fixing shower tiles

[Superfluous_Nut]

since we don't have a home improvement forum yet, i'll post this here...


i've got a few loose tiles in my shower. they're basic ceramic tiles, like maybe 2.5" by 3.5" or so. i've got a couple rows that i can tap on and they sound like they've come free from the backing and i can see some cracks in the grout.

i'm thinking it shouldn't be too hard to pop them out, clean them off, then stick them back on. or am i wrong? is it hard to get the mortar (or whatever it is that should hold them in place) off the back? do i have to worry about replacing the are behind them if it's at all damaged? (i doubt it's damaged very severly if at all). i haven't yet delved in so i'm wondering if i should hire somebody or if i might be able to do it myself. i'm reasonably handy. it's probably a dozen or so tiles, maybe 2 dozen at most, all connected so it's one spot job.

[kshead]

Plywood, man. Little squares of plywood.

[Morningstar]

since we don't have a home improvement forum yet, i'll post this here...


i've got a few loose tiles in my shower. they're basic ceramic tiles, like maybe 2.5" by 3.5" or so. i've got a couple rows that i can tap on and they sound like they've come free from the backing and i can see some cracks in the grout.

i'm thinking it shouldn't be too hard to pop them out, clean them off, then stick them back on. or am i wrong? is it hard to get the mortar (or whatever it is that should hold them in place) off the back? do i have to worry about replacing the are behind them if it's at all damaged? (i doubt it's damaged very severly if at all). i haven't yet delved in so i'm wondering if i should hire somebody or if i might be able to do it myself. i'm reasonably handy. it's probably a dozen or so tiles, maybe 2 dozen at most, all connected so it's one spot job.



You can buy a small amount of the repair grout at Home Depot..If you are successful in get them off the wall without breaking them, they probably don't have any grout on the back...even if they do...a little won't matter..
If if you break one or two..you can still put the grout back on wall and put them back in place..then caulk over. Instructions are on the grout container...
Good luck with it.

[Superfluous_Nut]

You can buy a small amount of the repair grout at Home Depot..If you are successful in get them off the wall without breaking them, they probably don't have any grout on the back...even if they do...a little won't matter..
If if you break one or two..you can still put the grout back on wall and put them back in place..then caulk over. Instructions are on the grout container...
Good luck with it.


so grout = mortar? i can just stick them to the wall with the same stuff that goes in between them? is there a particular type of grout? the seams are relatively small -- like 1/8" or so.

[Superfluous_Nut]

Plywood, man. Little squares of plywood.

i forgot to specify for those of you from west virginia that my shower is located indoors.

:fight:

[Guest]

:thud: You can buy a small amount of the repair grout at Home Depot..If you are successful in get them off the wall without breaking them, they probably don't have any grout on the back...even if they do...a little won't matter..
If if you break one or two..you can still put the grout back on wall and put them back in place..then caulk over. Instructions are on the grout container...
Good luck with it.:banginghe

[kshead]

i forgot to specify for those of you from west virginia that my shower is located indoors.

:fight:

:trophy: That's big pieces of plywood. Be sure to put a hole in one of them.

[chipshot]

so grout = mortar? i can just stick them to the wall with the same stuff that goes in between them? is there a particular type of grout? the seams are relatively small -- like 1/8" or so.

No, grout is not mortar and you don't caulk tiles (except for at 90 degree corners) Dont pay any attention to that. You need thinset mortar made for wall tiles and a notched trowel small enough to fit the spot you will be fixing. Probably a .25" notch but you can look that up, it's based on the size of the tile.

Home Depot sells Custom Builders modified thinset. I found it to be widely reccomended.

Generally speaking you need to chip off the thinset on the backer board without damaging it so you can apply a new layer. You also want to clean up the back of the tile if possible. You may need to get new tile.

Then, of course, you need to grout.

I would read around this place and ask your question: http://johnbridge.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?forumid=1

[Southern_Yankee]

just hire someone. :agreed:

[Superfluous_Nut]

No, grout is not mortar and you don't caulk tiles (except for at 90 degree corners) Dont pay any attention to that. You need thinset mortar made for wall tiles and a notched trowel small enough to fit the spot you will be fixing. Probably a .25" notch but you can look that up, it's based on the size of the tile.

Home Depot sells Custom Builders modified thinset. I found it to be widely reccomended.

Generally speaking you need to chip off the thinset on the backer board without damaging it so you can apply a new layer. You also want to clean up the back of the tile if possible. You may need to get new tile.

Then, of course, you need to grout.

I would read around this place and ask your question: http://johnbridge.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?forumid=1

yeah, okay. this sounds more like what i was thinking. hmm... i hadn't thought about the problem of the mortar being stuck to the backboard. my guess is that it's lost its bond to the backboard and not the tile itself. maybe i should pop one off and take a peek.

i'd rather just pay somebody to do it, but then, the shower is probably rather old and i wouldn't want to get into somebody deciding it needs to be completely redone because of some code or such... it seems like a pretty small job for somebody who knows what they're doing, which of course, is difficult to contract out to somebody who knows what they're doing.

i'll check that link you posted, tho. thanks.

[Morningstar]

so grout = mortar? i can just stick them to the wall with the same stuff that goes in between them? is there a particular type of grout? the seams are relatively small -- like 1/8" or so.

My apologies..what I bought was not a grout repair kit, but something the Home Depot tile salesperson showed me called "Mape" it comes in a small
1 pt. container for $ 7.95, and it is an adhesive to use both behind the tile to adhere it back to the wall, and between the tiles...it is both adhesive for the back and a grout for in between. Justs go to DIY (do it yourself network) or go to Home Depot, and ask about this product.... it worked out great for me.

I was re-caulking my tub and while removing the old caulk, one of the tiles actually popped out...and I was able to do put it back using this product.

[Guest]

My apologies..what I bought was not a grout repair kit, but something the Home Depot tile salesperson showed me called "Mape" it comes in a small
1 pt. container for $ 7.95, and it is an adhesive to use both behind the tile to adhere it back to the wall, and between the tiles...it is both adhesive for the back and a grout for in between. Justs go to DIY (do it yourself network) or go to Home Depot, and ask about this product.... it worked out great for me.

I was re-caulking my tub and while removing the old caulk, one of the tiles actually popped out...and I was able to do put it back using this product.

it's only been a couple weeks...wait til it gets cold outside again and that tile will be in the tub again.

[Morningstar]

it's only been a couple weeks...wait til it gets cold outside again and that tile will be in the tub again.

Sorry to hear that....the tile salesman recommended it.

[Guest]

Sorry to hear that....the tile salesman recommended it.
he works in the tile department at the homedepot.

Mape is an italian product and used throughout the tile industry....you may be ok.....only time will tell.

[Superfluous_Nut]

so i popped off a couple tiles.

there are probably more than i'd like to do myself, but i dunno.

i wasn't sure what i'd find behind them, but it looks really good - a nice clean layer of what i'm guessing is concrete. my house was built in 1936 and is mostly lathe and plaster. i guess the shower is from that era as well. no gypsum boards or anything here.

so that's the good news. the bad news is that the techique used to adhere the tiles to the backing was apparently the oreo method. there's a wad of mortar on the back of each tile instead of a thin layer. looks like each tile was slathered up with mortar, then plopped in place. i doubt there's any way i'm getting this mortar off of these tiles, so i guess i gotta buy some new ones. these are like quite old. i hope color matching won't be a problem.

the floor and the cieling are quite solid, so i really just need to redo the walls and probably only halfway up (like figure the where water's been hitting). the corners are all fine (they're curved pieces that go from one wall to the other) so i'd really only be dealing with flat areas. the drag, tho, is that some of the tiles look to have been cut to fit. bleah.

[gottalaff]

i forgot to specify for those of you from west virginia that my shower is located indoors.

:fight:
:lmao:

[chipshot]

i hadn't thought about the problem of the mortar being stuck to the backboard. my guess is that it's lost its bond to the backboard and not the tile itself

more likely to be coming off of the tile it's applied to actual backer board and not drywall or greenboard

[Redsnapper]

Hey man, just clean up everything as good as possible, buy new tiles if need be, color match, and get em' back in there, a problem your going to run into is if you have colored grout, very tough to match up, it's going to look like a repair job, either way, probably. Also, mortar works good, but I've found using mastic is good for repairs, this is an adhesive that comes in what looks like a tube of caulk, splurp some on your tile, make sure the backing is clean, no debris, make sure you've got some duct tape to hold it up there for 24 hrs., then grout. Sounds like you got it, half the battle with home improvement is just doing it. I've just completly remodelled my master bath, and have recently done this, good luck.

[Superfluous_Nut]

update...

a couple tiles are broken and need replacement. the color (or more importantly, the finish) is too tough to match so i'm thinking of going with an accent color in a few spots that matches another accent color in the rest of the bathroom. i've got like 300 tiles that need to be replaced. the backing is plaster, it seems. i talked to a contractor about it and it turned into a replace the whole thing pitch, so i'm just gonna do it myself. i bought a grinder to strip the mortar off the back of the tiles.

hopefully, i'll find the time and motiviation to actually sit down and do it. stripping the tiles is going to be the most annoying part. i built a little rig to set a tile in and hold it in place so i can run a grinder over it. gotta strip off all the grout before i do it though or they don't fit the thing.

[Redsnapper]

Another thing to keep in mind is you can always PermaCeram (spraying a light ceramic coating over all the tiles) after you get the tiles up, so at least they will be the same color. Kind of 10 yr. quick fix. Sounds like you got it going on, good luck.

[Freakshow]

Another thing to keep in mind is you can always PermaCeram (spraying a light ceramic coating over all the tiles) after you get the tiles up, so at least they will be the same color. Kind of 10 yr. quick fix. Sounds like you got it going on, good luck.

My brother in-law did something like this. Looked damn good.