Wall Tiling

[Richlist]

Has anyone else suffered from wall tiles coming away from the wall ?

I have 2 properties now where wall tiles are detaching themselves.

Property 1

* One area in a kitchen above a hob,

* Another larger area in a bathroom

Property 2

* Another kitchen above the worktops but a much larger area.

They are all tiles on plasterboard and the original tiling done around 1988.

My plan is as follows :-

Property 1

This is being put up for sale in the new year so:-

* Kitchen - carefully pull loose tiles away, clean off old cement as best I can and re-cement in place.

* Bathroom - leave as its only noticeable by closer inspection.

Property 2

* Will fix when tenant moves out next year as its not a major problem - yet. Will probably end up retiling the complete area around worktops.

Any advice ?

[Mortitia]

1988 is a while ago. Inspect and see if water has got behind tiles or is there is some movement in the property that may have dislodged the tiles.

What is the condition of the p/board when tiles are off. Worst case scenario is re-board, apply pva and tile. I use Aqua board in bathrooms now.

Todays tile adhesives are really good. I use Toolstation own make - cheap and effective and I know a lot of tradesmen who use it too.

[Richlist]

Yes thanks for the tips.

Its really damage limitation for me given that I'll be selling both these properties soon. I don't want to spend lots of money but neither do I want to be left with a poor repair. I'll be tackling the first kitchen next week so I'm hoping I don't break any of the loose tiles as I don't have any spares.

[Melboy]

The plasterboard has not be "sized" or sealed before applying the tile cement.

Watered down PVA was used as a sealing coat back in the days of 1988. More modern tile adhesives can normally cope with plasterboard absorbtion.

[Grampa]

If it is just a handful or a couple of tiles that need re-fixing I find grip-fil is ideal for a quick fix. Still have to re-grout though.

[kerbut]

PVA is the answer, my father who was a builder with a very good reputation in our area (employer of 120 +persons ) would not permit tiling on plaster as it would "blow ",he used to get the tiling company to tile direct onto the block work .

[Chestnut]

Two experiences:

1) A bathroom was only half tiled up behind bath. After fitting shower had water occasionally in ceiling below - eventually traced to water getting behind from shower above top edge of tiles (not visually obvious as behind and under panelled bath). Solved by professional removing all and re-tiling with new tiles right up to ceiling.

2) A kitchen where a section of new tiles felt loose (hollow tap) on existing plaster that had previously been damp after earlier flood. As they hadn't come off and remained in section a professional from tile shop advised hack out grouting as deep as possible with knife but without disturbing tiles still joined together and re-grout (fix-and-grout) to effectively glue whole section back to wall at tile joints. I did as instructed and amazingly it worked (solid tap) OK so far 3 years later. Had I taken tiles off they would have required very careful removal of hardened cement from back - likely to break tiles - before refitting.