How to reattach bathroom tile that fell off?

Jay999

Hello community,

I am newer DYI'er with limited success so far on a few bits and bobs. However, I had a couple of tiles fall off my bathroom wall and I was thinking to try to it fix by myself. I attempted to remove some of the adhesive left behind after the tile fell off and now I am worried I have made a mess of it all. Please see attached images. The tiles are just above the bathtub.

Is the plasterboard ok still to be repaired (I assume with some type of plaster filler) or will I need to cut it out and replace it?

Separately, would someone be able to give me the high level steps to fix this issue and replace the tiles? I am trying to work out if it's beyond my limited capabilities to fix!

Thank you.

JacobZ

Hi @Jay999,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is wonderful to have you with us.

This is definitely something you can repair yourself and I'd encourage you to give it a crack.

Allow me to give some context as to the likely reason the tiles fell off the wall. When tile adhesive is spread on a wall, it is applied with a notched trowel, which gives the adhesive that ridged pattern you can see on the wall. The idea is that when the tiles are pressed onto the wall, the ridges are compressed and spread sideways into each other which creates suction between the tile and the wall. Spreading a smooth layer of tile adhesive on the back of the tile, which is known as back buttering, in addition to the ridged application on the wall can aid with suction and is usually recommended. As you can still see the ridges on the wall, this is a pretty good indication that the ridges were not compressed adequately, so the suctioning action did not take place.

From here, I would continue to remove the old adhesive as you have already done, doing your best to limit damage to the plasterboard. If you can keep the damage to a level similar to that on the right, then there shouldn't be a great need to apply any plaster filler over the surface as it is already relatively even. If there were deep gouges, you could apply some https://www.bunnings.com.au/gyprock-csr-3kg-wet-area-base-coat_p0730948 to even it out, but the damage I can see currently is not so severe that I'd suggest it is needed.

Once the old adhesive has been removed, prime the surface using https://www.bunnings.com.au/dunlop-1l-primer-additive_p6829434 . This will seal the surface and increase the adhesion between the tile adhesive and the wall.

You can then take a https://www.bunnings.com.au/qep-8mm-square-notch-handyman-adhesive-trowel_p6650392 and apply an even layer of tile adhesive such as this https://www.bunnings.com.au/dunlop-750g-wall-tile-adhesive_p6829303 to the wall with the notched side of the trowel, with the notches running vertically, and a smooth layer around 2-3mm thick on the back of the tile using the smooth part of the trowel.

You should then firmly press the tiles onto the wall, then move them very slightly from left to right to compress those ridges and create suction between the masses of tile adhesive. While doing this, add a couple of tile spacers in the same size as your grout lines to keep the grout lines even. Make sure the tile spacers are pushed below the surface of the tiles, the tile adhesive between the tiles is removed with something like a flathead screwdriver and that any excess tile adhesive that squeezes out is promptly cleaned up with a sponge. Doing these little bits will make grouting much easier as you won't need to pull out the spacers or scrape out and clean up any tile adhesive.

Once everything is sufficiently dry as per the recommendations on your tile adhesive, apply grout between the tiles using a grout float, allow it to dry, then clean up with a damp sponge.

Check out https://www.bunnings.com.au/diy-advice/diy-skills/tiling/how-to-tile-a-wall and https://www.bunnings.com.au/diy-advice/diy-skills/tiling/how-to-grout-tiles for some further guidance on the process.

Jacob