damp behind wall tiles

[markosimone]

Hello,

I started to re-grout some tiles when I noticed some were loose. I removed 4 tiles directly above shower tray of which behind 2 the plasterboard is damp and comes away very easily. Other tiles around this area are solid (at least they appear to be, no movement etc). The room below the bathroom shows no sign of dampness.

So how to tackle this problem ? I now have a gap (4 cmx10cm) in the wall where the damp plasterboard was. I have done some investigating online and this seems to be fairly common and a fix would be to remove a few more tiles surrounding the problem area to investigate for further dampness in plasterboard, and if found, remove it and patch it up with new board, and tile, however im a little worried at doing this as i don't want to open up a can on worms - planning on moving out within 6 months.

Would i be able to tile over the gap? So i take a big tile and bond with grout to the good tile and silicone it so its sealed with the shower tray?

any advice is appreciated !

 

[Burnerman]

Really you need to remove any offending tiles, cut out the damaged plasterboard and replace it with some aqua panel or similar......problems like this are more common than people realise!
Just making a tile span a gap without any support won't last too long.
John

 

[inspiredvision]

You would really need to take off the shower cabinet and strip away the bottom course around the shower and strip away old plaster board leave to dry for a day or two then re sheet area with plaster board then re tile with a good adhesive and grout left to dry then sealed with a good silicon sealant, don't try to seal over wet grout make sure you allow this to dry as it won't stick to the wet grout, it's wee bit time consuming but easy fix, a small repair like just one or two tiles of and put back on will just temp fix problem for a few weeks tops, you really need to strip back wet area and fix the whole area that's damp not just loose tiles,

Hope this is of help but don't panic about doing it should be a easy enough job just takes wee bit of time to do

 

[foxhole]

Tiles over plasterboard will always fail the grout is not water proof just resistant so gets wet and weakens the wall.Should always use aqua panel or similar in wet areas.

 

[avisccs]

I have cleared the wet plaster, leave it to fry with heater fan. Then plaster board it. Then use a few tube of bathroom sealent and spread a thin layer on the plaster board for the shower area. Now I have put tile on. I hope that the tiles won't fall off with the sealent. I will put a lot of grout in it and hope that this reduce the moisture gets to the plasterboard.

 

[inspiredvision]

Have you stuck the tiles with the sealant or just put a layer over the plasterboard then used tile adhesive over top of the sealant film to stick the tiles ?

The tile adhesive won't stick to the sealant if this is the case

 

[avisccs]

Have you stuck the tiles with the sealant or just put a layer over the plasterboard then used tile adhesive over top of the sealant film to stick the tiles ?

The tile adhesive won't stick to the sealant if this is the case

I put a layer of sealant on plasterboard then stick the tile with tile adhesive. The tiles seem to have stayed on. I will give a pull and see if the tile comes off...

 

[inspiredvision]

Let me know how you get on and if they stick

 

[avisccs]

Let me know how you get on and if they stick

Despite my best afford, it doesn't come out.