Grouting job looks bigger than I thought

[CadwellParker]

So I started this this morning, intending to remove the tired leaky silicone from the bath and replace the grout which had deteriorated.

I found a few of the tiles were loose so lifted them up. The wood supporting them is totally soaked. It probably needs replaced to do things properly but that'll involve removing the bath and retiring the whole bathroom and as we're intending to sell the house later in the year we don't want to go that far. We just want to put the tiles back in a way that looks acceptable from a house selling point of view.

So what's the best approach? Do we have to wait for ages for the area to dry completely? Could we just fix some plywood over the damp area and tile on top of that? (No, I know. That wasn't my idea but I have to ask).

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

If you intend to sell the house, I would expect you to be selling it in a condition that you would be expecting to be finding any purchase you made.
To bodge it up and then sell it on, is a disgrace!

 

[CadwellParker]

I'm not asking for advice on how to bodge the tiles up. I'd like to fix them up properly. My other half suggested fixing some plywood over the top and tiling on top of that as an easy way of getting the tiles back so we can use the shower again more quickly. I said we should probably at least give the wood a chance to dry out properly before refixing and grouting the tiles and that it might be best to rip out the lot and start again if we really wanted to do it properly but that would entail having to retile much of, if not the whole bathroom as we don't have any spare tiles. We don't want to go to those lengths unless it's absolutely necessary so I was hoping to get an opinion as to whether the wood might be ok if left to dry. I'm not an expert so welcome advice from those more knowledgeable. I'm not even sure whether the tiles were bodged to start with. They appear to have been stuck to the two lengths of wood you can see at either side. I don't know if this is how they're meant to be or not but they don't seem to have much of a surface to stick to. Maybe as they're just lying down horizontally they don't need so much surface to stick to. I don't know so if anyone can enlighten me please do.

We've had a fan blowing on the wet area for the last few days and it's looking a lot better now but we're still waiting to decide on a firm plan of action so any helpful advice would be most appreciated.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

But in your post you said you were more concerned with put the tiles back and the appearance, rather than doing the job correctly. Whether they were originally installed correctly is any ones guess, it would depend on how long they have been installed and if over that period they have been maintained and cared for.
With regards to how long it would take timber to dry and would depend on drying conditions. If the were left in a warm dry room with no further water ingress or contact, it could take a good two-four weeks, depending on saturation. But looking at the dis-colourisation, I would say this problem has been about for some time and would think the timbers are now an unreliable surface to fix to. You may have to bite the bullet at replace this section of timber, if you did I would recommend prior to tiling lay a strip of cement board along it, then tile to that. Cement board is not waterproof but water resistant, so some added protection and it is a much better surface to tile to than timber.

 

[TheVictorian]

On the basis that the tiles, even when perfect, look hideous in my opinion, I think you'd see a return on investment if you redid the bathroom with some nice neutral tiles!

 

[CadwellParker]

But in your post you said you were more concerned with put the tiles back and the appearance, rather than doing the job correctly. Whether they were originally installed correctly is any ones guess, it would depend on how long they have been installed and if over that period they have been maintained and cared for.
With regards to how long it would take timber to dry and would depend on drying conditions. If the were left in a warm dry room with no further water ingress or contact, it could take a good two-four weeks, depending on saturation. But looking at the dis-colourisation, I would say this problem has been about for some time and would think the timbers are now an unreliable surface to fix to. You may have to bite the bullet at replace this section of timber, if you did I would recommend prior to tiling lay a strip of cement board along it, then tile to that. Cement board is not waterproof but water resistant, so some added protection and it is a much better surface to tile to than timber.

Ok, I can see I might've worded that more clearly. We'd like to put the tiles back properly but would like to avoid the upheaval involved in retiling, replacing old timber etc if at all possible. But if that's what's needed then so be it.

The timber was very wet. water would squeeze out of it when presses with a finger but after having a fan blowing on it for nearly a week is looking much drier. You didn't spell it out but I assume you'd be of the same opinion as me, that we can't retile over the existing timber until it's completely dry.

Once it's dry how can I tell if the timber is sound enough to tile onto? If it seems firm and solid and is not obviously rotten is this good enough or is there something more I should be looking for?

Thanks for the cement board tip. I'll remember that when the time comes.

 

[CadwellParker]

On the basis that the tiles, even when perfect, look hideous in my opinion, I think you'd see a return on investment if you redid the bathroom with some nice neutral tiles!

The plan was to re do the nasty looking/broken bits of grout but keep the existing tiles, our logic being the new residents would most likely prefer to have the bathroom fitted out to their own tastes so it seemed unnecessary to do more than make the existing tiling good. It's starting to look like a bigger job than we first thought though and you're right, the bathroom would look a lot better with a fuller makeover.