MDF bath panel behind tiles was getting wet - shuould I be worried?
 

Hi ,

Just want to get your opinion on something that has happened in my bathroom.

I recently had a new bathroom fitted. A bathpanel was made out of moisture
resistant MDF which was then tiled over.

However due to the tilers failure to properly seal area where the floor
tiles meet the bath panel tiles, water got into the wood over the last three
months of showering. I noticed this because one of the bathpanel tiles
started to protrude.

The tiller came to fix it when I told him.

On removing the tiles it seemed that the MDF had been soaking up the water
and it creeping upwards. This had led to a good lot of black stuff on all
the bottom of the wood (I assume this is mould) and this is what had pushed
the tile out.

He has now repaired the tiles that were popping out, and is going to return
to do the siliconing in a few days.

However, I was slightly worried that permanent damage may have been done.
Basically the water was getting in and soaking into the wood, and creeping
upwards. The bottom 2- 3 inches or so was black when he removed the tiles.

Although the tiles have been placed over, and silicon will be applied so
water should now stay out.
Is this something I should be worried about. The tiller seems to think it
will be find and dry out naturally, even though we did not give any time for
the wood to try without the tiles on.

Any advice is appreciated.

David

MDF bath panel behind tiles was getting wet - shuould I be worried?
 

wrote in message
ups.com...
David Smithz wrote:

tiling onto wet mdf is a total bodge. I'm doubtful it would last long,
though admittedly I've never tried doing this, for obvious reasons.

Well damp mdf is probably a better way of putting it.
And when you say it wont last long, do you think the tiles would just fall
off over time? Or will the wood rot away. At least if the tiles fell off,
then I could put let it dry this time and put it back on.

I've already shelled out lots of money on this set up and it's causing me
stress thinking that it will all be for nothing.

What should I do?

Any other thoughts or opinions.

Cheers

MDF bath panel behind tiles was getting wet - shuould I be worried?
 

David Smithz wrote:
However due to the tilers failure to properly seal area where the floor
tiles meet the bath panel tiles, water got into the wood over the last three
months of showering. I noticed this because one of the bathpanel tiles
started to protrude.

The root cause of the problem is water getting _out_ of the bath and
onto the floor in the first place. You need to fit a bigger shower
screen and/or modify your showering behaviour. A wet floor is a recipe
for disaster when stepping out of the bath. At the very least, put a
bathmat down on the floor when showering to catch any splashes and give
you a non-slip surface.

MBQ

MDF bath panel behind tiles was getting wet - shuould I be worried?
 

wrote:

The root cause of the problem is water getting _out_ of the bath and
onto the floor in the first place. You need to fit a bigger shower
screen and/or modify your showering behaviour. A wet floor is a recipe
for disaster when stepping out of the bath. At the very least, put a
bathmat down on the floor when showering to catch any splashes and give
you a non-slip surface.

MBQ


...but there's no way in hell, ok maybe only in hell, that I'd use MDF
in a bathroom. Same applies to so-called moisture resistant chipboard
floors.

MDF bath panel behind tiles was getting wet - shuould I be worried?
 

David Smithz wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
David Smithz wrote:

tiling onto wet mdf is a total bodge. I'm doubtful it would last long,
though admittedly I've never tried doing this, for obvious reasons.

Well damp mdf is probably a better way of putting it.
And when you say it wont last long, do you think the tiles would just fall
off over time? Or will the wood rot away. At least if the tiles fell off,
then I could put let it dry this time and put it back on.

I've already shelled out lots of money on this set up and it's causing me
stress thinking that it will all be for nothing.

What should I do?

Any other thoughts or opinions.

Cheers

What should I do is a good question. The proper solution is to remove
all the mdf and use something suitable, which I gather would mean
retiling. If the patch affected is small, it might be tempting to try
and bodge it back in the knowledge that it will fall off later on,
giving you enough time to sort out suppplies and time to do it
properly.


NT

MDF bath panel behind tiles was getting wet - shuould I be worried?
 

On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 22:27:58 GMT, "David Smithz"
wrote:


What should I do?

Any other thoughts or opinions.

The tiler should seal the bottom edge of the panel as well as the
bottom part of the back.

Look on the bright side, if he'd tiled onto ply you wouldn't have
known until the ply rotted away and the tiles fell off.

That will have happened some months later, and getting him back to fix
it may not have been possible.

cheers,
Pete.

MDF bath panel behind tiles was getting wet - shuould I be worried?
 

MDF bath panel behind tiles was getting wet - shuould I be worried?
 

wrote:
wrote:
wrote:

The root cause of the problem is water getting _out_ of the bath and
onto the floor in the first place. You need to fit a bigger shower
screen and/or modify your showering behaviour. A wet floor is a recipe
for disaster when stepping out of the bath. At the very least, put a
bathmat down on the floor when showering to catch any splashes and give
you a non-slip surface.

MBQ


..but there's no way in hell, ok maybe only in hell, that I'd use MDF
in a bathroom. Same applies to so-called moisture resistant chipboard
floors.

I am about to construct a bath panel to finish off my recently
decorated bathroom. I want to tile onto it, so what would be the best
material for this ?

Bath panels in my house were painted hardboard. No sign of any problems
whatsoever after 30 years. They are now tiled plywood and I dont expect
any problems with this either. Make sure it's stiff and well sealed
first oitherwise it will warp when you tile it (as I found out at first
attempt - LOL).

Where do you expect all the water to come from? If there's enough to
rot a tiled bath panel then I would be far more worried about other
things (floorboards, joists, etc) than the bath panel! We're not, after
all, talking about the panels in a shower cubicle that are regularly
soaked.

The OPs problem, as described, is caused by water escaping from the
bath during showering. He needs to first fix the cause then address the
symptoms.

MBQ

Use 'Hardibacker' or 'Superflex' cement based boards. Ideal for wet areas and available at most timber/builder merchants.

MDF bath panel behind tiles was getting wet - shuould I be worried?
 

Cordless Crazy wrote:
Wrote:
wrote:-
wrote:-
wrote:--
--
..but there's no way in hell, ok maybe only in hell, that I'd use
MDF
in a bathroom. Same applies to so-called moisture resistant
chipboard
floors.-

I am about to construct a bath panel to finish off my recently
decorated bathroom. I want to tile onto it, so what would be the
best
material for this ?-

fibre cement sheet probably


NT


Use 'Hardibacker' or 'Superflex' cement based boards. Ideal for wet
areas and available at most timber/builder merchants.

Cordless Crazy

I used aquapanel for all the walls so I suppose more of the same will
do, plus it would be a good use for those leftover ceramic
screws..........

Cheers

MDF bath panel behind tiles was getting wet - shuould I be worried?
 

Bath panels in my house were painted hardboard. No sign of any problems
whatsoever after 30 years. They are now tiled plywood and I dont expect
any problems with this either. Make sure it's stiff and well sealed
first oitherwise it will warp when you tile it (as I found out at first
attempt - LOL).

Where do you expect all the water to come from? If there's enough to
rot a tiled bath panel then I would be far more worried about other
things (floorboards, joists, etc) than the bath panel! We're not, after
all, talking about the panels in a shower cubicle that are regularly
soaked.

The OPs problem, as described, is caused by water escaping from the
bath during showering. He needs to first fix the cause then address the
symptoms.


Wee it's a concrete floor (I'm in a flat) and a steel bath. When I moved in
there had already been a dripping leak for many years it seems. Not a pretty
sight but was sorted.

It's a very small area, and like I said the bath panel was black about 2-3
inches from the bottom.

Changing the bath panel would be tricky. It's a very tight space as a small
bathroom and it would mean cutting out and then building in some different
solution.There is not access to the entire side of the bath panel.

I did speak to the original plumber who build the side panel. He said not to
lose any sleep over it, and said perhaps we should drill an air hole from an
adjacent cupboard (which I have a condenser dryer in) to underneath the bath
area to allow the damp wood to dry out.

Still, it was stressful getting this all fitted, now it is done, it is still
causing me stress. £4k spent so far. How much more do I have to spend?

(boo hoo)