Some bathroom tiles seem to have moved somehow- is this something to be worried about

[Michael Rosen]

Hi, we had our bathroom redone about 2.5 years ago and in our shower area I have just noticed that there seems to have appeared a slight lip in the tiles where it was previously covered by a metal strip. You can see the photo of the cut outs, and also a close up of where you can now see the top of the tile. I have only just noticed this so while it may be been like this a while it certainly was not how it was finished. Indeed, the rest of the cut out is flush to the metal strip so something seems to have moved.

Is this something to be concerned about or is it normal usage?

Thank you

 

[mrrusty]

Yes, you should be concerned. I suspect whatever it is built on has become water damaged/swelled. Quite possible the tiles will fall off. No cure except rebuild unfortunately.

 

[opps]

I have to agree with mrrusty. At best, you may be able to prevent it from getting worse but something has failed somewhere and really needs addressing.

I would call the tilers and ask them what is going on. If they are reputable they diagnose the fault, and hopefully remedy it.

At a guess, I would be looking at water ingress from the recessed area with the bottles. Worst case scenario, they used regular plasterboard and tiled straight over it without any kind of tanking. If that is the case and the plasterboard is wet, the whole not needs to be ripped out.

That said, it might be something else. I only mentioned plasterboard because over the last couple of years I have worked in houses where tilers found through those websites that claim to find reputable tradesmen have cut loads of corners. Not one of the last 3 has bothered using any kind of primer over new plaster. I can only assume that they couldn't be bothered to spend an hour priming and then waiting until the next day before being able to tile.