Shower re grout - a loose tile, plaster damp and some mould.
Anonymous user 14/03/2024 - 2.37 PM
Shower room installed 2008. Time to do a simple re grout, fresh paint etc, a simple easy job…….not now 😔
Removed some grout ready for a fresh layer, but in the wet areas, it’s a bit more than top layer or loose grout to remove.
Bottom corner tile came away when removing mastic, the plaster disintegrated so now all I see is breeze block. There is some mould, but the main thing is the damp and what I need to do to plan to replace the tile?
On breeze block do I just add some plaster bonding?
How long do I leave the area to dry out ( it’s not soaking wet)?
Should I use a fan heater or hot air gun)
Will it dry out?
As for the mould, is there something I can spray on and leave and once dry do the work?
Any advice would be appreciated please.
Given instructions I can do the job just not aware of how to fix things like this.
Thanks
PB
Are you a tradesperson and able to answer this question?
Hi TB
Sounds like you've had some water penetrating that area for some time for it to pull everything when just removing mastic.
Your not wrong in thinking you could just add bonding/plaster and then re tile, this would be ok for a DIY standard! However without removing other tiles and exposing the whole potentially damp/damaged area behind tiles there no way to know that a that's not happend or b that it won't happen again.
Hope this helps a little
Really sounds like a classic case of long term water ingress. Any experienced tiler has seen it time and time again. Lack of preparation and tanking is almost always the cause. The only sensible way to fix this issue is a full removal of the tiles. Reboarding using water resistant products, tanking, then new tiles.
Hard to say without seeing the damage but I'd suggest to waterproof the area as much as possible as it sounds that there was no membrane installed before tiling, as for the mould best thing on the market is detol anti mould and mildew spray available in any supermarkets like Tesco etc.
Good afternoon,
When people tile a wet area (an area where water is going to run down a wall / floor) they think by tiling no water will penetrate.
Grout is porous and will draw in the water running down the tile. Unless your substrate (area behind the tiles) has been tanked out (waterproofed) you will always encounter this problem, eventually.
All wet areas when tiling should be suitably tanked out prior to tiling to avoid the problems you mention
