A Few Tiles Off, Can I Stick Them Back On?

[matahari]

My problem is a few tiles which have become detached and need sticking back on again. They are being held on by the mastic around the bath, and I don't want to take them off as the job will snowball! I am drying out the wall behind them so I can just apply a few dabs of something, but I don't want the expense of buying tile adhesive - any of the handy chaps in here any idea how I can bodge them back on to the wall? What's my cheapest option? Would sealant work?
Thanks in advance, matahari.

 

[Iamchamps]

I think the key word there is bodge and if you expect any long term fix you need to do it properly.

As a bodge you could use anything super glue, sealant, double sided tape.

 

[Notch7]

a tube of silicone would stick em on quite well.

 

[matahari]

As a lady of a 'certain age' on a pension, I won't be doing a proper job I'm afraid. Agility and money are not what they used to be, any more!
The rest of the tiles around the bath are fine, it's obviously where the shower hits the wall that these few have come unstuck. Should I seal the wall with Unibond before I stick them back on? (I will do my best to clean them up of course, and seal in between them too.)
Any recommendation as to silicone? The only ones I have seen so far need some sort of gun to operate them. Can you get it just in a tube or something?

 

[Diyisfun]

If you don't grout after 'sticking' them back, water will get behind & more will pop off.

 

[bobasd]

your wastin your time an energy on that lot.

the backin looks like plaster board - is it?any damp background will reject any adhesive.
thers no easy solution.

powdered adhesive should have been used - diy'ers tub mastic has been used.the jobs a diy try.
the adhesive has been dot an dabbed on instead of combed on.
the bath rim is to far from the wall leavin a gap theyve tried to fill with silicone.

thers uneven cuts in the corner.
thers no deep grout or proper grout joint - moisture will be gettin behind all the surround tiles.
looks like thers hardly any gap behind the taps.

 

[matahari]

Thanks Bob, I think.

The backing is rendering of some kind, not plasterboard. The bathroom is a ground floor extension built about nine years before I moved into this house twenty four years ago - it's entitled to a bit of wear and tear after 30-odd years! I don't think the builder bodged it, as I have all the papers and it was signed off by the local council surveyor as it was done under a grant.

The wall behind the taps IS an internal, is it a stud, wall? Don't know what that's made of underneath the rendering.

The tiles have come loose after 24 years of me showering beside them!

All I want to do is stick the tiles back on the wall! It doesn't have to be pretty, it's just to stop any more water getting behind them. But I know tradesmen take a pride in their work so I will take your criticisms as part of that.

My disadvantage is that I have to fix it on my own and I'm doing my best to do that - with the advice of the good people in here. Thank you.

 

[bobasd]

i understood most of that.
but my main point is that no matter how you get the loose, an broken, tiles stuckback on the wall water will continue to get through - period. you will be no further ahead.

im surprised that the floor behind the bath hasnt rotted or stains on the ceiling below.

that installation is a DIY install not a professional job for what it was worth

 

[matahari]

There is no ceiling below. This is a ground floor extension, and it has a concrete floor. It is attached to the back of my Victorian terrace house.

Never mind, I'll just have a go anyway.

 

[matahari]

Thanks for all your helpful comments, look what I found today in Wilko! Does everything, no gun required, sticks and grouts, £3, sorted!