Help!
I’ve got a master shower with a synthetic marble pan and 3″x6″ brick-laid white tile on the walls. Despite my instructions to run substrate over the face of the lip of the pan, the tile sub ran the mud bed so it was flush and butted to the 5″ high lip on the pan. He then installed the tile, with the second course bridging the pan material and the mud bed.
No surprise that within 6 months the second and first courses (from the bottom) have had bond and grout failure and are falling into the pan.
I’ve thought about using caulk or another elastic adhesive to bond the tiles to the pan lip , and then use caulk as the grout in the joint that moves above the second course. A little worried about mildew farms in the caulk joints. The other option is to rip everything out and reinstall the mud bed so it overlaps the pan, stopping ~1/4″ above the floor and then install the tile normally and have the pan movement occur behind the substrate.
I’m not up for the cost of that!
So – any ideas?
Replies
Idea number one, contact the pan manufacturer for their recommended installation. Or is that the way you told the sub to do it? Was it in writing?
If the sub did it wrong, why aren't you calling him? 6 months, no warranty?
Your proposed solution sounds like something that will look like #### forever, more wasted time and money. Joe H
Joe,
Normally I'd have had the sub correct it immediately. I should clarify that I am the homeowner, not the General Contractor. I did ask them to install the mud bed over the lip - advice which was ignored. I watched the project pretty carefully, but was away during the mud > tile phase, so things were zipped up when I got back.
When this first started, they did the first fix I described, which of course is not holding. The contractor has since died (heart attack) and the tile guy's phone # no longer works. (sigh)
So I'm off to find a quality tile installer and start over...
Thanks for your perspective.
Jim
Typical problem with two different substrates, each with its own movement and expansion factor.
Proper installation would probably dictate having wall substrate go over the pan and held above the floor about 1/4" . Check with your manufacturer.
As for a quick fix, yes, thinsetting the tile to one substrate or the other will work. Caulk, not grout the joints. You will still have moisture and mold issues, because this is not a proper installation. I am not sure if your pan lip is even designed to hold thinset (check with the manufacturer) and tiles thinsetted to the pan may lose their bond.
Me? I'd rip the whole mother out and do it right. It would drive me nuts.
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1927
Yeah,
I know it's the right thing to do. Thanks for the confirmation.
Jim