Wobbly tiles in a "wet room"

[louis502]

Hi,

I'm hoping to get some advice on this, basically my dad had his bathroom done 5 years ago and it now needs work. It's a "wet room" where there's no shower curtain and the tiles angle down to the center of the room where there's a plug hole.

However the grout started cracking up in places and it was clear the tiles were wobbling. Replacing the grout gave it a couple of days before it went again.

I took up a few of the wobbliest tiles, and then felt obliged to keep going as almost all felt loose.

As you can see from the photos it's not that pretty, there are cavity's and cracks in whatever material they've used.

So I'm hoping for advice on how best to get this sorted, can I just use cement to get a flat surface and then set the tiles back in with tile adhesive...?

Many thanks, Louis

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

There seems to be a good spread/bed of adhesive, looks like the tiles have come loose from the adhesive rather than the adhesive failed to stick to substrate.
To me by picture evidence, I think your grout and/or sealant has failed, allowing this to weaken adhesion between tile and adhesive.
All the old adhesive needs taking up and start again, if substrate is in good condition.
I would probably be tempted to lift the lot up!

 

[louis502]

Thanks for the reply, damn that sounds like a bigger job than I'd hoped.

Yes the tiles were barely stuck, no adhesive on the underside when I lifted them.

Is this how you'd expect a wet room to have been constructed? I was wondering whether they'd made the slope towards the center with tile adhesive, it gets a lot thinner towards the center and seems incredibly thick elsewhere.

Sorry for my ignorance, first time dealing with a tiled floor.

Thanks, Louis

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

I would personally expect the floor to formed or a former tray installed, that slopes the tiles to the drain of the shower, rather than the tile adhesive forming this slope.

 

[louis502]

Yes, I've never seen it done like this in videos I've found.

I know you said to take up the old adhesive but I'm limited on time, what's your response to: leaving the sloped adhesive, filling in big holes, sticking tiles back down with this and re-grouting with this, and then maybe putting a shower curtain up.

Thanks again for your help PrenticeBoy

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

I personally think, if the adhesive is not removed and a sound surface found to adhere to, that your problems will return, if not increase.

 

[chappers]

I think you would be asking for future trouble if you do that. Best bet is to remove it and do it all again
Is that a shower tray to the left of the first picture. If so I would get an enclose for that, would probably sort most of your problems normal grout isn't impervious to water and has almost certainly penetrated through to the adhesive below. For a wet room floor I would use epoxy grout.

 

[louis502]

Yes you're right it's a shower tray, I know a shower door is something to consider. Epoxy grout, thanks for the tip.

We're going to have a tiler come in and see what he makes of it with some further inspection perhaps. Weigh up the options.

Thank you both for your help, I was pretty lost and now I think I have a reasonable grasp on it. I'll post an image when it's done, in-case either of you are curious.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

We're going to have a tiler come in and see what he makes of it with some further inspection perhaps. Weigh up the options.

Thank you both for your help, I was pretty lost and now I think I have a reasonable grasp on it. I'll post an image when it's done, in-case either of you are curious.

Thank you!
I would be interested in what the tiler had to say, after their investigative visit. As well has some pretty pictures of the work, on completion.

 

[louis502]

Hi, apologies for the wait, it was finished about a month ago now.

The tiler thought that the adhesive was still well stuck to the substrate and it was worth putting the tiles back down on top with more adhesive.

I do trust his judgement, I know he has experience with wet rooms and he's an intelligent guy. But of-course there's a much greater risk of it failing again doing it this way, time will tell. I would have more faith if there was a shower door, but it's not my bathroom so it's not my call.

If I haven't posted here otherwise I suppose you can assume it's still solid.

All the best, Louis