Tile adhesive showing through

keystone

petebates26 wrote: »

It looks like the tiler has only dotted the tiles with adhesive - 4 spots in the corner of the tiles and one in the middle.

He's not a tiler then. D&D is a very unprofessional.

Is this usually caused by the wrong tiles, the wrong adhesive, or the wrong method of application?

For a dark tile you would normally use a dark adhesive. For a light tile white adhesive. Yes it can show through.

Is there anything that can be done about this, or is it a case of either putting up with it, or removing them and starting again?

No, don't you dare, yes.

Would you expect the tiler to bear responsibility (and therefore cost) of sorting it out?Thanks all

Yes - if he's c o c k e d it up.

For a tile this size he should have used keraquick or keraflex cement based bagged addy (if sticking with Mapei). The tubbed stuff is not suitable IMO.

What is the weight per square meter of the tiles?

What is the substrate to which they have been affixed?

If the answer to the former is greater than 20kg per square metre (including the addy/grout @ approx 2.5kg/m2) which it will inevitably be with 10mm thick tiles and the answer to the latter is dry gypsum plaster or skimmed plasterboard then you have a problem and it will need redoing anyway when the tiles end up all over the floor.

Cheers

keystone

birkee wrote: »

They have got to be translucent, for adhesive to show through. Ceramic tiles that are translucent? Bone china maybe, but ceramic? Very odd!

Not at all - I see it all too often.

Cheers

Oldsoak

You can use floor tiles for the walls, that is not a problem. What is a problem if the tiles are 600x300mm, is the adhesive he used. He should have used a bagged adhesive. The adhesive he has used will not cure properly behind those tiles and is not designed for the weight either.
Tubbed adhesive requires air to circulate around it to cure properly and it would not be able to reach the middle of the tile. Bagged adhesive has both the strength to hold those tiles and cures by chemical reaction (once started it will set, even under water).
My last point is from a safety aspect. It's not bad enough that the wrong adhesive is used, if it is dot and dabbed, then there is a real danger that the tiles could fall off the wall.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the job was done by the cheapest bidder (and there is a reason they are cheap), or by someone who 'also does a bit of tiling' (because it's easy (( or is it????)) ).
Good luck sorting this out, but I can't see the original tiler fixing it or giving you a refund!
Beaten to it. I agree with Keystone.

keystone

Oldsoak wrote: »

......then there is a real danger that the tiles could fall off the wall.

Inevitablity is a better word.

Cheers

petebates26

Thanks for all the answers folks - he's going to have a word with the tiler and see what sort of arrangement they can come to.

Another question - is it likely that the marks that can be seen through the tiles are stains, or just shadows? i.e. would it be possible to remove the tiles and reuse them again if the job was done again?

Cheers

keystone

petebates26 wrote: »

Another question - is it likely that the marks that can be seen through the tiles are stains, or just shadows?

You are seeing the "patches" of addy which is showing you that the tile is not fully supported in any event. It may be that the tiles are stained into the biscuit. That will be impossible to tel until they are removed and cleaned up.

i.e. would it be possible to remove the tiles and reuse them again if the job was done again?

Yes is the answer. Tubbed addy can be removed by soaking the tile in hot water - it can then be scraped off.

Cheers