the retailer or someone else and you told the tiler,
then I'm afraid it becomes more complicated - "I just did what you said"
type conversations.

David

In article ,
wrote:
As these tiles are
marble they are very heavy and obviously expensive. Anyway I was
assured that the walls didn't need priming prior to tiling and that
normal adhesive would be sufficient providing a waterproof grout was
used (I opted for Cerafix adhesive from B&Q).

I suppose you can guess what happened next, the tiler finished tiling
but complained that the adhesive wasn't drying quick enough in order
to grout so suggested I put a heater in there.

The adhesive I was supplied with for marble tiles was a form of mortar and
sets via a chemical action rather than air drying - and pretty quickly.
IMHO, 'normal' tile adhesive is for lightweight 'normal' tiles

--
*Ham and Eggs: Just a day's work for a chicken, but a lifetime commitment

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Mark Carver" wrote in message
...
wrote:

[snip]

Ps. can anything be done to repair the shower tray?

We had a new bathroom built a year ago. It was only after the job was
finished and my wife was giving the shower try a *good* clean that we
discovered the shower tray was chipped. I found the following:-

http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/0-370

The plumber supplied and effected the repair at his expense, and the
repair (a year later) is still invisible. It was a very small chip
however.

Problem with this stuff is 5 years down the line it has changed colour
slightly (not so white) is now very visible. This was on our en-suite sink
spotted during snagging a chip. If doing again I would not accept a repair.

Thanks for the replies. I can confirm that the tiles came off with the
adhesive attached, therefore concluding that is a problem with the
plaster.

Ps. because one of the walls is slightly out the tiler has been
spotting the tiles rather than the recommeded spreading
technique................is this a likely cause?

In article .com,
wrote:
Thanks for the replies. I can confirm that the tiles came off with the
adhesive attached, therefore concluding that is a problem with the
plaster.

Ps. because one of the walls is slightly out the tiler has been
spotting the tiles rather than the recommeded spreading
technique................is this a likely cause?

I'd suggest you phone up the suppliers of the tiles and ask them what
adhesive should be used for your situation.

--
*If a mute swears, does his mother wash his hands with soap?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

wrote:
Please I urgently need some advice here, about 6 months ago I had my
en-suite completely ripped out and 3 walls replastered and one wall
covered using backerboard. Last week I got my bathroom tiled from
floor to ceiling (using approx. 30cm x 30cm tiles). As these tiles
are
marble they are very heavy and obviously expensive. Anyway I was
assured that the walls didn't need priming prior to tiling and that
normal adhesive would be sufficient providing a waterproof grout was
used (I opted for Cerafix adhesive from B&Q).

I've found Cerafix fine for porous wall tiles, but beware using them in
any sort of sealed environment, I had tiles lift that had a sealed
surface and the adhesive was still wet about 3 weeks after laying
(causing the tiles to lift)

My customer, (luckily a friend in this case) was not best pleased !

I used Bal waterproof adhesive in my bathroom without a problem, but I
knocked off all loose plaster before laying them.

Check with the tile supplier what they recommend as others have said.

Cheers,

Paul.