Loose bathroom tiles

[Colaris]

I had noticed that some of the grouting on my bathroom tiles was starting to fall away but thought nothing of it. A few weeks later a few tiles had come loose so I took them off, I also noticed that a couple of tiles next to them sounded hollow when I tapped them so pulled them off as well.

My question is can I basically just stick the tiles back on or is there more to it?

 

[opps]

How big are the tiles? Are they in a shower enclosure? Are they on plasterboard?

I am guessing that the adhesive is stuck to the loose tiles rather than the wall.

 

[Colaris]

Thanks for the reply.

They are 11cm squares and yes, some of the adhesive has come away. They are stuck around the bathtub that has a shower curtian. Not sure if it's plaster board, the wall seem pretty solid though.

 

[opps]

The two most commonly used tile adhesives are the powdered cement based ones sold in bags and the rubbish sold in tubs (particularly the stuff sold in DIY stores). The latter becomes soft when wet. If water was getting in through the grout lines it may have made any tub based adhesive become soft. You could check by putting a tile in a bucket for a day or so and see if the adhesive comes off easily. If a cement based adhesive had been used the water will not make it softer.

Personally I would recommend taking all of the tiles off but appreciate that you might not want to. If you decide to stick back the loose ones then use a powdered based adhesive and a powder based grout.

Photos of the area might help. The fact that the grouting cracked in the first place would lead me to think that there was water ingress somewhere.

 

[Colaris]

Thanks, have attached images.