Way too much adhesive residue on mosaic tiles

[dalston]

I know there is already plenty of advice online about removing excess adhesive, so sorry about starting new thread. But this problem has given me hours and hours of work with little results so all advice appreciated. When putting up shiny 25mm mesh backed mosaic tiles in my shower area I couldn't avoid adhesive coming trough the cracks between mosaics in certain areas. Some areas look OK, but the worst areas look like the picture number 1 below.

I know that common advice tells you to remove excess adhesive when it is still wet, but when I did the mosaic tiles started to shift under my pressure so I had to leave it to dry instead. The day after, spending hours of scrubbing and scraping with undiluted FILA Grout Residue remover the best I could manage is the result you see in picture 2 below. Relatively clean grooves, but plenty of residue on the tile surfaces.

Two questions:

1) What is the toughest remover in the market? I could really do with something with a bit more bite than the FILA stuff. I have read about Cement Away, will that make a difference? And if I use stuff this strong, should I worry about the stuff loosening the bond of the tiles themselves? Also, will the tiles tolerate something as tough as steel wool?

2) What do you think of this strategy:
I am worried about adhesive seeping into the groves and behind tiles. And I am also worried that my scrubbing too hard before the grout is in will make the tiles come off. I am therefore thinking I should grout when the tiles are as in picture number 2. That is, clean grooves but with stained surfaces. Then I will scrub off both grout and surface adhesive when the grout has dried.

PICTURE 1
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PICTURE 2
View media item 48013

 

[mattylad]

I hope someone comes along to correct me but ISTR that its a rip them off and start again time.

Does the adhesive container mention something about not leaving it on the tile surface?

Methinks you used too much.

 

[Fluffster]

I agree with Matty rip em off and start again. What size spreader did you use? A small toothed one is needed with that size mosaics. They only require a thin layer of quality adhesive to fix.

Pete

 

[phatboy]

I'd rip them off and try again not just because getting the adhesive off will be a total nightmare, but they aren't straight either

 

[pjspickwoes1]

The advice to rip them off and start again is sound. Your never gonna get all that adhesive off without many many hours and damage to the tile. Tearing off the tiles and starting over is gonna be the quickest and most attractive solution. You may be able to scrape the backer board or plywood or whatever your substrate is, or you may need to install new backerboard. You applied more than twice the adhesive you need for those tiles and that's the cause of your problem.

The adhesive trowel you should use is the one with the smallest teeth possible. In fact the teeth will be little V shaped notches instead of the larger square ones. The trowels when new are labeled with the tile dimensions they are meant for. And when using them, they should be held at a consistent angle throughout the whole job, with the tips of the teeth actually scraping against your substrate. You'll find that with the meshed mosaic tiles with that small an amount of adhesive some of them won't stick. What I do in that case is use a very sharp razor to cut free the individual tiles that refuse to stick, and after all the rest have set into the adhesive,"usually overnight" I go back and glue in the few that wouldn't stick the day before. To save myself from having to mix a new batch of adhesive I just use liquid nails glue on the individual tiles.

Regarding cleaning excess adhesive while its wet. Yes it tends to pull the tiles around and screw up the pattern. Wipe softer, with a damp sponge, not soaking wet, just damp and don't expect it to clean up in one wipe. It can take many passes of the sponge to get off the adhesive without dragging the tiles around. But ideally you won't have that much adhesive. With practice I've come to be able to apply the right amount of adhesive and find that I have almost none squeezing out from behind the tiles. I'll also keep a small screw driver or nail punch or even a chopstick and scoop away any obvious clumps I see just after pressing the tiles in. That reduces the amount that has to be cleaned by the sponge.

I only install these mosaic tiles with a second person. So the second person can clean behind me, and I can continue on with the installation and finish before my mixed adhesive dries too much to use. The person cleaning can also take the opportunity to give the tiles any corrective nudges, or press them firmly into the adhesive if they appear to be sagging off. To have the surfaces of the tiles be flush to each other they should be pressed in with a scrap of board like a 2"x4" so that you can't push on only one tile at a time. When the board rests on multiple tiles at once it "levels" or flushes the surfaces to each other.

A trick I have also used is to set a nail inside the grout lines at the top of the meshed tile so that the whole mesh tile essentially hangs from that nail at the top. But be careful with this technique because it could encourage you to believe all your tiles are set fine when in fact they might not be firmly set in the adhesive. The nail is only there to stop slippage but its still up to you to carefully place and set all your tiles firmly.

And if you come back the next day and some tiles are floating free of the adhesive, but hanging in place by the mesh, just cut them free of the mesh and glue them on individually as described above.

Cleaning your grout also takes patience. Scrub too hard, or too deep, or with a too wet sponge and you remove more than intended. Use plenty of clean water, rinse your sponge often, wring it out and make many many passes instead of expecting it to clean in one swipe.

I make my living doing residential remodeling. The most universal lesson I've had shoved down my throat over and over again is that patience always shows in the finish quality. Rush your work and it looks like it.

 

[mattylad]

Some good advice there from a Texan

 

[handyman77]

Cant fault the septic tank for his method!

 

[robhall]

can't help but think it would have been cheaper to usea professional !!!

 

[dannytylerwells]

can't help but think it would have been cheaper to usea professional !!!

but surley thats what diy is all about, trying out new things and learning from ur mistakes, they wont make that mistake again, i say well done for trying, take the advice given, try agin and post pictures when re done then give your self a pat on the back,

 

[Terry7556]

after jr ewing and george w i didnt think there too many sensible people in texas but its nice to be proved wrong (again)

 

[jctilingservices]

take it all off, clean all the old adhesive off, buy yourself a mosaic trowel 3mm x 3mm, spread your adhesive with that, put your mosaics in place then gently press on then with a squeegy ( grouting float), using a mosaic trowel you should have minimal adhesive coming through the joints, definately none on the faces of the tiles, makes your cleaning job much easier

 

[mattylad]

take it all off, clean all the old adhesive off

How?

I think its a tad too late for that.

 

[Mop]

Try some Chlorine ...... I use it to remove left on tile grout that has gone really hard ...... No don't use it neat & don't use too much or it will seep in & the adhesive will melt ...... With chlorine I find the job almost relaxing ..... Which is very sad ..... Last time I bought some I got it here http://www.showerdoc.com/

 

[Tiler08]

Also here: http://www.carter-dal.co.uk/ you can find some special poducts removing tile adhesive, not pure chlorine, but based on it.