Bathroom floor tiles coming up after refit

[pr1970ster]

Hi all

Having a nightmare with a new shower room in our rented property. We had a builder refit the entire shower room, new fixtures and fittings and tiling.
Now , the tenants are saying some floor tiles are coming up. The builder said he went back after finishing the job and found theyd used the shower even though he said dont walk on it for 48 hrs. So the short of it is theyve had an argument and the builder has left and doesnt want to do the work.

I`ve had 3 quotes to have the floor fixed , all of them are coming back with it needs redoing, new ply and tiling. So £1000 plus. Now i`ve done a few bathrooms and kitchens before but i`m not an expert on tiles coming up and having to put glue them back down. But surely we could get the same tiles, remove any dried adhesive from the ply and stick them back down and grout them rather than taking up the whole floor?

Any suggestions. I live abroad now so cant visit to check but I feel like the vultures are circling for a pay day lately.

Thanks in advance

 

[AdamCH]

Have the tilers that have quoted said why they think the floor has failed?

My guess would be that there's more wrong with it than someone walking on it early and that the builders may have cut a few corners.

I'd suggest you get tilers to fix it rather than a builder.

Also, why at they using ply in the bathroom?

 

[pr1970ster]

What are you suggesting , hardibacker board for the floor? Probably a better idea considering the problem had in the past with water ingress into wood floors.
I had a few quotes , one said new ply down and one said their wasnt ply put down originally. But I saw a photo before the tiles went down and there was plywood and there was hardibacker board on the walls around shower.

Thanks

 

[AdamCH]

Do you know why the floor failed and do you think the walls are okay?

18mm + ply might be being used to strengthen the floor but not a good idea to tile directly onto it.

What you do depends on why the ply's there & if it's properly fixed and if the area's wet.

Options you might consider - Ditra/Dura C++ over the ply fixed with the appropriate adhesive.

Cement backer board (which will need to be tanked if it's a wet area)

Marmox/Wedi which is waterproof if the edges are sealed.

Reusing the tiles depends on how well they were fixed. If they were dot and dabbed with tubbed adhesive (if they were then this is why the floor failed) then you should be able to clean them off and reuse them.

 

[tpt]

Could you post some pictures perhaps?

Theres nothing wrong with tiling directly onto ply if its been fixed properly and the correct adhesive has been used, but i suspect that adam is right in that there is something bigger going wrong here

 

[AdamCH]

tpt

The problem that I've found with ply (and I believe it's not uncommon) is that it can crack the tiles where the sheets join. It might depend on the type of tiles but I think although the tiles adhere well, the ply will expand and contract slightly - resulting in a crack along the sheet edges.

The other issue of course is that it isn't waterproof and will get damaged if the grout gets cracked and water gets to it.

 

[tpt]

Hi Adam, yes i know what you mean. we find 18mm is fine for overboarding (although backerboard is better), but 25mm is min for straight over the joists.

We do see issues if noggins havent been used, but not general ply failures - either way i suspect the OP isn't going to be able to find out whats underneath anyway