Gday, been here for a while but not posted much.
Just bought a rental and the shower in the property is leaking. Our building inspector said all that requires doing is retiling the shower with new tiles OR just re-tiling the existing ones to stop it leaking as a temporary measure.
As we are going to do the bathroom up when we can find appropriately priced shower and basin etc, we are going to go the secong option.
Problem is, I dont know how to tile at all.
Can anyone help out with a few basic tips on what we would need to do to rip off the old tiles and then re-tile them??
Thanks
FATMAN
Hi Fatman
1. knock off the old tiles – hammer and old chisel, leave the floor tiles there. if floor is tiled
2. patch the wall so it is even.
3.by a water proofing kit from bunnings to seal the shower approx $70.00 follow the instructions. seal over floor tiles
4. re-tilehint – remove waste and place rolled up cardboard in the hole to stop muck going in there. Leave it sticking up so its easy to remove.
there are plenty of diy sites with pictures and instuction on tiling.
hint – absolulely do the step where you nail or screw a straight edge to the wall. so you only cut the bottom row.Celeste
Hi Fatman
If you are only going to renovate at a later stage have you just considered removing the remains of the existing grout and regrouting then remove/replacing the remains of the silicone which should be down every corner (instead of grout) and between the base and the wall tiles. I haven’t seen the shower of course but we acted as assessors for IAG (CGU RACV GIO etc) for the north west vic for a couple of years and most leaking showers we saw had cracked grout (small cracks can have a capillary like action on water even on a horizontal crack) and nearly all had deteriorated silicone seals. The silicone in a shower should be replaced every 2-3 years. If the tiles feel solid and aren’t cracked then this may be all you need in the short term. There are also franchise companies who can seal the area; but I dont know much about them (just seen the advertisements)
The other option is to remove tiles and line the shower with ceramilite or similar laminex sheet which then you will only have to silicone between the sheets and the screen. Mouldings come for internal and external corners and cappings. Doesn’t look as nice as tiles but is quicker with less maintenance.
Be careful with either option if you have a polymarble or acrylic showerbase with a showerscreen; if you use tiles or sheet of a different thickness to the original tiles you may not be able to reuse the original showerscreen.
If you sheet it you have to glue the sheet to the plaster wall and brace for 24 hours and if you tile you would have to leave between tiling, grouting and siliconing for up to a day at a time depending on the weather.have fun Julie
daryl fisher homesGood luck
Julie Fisher
Daryl Fisher HomesIf you’re going to renovate the bathroom later (within 12 months) then I’d probably look at finding the source of the leak and then using Silicone & some re-grouting to “plug” the leak. No point tiling the shower then pulling it all down later. Don’t leave it too long before you renovate though as water damage can cause structural problems.
I too taught myself to tile by grabbing a copy of the DIY video from Bunnings available in the tiling section and then practicing at home. I’m not the fastest tiler but the results are as good as any professional.
AmandaBS
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Thanks for the replies.
We are weighing up at the moment whether to re-tile or re-do the whole bathroom.
Just getting costs for new tiles and vanities, taps etc to weigh it up against and regrouting and sealing the old tiles.
I know the 2nd option will be cheaper, but the extra rent is the thing, it will only be $10 – $15 a week, so $500 – $800 a year. But the extra value in the house.
Thanks for the tips they are greatly appreciated.[biggrin]
FATMAN
I'm time poor and used a company called mega seal to do the leaking shower for me.
also used mega seal for our leaking shower in our IP. They pritty well reseal it all up with a clear sealant. Work a treat and no dramas ever since. Obviously this is assuming the leak is just through the grout etc and not a leaking pipe etc
Jayro
To the original poster, the first thing you need to do is to ascertain what the cause of the leak is. If it's a leaking pipe then you need to get it fixed before worrying about the tiling.
If it's cracked grout and you're prepared to put in a fair few hours of elbow grease, get a grout remover and remove some or all of the grout (bare minimum of the grout that has already cracked and a range in each distance past the cracked area as well), clean the area up (a vacuum helps a lot!) then regrout.
If you're keen, you can also remove all the grout in the entire area and regrout the whole thing (this will also assist in terms of getting colours all matching – old grout tends to be discoloured to a degree and you can't colour match it perfectly).
If it is a cracked tile or tiles, your only real option will be to remove the grout surrounding those tiles, gently and carefully remove the broken tiles (be careful as they're sharp), clean the substrate and prepare a new tile to be fixed in place of the broken one.
Your other options are to get the entire enclosure sealed, or to do the complete renovation of the bathroom at the time. If you are going to completely renovate, make sure you use a substrate material like cement sheeting that won't be affected by water if the worst happened with the new bathroom. Secondly, make sure you use at least a double coat of a waterproof membrane material over the top of a bead breaker on the joins (aka line of silicone along all the joins PRIOR to any waterproof membrane being laid) then put an initial layer of waterproofer down with reinforcement in the corners (matting or the like). Allow this layer to dry at least 1hr depending on ambient conditions, then apply a second waterproofing layer ontop of the first. Aim for an approximately 2mm membrane on each layer to ensure a good seal. Allow the membrane to cure for at least 24hrs before using a good quality adhesive over the membrane for tiling. Something like Ardex Superflex premixed would be a good membrane.
When purchasing the adhesive, make sure it is a flexible based adhesive, ie it must be polymer based, or cemetitious based with a polymer agent added. Ardex D2 or X56 springs to mind. Once the tiles are set, allow at least 24hrs for the adhesive to cure before you grout. For grouting, it's your call in terms of colours etc. When grouting, don't make your grout sloppy, keep it firm and damp, but not wet. If you do make your grout too wet, add more grout to the mix, a little at a time, till it firms up. When grouting the tiles, grout on a 45 degree angle to the space, this way you will force the grout all the way down into the gap and use less effort to grout the area. Once you've grouted, clean up any grout that is left on top of the tiles with a damp cloth or sponge before it dries, you can also use the sponge to tidy up the grouting a little if needed. Also, don't grout into the very bottom of the joins of walls etc – use Silicone sealant here as if there is any movement of the structure then your grout shouldn't crack and you will generally still retain water proof enclosure.
Hope this helps somewhat.
Retiling can be done without the mess and hard work of knoking off the old tiles.
As long as the existing tiles are sound, do what I've done to my home bathroom and to an ip shower recess and use Pre-bond and tile over the old tiles.
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