How to fix shite tiling in the shower..

[wherebee]

So - we had some work done by a tradie including redoing a shower room.  He subcontracted the tiling for the floor and the arse who did that fucked something up - 3 months later and it's all lifting off the grout and water is underneath.

It's a concrete floor, thank goodness, not wooden, or I'd be royally fucked.  Anyway - I'm not getting him back in to fix it as he's a chancer cunt and I want nothing more to do with him.  We already relaid half a dozen tiles and they have started to lift already.  Any suggestions on what to do?  

 

Edited July 3, 2020 by wherebee

[Shamone]

2 hours ago, wherebee said:

So - we had some work done by a tradie including redoing a shower room.  He subcontracted the tiling for the floor and the arse who did that fucked something up - 3 months later and it's all lifting off the grout and water is underneath.

It's a concrete floor, thank goodness, not wooden, or I'd be royally fucked.  Anyway - I'm not getting him back in to fix it as he's a chancer cunt and I want nothing more to do with him.  We already relaid half a dozen tiles and they have started to lift already.  Any suggestions on what to do?  

 

Get somebody in who knows what they are doing?

[wherebee]

1 minute ago, Shamone said:

Get somebody in who knows what they are doing?

yeah, the trouble with australia is that for every good tradie, there are 6 cunts who will take your money and fuck it up. I can't face another chancer.

[Shamone]

Just now, wherebee said:

yeah, the trouble with australia is that for every good tradie, there are 6 cunts who will take your money and fuck it up. I can't face another chancer.

Well it’s 620am here so when the hungover dosboders start to rouse themselves I’m sure one will have better advice than I.

[Long time lurking]

8 hours ago, wherebee said:

So - we had some work done by a tradie including redoing a shower room.  He subcontracted the tiling for the floor and the arse who did that fucked something up - 3 months later and it's all lifting off the grout and water is underneath.

It's a concrete floor, thank goodness, not wooden, or I'd be royally fucked.  Anyway - I'm not getting him back in to fix it as he's a chancer cunt and I want nothing more to do with him.  We already relaid half a dozen tiles and they have started to lift already.  Any suggestions on what to do?  

 

What adhesive/grout are you using,or they used  ,as it sounds like you have a bonding problem 

The stuff you use for walls is no good for floors especially so in wet areas 

If you have the correct adhesive and the concrete you are laying the tiles on is not polished i would guess it could be down to temperature ,wet the concrete you are applying the adhesive to adding some PVA sealer to the water would not hurt and then lay the tiles in the evening or on a cool day 

Most cement based products react badly to drying out to quick which often effects their bonding capabilities   

[mattydread]

Follow these steps for a leak proof shower in Australia.

This is a Re-wet seal done by my company - $2500 - $3000

Most showers can be Re-sealed with /Wall & Floor Re-grouted ($770) if the shower floor tiles aren't drummy/compromised due to moisture entering below the tiled surface

Silicone to perimeter wall/floor joints is only good for a few years before it deteriorates/ breaks down & starts trapping moisture behind it.

Epoxy Reseal - also known as white gold here in Canberra

Edited July 25, 2020 by mattydread

[onlyme]

Sal Diblasi, he's done loads like this and does very good explanation of what you need and ways to go about it. All details you need on cement mixes if re-creating the tray from scratch etc US based but most products have equivalents. 

https://www.youtube.com/c/SalDiBlasi/videos

[wherebee]

On 03/07/2020 at 22:09, Long time lurking said:

What adhesive/grout are you using,or they used  ,as it sounds like you have a bonding problem 

The stuff you use for walls is no good for floors especially so in wet areas 

If you have the correct adhesive and the concrete you are laying the tiles on is not polished i would guess it could be down to temperature ,wet the concrete you are applying the adhesive to adding some PVA sealer to the water would not hurt and then lay the tiles in the evening or on a cool day 

Most cement based products react badly to drying out to quick which often effects their bonding capabilities   

So we got another tiler in who re-did the whole lot.

Looks like the first bunch of cowboys didn't prepare the base properly and didn't use adhesive - or if they did, a spits worth.  Cunts.

 

Anyway, if it goes wrong again I might have to do an online course myself.

 

And yes, I did start the post with so to piss off YYX man.

[onlyme]

1 hour ago, wherebee said:

So we got another tiler in who re-did the whole lot.

Looks like the first bunch of cowboys didn't prepare the base properly and didn't use adhesive - or if they did, a spits worth.  Cunts.

 

Anyway, if it goes wrong again I might have to do an online course myself.

 

And yes, I did start the post with so to piss off YYX man.

Most jobs the important work is in the prep. The last tiling I did (along with a load of other renovations) was't happy with the substrate - all the upstairs walls in the house had been lined with ply and varnished, then painted and tied in the bathroom. First job I decided to line the whole area that needed tiling with cement board (hardibacker),  filled and jointed to provide a stable backing for the mosaic tile on top. Any differential movement with the substrate is a no no with tile as that is where the cracks and gaps appear. with a floor (wooden) any flex you need to make good thick ply that won't flex of similar. Don't do that and in long run on a hiding to nothing, interfacing material (Schluter Ditra for example) can help with a a bit of movement and differential expansion but not compensate for outright flex.

[Bobthebuilder]

Just thought i would add.

Over the years i have seen lots of leaking showers, its never a leak on a water pipe or waste but down to the walls not being tanked properly. The walls in a shower must be water proofed before tiling or otherwise your shower will be a shower of shit.

[onlyme]

1 hour ago, Bobthebuilder said:

Just thought i would add.

Over the years i have seen lots of leaking showers, its never a leak on a water pipe or waste but down to the walls not being tanked properly. The walls in a shower must be water proofed before tiling or otherwise your shower will be a shower of shit.

Mate of mine got really unlucky, just finishing off tiling round the mixer tap and noticed water, started stripping back, all up the wall. He'd teed onto existing copper pipe and right up in the ceiling where a pipe bender hdd been used toned the pipe down the stretched side had corroded and started to weep. He was well pissed off. Presumably a little bit of wiggling on the pipe had initiated a leak in the weakened pipe. 

[Bobthebuilder]

5 minutes ago, onlyme said:

Mate of mine got really unlucky, just finishing off tiling round the mixer tap and noticed water, started stripping back, all up the wall. He'd teed onto existing copper pipe and right up in the ceiling where a pipe bender hdd been used toned the pipe down the stretched side had corroded and started to weep. He was well pissed off. Presumably a little bit of wiggling on the pipe had initiated a leak in the weakened pipe. 

Twat.

[wherebee]

I think when eventually we redo the whole back of the house, I'll just get the shower block built in brick (which is what other sections of the house are).  I do think a lot of problems with structures are the modern habit of using timber framing and then plasterboard over it.  Give me brick with proper plaster any day.