Tile in shower question

[Richard]

Wife hired a friend to do tile in shower. he got the first row on. Dunno if it needs to be known but the tile is going in, on the diagonal.

She doesn't lilke how he spaced his first row and wants to redo it. Of course, the "glue" has dried.

He used Versabond, Fortified thin-set mortar if I picked the correct bag out of the mess.

The tile is adhered to 1/2" Durrock.

My question is... she's adament about wanting to redo this row or at least three pieces on one wall.

Can I "easily" remove the tile from the durrock without breaking the substrate or should I just plan on removing that piece and reinstalling a new piece of Durrock?

The Durrock has the rubber mat behind it too (going across floor as second water barrier)

Thoughts?

 

[WayneB]

Wife hired a friend to do tile in shower. he got the first row on. Dunno if it needs to be known but the tile is going in, on the diagonal.

She doesn't lilke how he spaced his first row and wants to redo it. Of course, the "glue" has dried.

He used Versabond, Fortified thin-set mortar if I picked the correct bag out of the mess.

The tile is adhered to 1/2" Durrock.

My question is... she's adament about wanting to redo this row or at least three pieces on one wall.

Can I "easily" remove the tile from the durrock without breaking the substrate or should I just plan on removing that piece and reinstalling a new piece of Durrock?

The Durrock has the rubber mat behind it too (going across floor as second water barrier)

Thoughts?

Just wondering if you have fired the friend? If not maybe you should take him out for a beer and explain what is going on. Darn if he comes in and looks at what you might do, who knows what will happen.

So if he is still on the job then tell him what he has to do and go from there. There is a bunch of tile to lay so I wouldn't expect him to want to lay a row and then have someone come in and inspect and mark any that need to replace.

As far as taking some of the tiles off from the durrock you might be able to get the tile off, but if you damage the rock you should replace or repair the piece.

I have replaced damage tile, normally it is tiles that have been down for a long period of time. You have to cut free all of the grout and then take a hammer and cold chesel and hit the tile to crack it, once cracked then I have a Fein Multimaster tool that can get under the tile and cut loose the bond.

I don't think you want to run out and buy the tool as it is not cheap, basic unit is over 200 and the tile kit alone sales for over 130 dollars, so for two or three tiles it might not be worth the expense.

Wayne

Just my two cents.

 

[Richard]

Firing him: Nope, she's done nothing yet. She'll probably have him finish the floor in the larger room (in couple months) and tell him we were in a rush and since football season is upon us, she's simply letting him enjoy the games. (he's a friend who is going out of his way to help)

As for the Fein tool, is that the one I've found on internet with a triangle type head?? Truth be told, we've done 95% of the house finishing since it was put under drywall so I'm not againt buying any tool. Ya never know when something like that might come in handy!!

 

[Egon]

Have a serious talk with your friend first and then let "She who must be obeyed" and him settle the issue.

 

[kevincook]

Richard,

The tile should come off the substrate pretty easily with a chisel. If you have any questions about tiling I would recommend Ceramic Tile, John Bridge Tile, Marble and Stone
There are a bunch of professionals over there that are more than willing to help out DIY guys.

BTW, a tile shower is one of the most difficult things to do correctly. I'm planning to do some tile showers and have read quite a bit. There needs to be a waterproof membrane in the shower. The tiles are not waterproof, moisture will get behind them.

Good Luck,
Kevin

 

[Richard]

Richard,BTW, a tile shower is one of the most difficult things to do correctly. I'm planning to do some tile showers and have read quite a bit. There needs to be a waterproof membrane in the shower. The tiles are not waterproof, moisture will get behind them.

I'm with ya on that Kevin... We had him build up the concrete floor, add the membrane, another layer of concrete... then on the entire shower walls, we installed durrock and over THAT he painted on some kind of purple stuff (I forget what it is). I installed 2x12's in between the studs as a backer board for the rubber matt to be attached to. It's supported 100% and not just tacked to the studs. The purple stuff is some kind of sealant that supposedly would allow me to use the shower "today" without any kind of tile and it would be waterproof.

This shower, other than the framing & plumbing, is one thing I wanted to hire out completely. Water is one thing I don't want to mess with because as I told the wife, we'd only have one chance to get it right.

 

[kevincook]

Richard,

It sounds like you've done things correctly. Those other tiles should just pop off.

Good Luck,
Kevin

 

[tile]

The tile will come off with a chisel.
If you are handy in anyway you can do the shower yourself.

I can take you step by step.

Been doing tile & epoxy floors for over 26yr.

Make sure waterproof membrane is in the shower if not its a wast of time to redo the shower.

You can use Versabond but you can allso use ReliaBond made by custom building products they make the versabond thinset you are useing.

We do a lot of schools and gov work here and install over 40,000 sf. of wall tiles in a year
using Reliabond with great results heres a link to it Custom Building Products :: Do-It-Yourselfers :: ReliaBond(R)

Ron.

 

[zeuspaul]

Before removing the tile make sure your wife is asking for something realisitic. Did you discuss spacing before he started? You are taking the *cheap* approach by asking a friend to do the work. Be careful about asking for perfection.

Zeuspaul

 

[hitekcountry]

I wouldn't do anything without first talking with the guy doing the work. In tile work you often have areas where the pattern is less than perfect because it affects the pattern in another area. It's common to have some area of the project be something of a compromise. He may have a very good reason for that area looking like it does, or maybe not. Anyway you need to think of the entire layout not just one area.

 

[ktm250rider]

Yup, need to know more about the spacing, tile size, and type. Pics would help. Tiles should come off easily with a chisel and a little time.

 

[Richard]

ok... tough to show the entire shower but here's what I've done and I've got more questions.

I've been able to take all the tiles off (wife changed her mind from 3 to all). All is defined as probably 9, all around the bottom edge. The picture will make it clear though you can't see them all.

My next post will describe the current "situation" and "problem" if indeed it is one.

 

[Richard]

ok, here's a closeup of a single tile space. Though you probalbly know (better than me) what is what here, I'll still try to describe everything.

On the wall is the Versabond thinset he used for the tile. On the top and right corners, are where the bond pulled the top layer of the Durrock away. The white square you see is just the price tag (or something) that was on the backside of the tile and stayed with the bond.

Now, here's where it gets interesting to me... on the wall is that burgandy sealent he used. If you look at the right corner of this tile you will see next to the Versabond, where the top layer of Durrock was pulled away. To the right of THAT rough area, you will see the smooth surface of the Durrock where some of the sealant he used pulled away.

Ok, "what to do"???

1. I'm thinking on taking something, perhaps a sander with coarse paper, to help knock down the residual Versabond.

2. Once done, take some more of that sealant and paint over the entire tile sections (they all look like this though this one is probably the worst of all)

3. What about where he taped the seams and the tape (like the corner area here) seems to have loosened up a bit? I ended up having to take a utility knife around the edges of these to help seperate them from the layer they were trying to pull up.

4. I told the wife (who is actually the one thinking we should do the above)...anyway, I said to her "no.... we can take the tiles off and this is where we then find a professional and ask him two questions,

a: Can/WILL you do this job?
b: "how much"

And in my opinion, the "how much" will now probably be MORE than it would have been, had we not had these issues.... frankly, I think we need to simply shut up and pay the piper to get it done right and NOT worry about trying to find the cheapest work (not to be confused with wanting to over pay for nothing,...but simply trying to find a TRUE tile guy who can do it right and pay him for his expertise)

So, I just took these off an hour ago and this is where we are....

Any wisdom?

 

[Richard]

Well crud...stupid me forgot the picture!

 

[tile]

Hi Richard

1. I'm thinking on taking something, perhaps a sander with coarse paper, to help knock down the residual Versabond.

Yes you have to get the wall back smooth again. You can try with a hand stone like you use for masonary block.

2. Once done, take some more of that sealant and paint over the entire tile sections (they all look like this though this one is probably the worst of all)

Yep recoat all the bad spots again to seal it backup.


3. What about where he taped the seams and the tape (like the corner area here) seems to have loosened up a bit? I ended up having to take a utility knife around the edges of these to help seperate them from the layer they were trying to pull up.

If they are loose or bubbled up cut them open and reseal them to a tight seal.


4. I told the wife (who is actually the one thinking we should do the above)...anyway, I said to her "no.... we can take the tiles off and this is where we then find a professional and ask him two questions,

a: Can/WILL you do this job?
b: "how much"


A good tile installer can do what you want.

Price is specific to your area. Here in florida we get around 3.00 to 4.00 sf install labor only.

Hope this helps you some.
If you need any more info Ill be here.

Ron.