We had a bit of mold appear on our grout in the shower, and it seemed to be coming from behind so I've taken the opportunity of us going on holiday for a week to remove the grout, let whatever's behind dry out and then after a week replace the grout.
However, in the area where the grout is some of the tiles came away and revealed this - what looks to be slightly damp (but not wet) plasterboard. What the blinking flip should I do with this? Replace the tiles onto it after it's dried? Or is it going to be as drastic as ripping it all out and retiling (and I expect that means removing the bloody bath)? A middle way would be nice.
Behind the plasterboard is an external stone wall if that makes a difference, and all the other tiles are solid and don't seem to be budging.
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My friends who've done tiling all said it's hell and I should get a man in and I wish I'd listened to them...
My friends who’ve done tiling all said it’s hell and I should get a man in and I wish I’d listened to them…
They're not wrong.
See my last week thread.
I had very similar problem but the bathroom is getting ripped oot in a few months. So I tidied up the plaster with mortar and aligned new miss matched tiles.
It's not a permanent solution and That up there is a shocker, rip it out to brick, backing board and start again an option?
Tiling is shit on shit surfaces with shit tiles it's less shit on a perfectly flat perfectly backing although still tedious.
That's not plasterboard, that's plaster.
I'd be patching with a waterproof substrate on top and retiling in the short term, with a view to having it all re-done PDQ thereafter!
Oh. Is that plasterboard? It looks like cement render. Whatever, I it is shot. Remove the failed stuff, if the damage is localised make good with cement render or cement backer board, retile.vv it looks like it could be the whole wall that needs doing though, doing less is probably going to give a poor finish, but then that all depends on cost and time available.
Yep, it's definitely plasterboard -
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51255894210_53c22d526c_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51255894210_53c22d526c_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2m6iRBY ]IMG_20210618_115248[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/183377889@N06/ ]Luke Bradley[/url], on Flickr
And, as it turns out, it's not attached to the stone outside wall but wood panelling. WTF?
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51255599429_48f8b61ac8_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51255599429_48f8b61ac8_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2m6hkZx ]IMG_20210618_120237[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/183377889@N06/ ]Luke Bradley[/url], on Flickr
What's the verdict? Get rid of the lot or just remove the affected panel as I've done and do what @neilnevill says? I assume the presence of the wood panelling makes that option not feasible.
honestly I'd rip that all out or you might just end up doing the same again down the line.
but you could rpace the plaster board with the equivalent thickness cementfoam snadwhich board stuff and redo the patch... but thats not without hassle if you want to get it all flush, althought, the wood would amke fixing it quite easy....
It's probably easier to rip it all out and re-do.
And tiling isn't that hard, especially on a new flat surface.
I'd be cursing, bit redoing the lot. However you could screw cement backer board to the wood and patch.
What I want to know is... why are you are in my shower room.. and when can I expect to use it again?
We have had the exact same problem. In a room that looks identical to yours. Had someone remove tiles, "fix" the material behind, and re-tile. We're already back to bulging tiles 18 months later. So I wouldn't recommend throwing money at a "fix", get it all ripped out and redone properly.
Thanks paton, great information in that video.
Rip everything off, fit respatex panels, - job done.
When everyone says rip it all out, are we including the wood in that?
You definitely need to find out if the moisture is coming through the wood or from the tiles. If the latter, a membrane or board (like the schluter board or membrane) behind the tile should solve the moisture problem even if the grout fails.
If it's coming through the wood, because it's wicking off the stone or similar, then you'll need to address that, or you'll be right back here again.
I've left it for an hour or two and the wood is bone dry so I think it was moisture that'd got through the grout into the plasterboard.
might be worth taking the wood off, maybe you'll find a door to a basement.
Whilst cementious grout isn't waterproof it doesn't let significant amounts of water through when intact.
Id be more inclined to suggest that with the shower tiled on an exterior wall, you've shifted the dew point to the wood panel which isn't particularly dimensionally stable and has probably swollen at some point enough to crack the grout. Water has then been able to get in through the cracks and saturate the plasterboard over time.
Tear it all out, get rid of the wood panel and tank whatever moisture stable substrate you have on your wall before tile. Kerdi board would be a good option on an exterior wall.
