Oh my god, please help me

[loops25]

I feel quite gutted at the moment so please help.

We have tiled over tiles in my mom and dads kitchen, all was going really well until today the tops row of tiles have well just sort of fell off? We were removing the excess adhesive ready for grouting.

When we take the tile off the wall, the adhesive is on the wall and none really on the tile? I am scared now that none of them have stuck but I am pretty sure they have.

I have used non slip cerafix adhesive, we did use a water tile cutter so the tiles may have been wet when we put them up? in fact it was raining a bit

Oh god please help, mom and dad will be coming home in week.

Does ready mixed adhesve take alot longer to dry? it has been since Friday.

What do i do? do i try and remove the next row down to see if they are lose too or leave them? they have been on a few days more than the top row.

 

[Burnerman]

All adhesives work best when they are 'keyed' onto the surface - i.e the surface has been roughened a little.
This is pretty difficult with ceramic tiles, as the glazed surface is very hard and smooth.
One way round this is to spread adhesive on both the surfaces of the existing tile and the new one - you get better adhesion this way.
So - the million dollar question is, how well stuck are the others? We cant tell that of course, but try rocking a couple of the new tiles to see how sound they feel - another trick is to tap them with a knuckle and listen for a hollow sound.
We can only wish you luck!
John

 

[barneyrubble]

You should really "butter" the backs of the tiles and be sure that it meets the adhesive on the walls.
When tiling on tiles and using tubbed adhesive you will need to leave it ungrouted for some time so that air can get into the grout joints as this type of adhesive dries by dispersion. Using cement based, adhesive ( the type in bags) would have been better..... as would removing the old tiles, as you never really know how well they were stuck in the first place!!!!

 

[loops25]

We are going to remove the lot and start again, have been reading some reviews on B & Q cerafix and alot of people seem to be having the same problem, looks like some never dry out!

I am thinking of getting BAL Rapid fix, this ok?

 

[Richard C]

As stated, using water based tub mix is not ideal (even a decent one) on non absorbent backgrounds as it will take forever to dry before you can grout & adhesion will generally be suspect; you really need to use a modified cement based adhesive. BAL Rapidfix? do you mean Rapidset? It will be much better than the DIY shed cheapo crap but you need to mix BAL Admix with it if tiling over tiles to ensure good adhesion.

Why don’t you do a proper job & remove the old tiles? Tiling over them is a bodge really; never looks good & just means a lot more work for some poor soul in the future.

 

[loops25]

Thank you Richard, I do not have time to remove the old tiles, it is a surprise for my mom and dad, they are on holiday at the moment.

Yes I did mean Rapid set sorry

 

[sergeantash]

Thank you Richard, I do not have time to remove the old tiles, it is a surprise for my mom and dad, they are on holiday at the moment.

Yes I did mean Rapid set sorry

You mention that this is in a kitchen, perhaps the old tiles had grease or oil on them? Did you thoroughly clean the old tiles with white spirit or a degreaser prior to retiling over them?

 

[loops25]

Yes and I used sugar soap too

 

[sergeantash]

Yes and I used sugar soap too

Ohhh nooo, in which case keying the existing tiles or ensuring that you have mixed up the adhesive correctly is all you can do.

Good luck, sorry I couldn't help.