DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Bad ‘Tiler’

This weeks winner highlights an issue that we see over and over and over again. Bad tiling. Like many other poor finishing work a bad tile job can look good for a period of time then come back to haunt anywhere from a few days to a few months after the job is finished.

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We were removing the existing tiles so we could fit a new bathroom and then tile the entire room. As can be seen in the pictures aboove the tile adhesive did not stick to the tiles.  It was just the grout holding everything in place. Once moisture from the shower started to get in hehind the cracked grout the tiles started lifting in spots. That in turn caused grout to further crack which in turn allowed more moisture in behind the tiles which in turn caused more damage.

The cause for this type of issue varies. We’ve seen situations where too much adhesive is applied to the wall. This can be especially bad if the weather is warm. The first tiles to be applied will usually stick but as the later tiles are applied the adhesive may have already gone off enough to not bond properly. The solution to this is to apply no more adhesive than can be used in a short space of time. This issue is also more prevalent with premixed adhesives versus powder based adhesives. Pre-mixed adhesive dry out a lot faster.

Another big issue is that many times the back of the tiles are not covered in adhesive commonly refered to as buttered. The issue of buttering is important as many tiles are slightly concave on the back. Without buttering the tile the wall adhesive may not catch the entire tile leaving a poor bond or as the pictures above show, no bond at all. Buttering is also important when using large format tiles and most especially with floor tiling.

Tiling is an art but there is a science to it too. If done correctly it can last thousands of years as seen in many Roman ruins. If done incorrectly it can last as little as a few days. We’ve seen tiles come up within a week of being applied because they were done incorrectly.

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