Tiling not done right what should I do.

Sistergold

Hello all just needing a bit of help

Took off old tiles some time ago. Past few days I evened the walls using angle grinder with appropriate attachments to remove old adhesive and  remove paint in some places. This generated a lot of dust ofcause. I then hoovered the walls somewhat to remove grits and some dust. 

What I have now discovered is, I should have
1. Wiped until all fine dust was gone -I did not do this

2. should have primed the walls, which I did not do

3. Adhesive mix should be used within 2 hours of mixing, - I used mine over many hours as this was my first tiling job, tiles were hexagonal with patterns needing matching. This added to the extra time taken. 

So all the things that can be done wrong I did wrong. 

In my excitement, I just did not think of looking at the above points before the diy started. Now I am waiting to grout with a bit a bit of time on my hands I see all the above mistakes on searching online. 

The tiling looks good BUT knowing what I know now do I 

A- grout and hope the tiles will hold despite all and ofcause deal with problem when it comes. 

B- put the whole job down as practice run, knock down the tiles and start afresh without progressing the job any further. This will mean buying new tiles ofcause 

ThisIsWeird

Sistergold said:

Hello all just needing a bit of help

Took off old tiles some time ago. Past few days I evened the walls using angle grinder with appropriate attachments to remove old adhesive and  remove paint in some places. This generated a lot of dust ofcause. I then hoovered the walls somewhat to remove grits and some dust.

What I have now discovered is, I should have
1. Wiped until all fine dust was gone -I did not do this
2. should have primed the walls, which I did not do
3. Adhesive mix should be used within 2 hours of mixing, - I used mine over many hours as this was my first tiling job, tiles were hexagonal with patterns needing matching. This added to the extra time taken.

So all the things that can be done wrong I did wrong.

In my excitement, I just did not think of looking at the above points before the diy started. Now I am waiting to grout with a bit a bit of time on my hands I see all the above mistakes on searching online.

The tiling looks good BUT knowing what I know now do I
A- grout and hope the tiles will hold despite all and ofcause deal with problem when it comes.
B- put the whole job down as practice run, knock down the tiles and start afresh without progressing the job any further. This will mean buying new tiles ofcause 

What a fab post :-)

All I can suggest is, if it looks good, then grout away.

You could wait a couple of days to confirm that everything has had enough time to 'set', and then try prising the most 'suspect' tile (the last to be fitted...) away to check its integrity, before deciding, but - in reality - tiles have a great way of just remaining firmly attached. So, press that grout firmly in there, and enjoy.

I'd only have concerns if the tiles were in a shower enclosure, where they'd need to be 100%.

Happy New Diying, and that's a great learning curve :-)

twopenny

I've got away with all sorts of things that were not done in the correct way.

Usually I'm short of time/equipment/cba etc and convinced that I will make good at a future date. And it's all still there

As you've done such a thorough job on the preparation (up to a point) there's a good chance they will hold until you want to change them. Then they may come off easier at that point.

For the sake of some grout and time I'd go with it. It's a job I enjoy easy and looks good. 

Should the tiles start to make a bid for freedom remove and begin again. You've lost nothing but an afternoon. 

It won't be so difficult a second time because you did the hard prepare and you'll be resigned, not grinding your teeth.

Sistergold

Thank you for responding @ThisIsWeird, @twopenny, yes steep learning curve. Will take note for next tiling I guess. Yes looks exactly as I hoped BUT? Like you said maybe just grout away? Do you suggest I prise or do I PRISE a tile? 

ThisIsWeird

 Do they sound secure If you tap them with your fingertips? No hollow or dead sound?
If you 'think' it's ok, just grout away
Push the grout firmly in, so it fills any void around and behind the tile joints, and it'll add to the adhesion.

silvercar

If it makes you feel better, my first tiling attempt, I tiled on top of old anaglypta wallpaper! It stayed stuck down - at least until we moved a year later.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Leave for 72 hours, spend 5 minutes hammering the wall with your fist, if none fall off you are probably OK to grout. 

I've never used a primer before tiling, time for using the adhesive shouldn't matter that much, manufacturer will err on the side of caution and presumably if it had become too stiff to work with you would have stopped tiling, the dust, I don't know, I'm guessing a fine layer which will probably be fine, mistreatment of the wall as mentioned above will probably answer that one  

Sistergold

Thank you all for telling your experiences, does make me feel hopeful. I spent the whole day doing my greatest work at the time only to then think , mmm what were the steps again? 

I have tried to pull them off with my fingertips, non fell off. 

Knocking on them well they make different sounds but probably some do sound hollow or do they? Knowing all the missed steps my listening skills are now a bit biased. 

Like you all said though the makers of the adhesive know there are people like me and probably diy is part of their regular sales and so they have a vested interest to make the tiles hang! 

Sistergold

Now I still have a bit of tiling to do around the electrical sockets as they need cutting out (about seven tiles). I was thinking to continue and tile them without priming, make same mistakes as it were? My thinking was so that I don’t have a few tiles holding on too strong, incase after some months some start falling off? Then it will be the same effort on all of them to take them down? 🤷‍♀️ The plan is to grout them after a few days as I am still cleaning the grout lines. 

If every one just becomes lose I will just remove the whole lot, order a new batch and do better than I did this time. For now though they are holding on! Despite my harder finger pull. 

ThisIsWeird

Sistergold said:

Now I still have a bit of tiling to do around the electrical sockets as they need cutting out (about seven tiles). I was thinking to continue and tile them without priming, make same mistakes as it were? My thinking was so that I don’t have a few tiles holding on too strong, incase after some months some start falling off? Then it will be the same effort on all of them to take them down? 🤷‍♀️ The plan is to grout them after a few days as I am still cleaning the grout lines. 

If every one just becomes lose I will just remove the whole lot, order a new batch and do better than I did this time. For now though they are holding on! Despite my harder finger pull. 

You don't need to prime, but do at least wipe the surfaces down with a damp cloth to make sure there's no dust or debris on them.

When cutting for switches and sockets, are you going to tile under them? Obviously that's a far superior finish, but you do need to be very wary of leccy, so DO cut the power fully first - or you may find out the bad way that a dob of adhesive is a surprisingly good conductor. 

Good chance you'll need longer securing screws to replace.

Sistergold

Thank you @ThisIsWeird, I will make sure I switch off the fuse box if I should go under the socket. I had already ordered some longer screws.