Removing Shower Tiles

[sissy]

I have a shower that is tiled from floor to ceiling. After removing a few of the tiles I have noticed that the paper is coming off of the backerboard. Will all of the backerboard have to be replaced or is there anything you can apply over to salvage it?

[jimbo]

It is improper to place tile over wall board, even green board, in a shower. It was done in the past, and the long term results were usually trouble.

There is no good way to restore the wall board, and the entire shower should be redone with proper substrate.

[johnfrwhipple]

How much of the tile have you removed from the walls?

Jimbo hit the nail on the head as there should be no Paper in your wall board. If you have failing tiles now I would bet you have mould in behind that backer. Keep the kids out of the room and tape of the repair area with plastic until your done.

You may be able to save the wall board and tile 5' above your tub deck or 6' above your shower floor but this approach is multi stepped and it is usually easier to just re-board it.

If funds are tight consider reusing those tiles of yours. I'm sure you could soak them in buckets of water and they would clean up nicely...

If they are stuck to the wall with white glue then this approach will only net a big mess.

Can you post a few pictures?

JW

[sissy]

The tiles have to go...they are awful. I think it is some type of natural stone and they were not properly put in. I think that the wall behind the tiles may be mold resistant drywall and not backerboard. The paper is tearing off the top and underneath it is white and crumbling. No mold or mildew the shower was not used but a few times since there is a leak coming from the bottom of it into the basement. Which is the reason that I finally decided to tear it all out.

[johnfrwhipple]

Demo is the fun part!

Rip it all down and then re access your game plan...

Plan the new space out from A to Z before you start rebuilding it...


Good Luck.

JW

The tiles have to go...they are awful. I think it is some type of natural stone and they were not properly put in. I think that the wall behind the tiles may be mold resistant drywall and not backerboard. The paper is tearing off the top and underneath it is white and crumbling. No mold or mildew the shower was not used but a few times since there is a leak coming from the bottom of it into the basement. Which is the reason that I finally decided to tear it all out.

[hj]

If there is a leak into the basement, loose tiles are only part of your problem.

[geniescience]

Search "shower membrane" and read.
The shower must be rebuilt with something called a "membrane".
Walls and floor.

What you had was a shower made for show, not for use.

There are liquid membranes like rubbery paint.
There are rolls of sheets you "glue" together.
There are concrete-faced styrofoam boards (Wedi and others) with seams caulked with Sikaflex and other products.
They all work.
They are different methods.
Tip 1: Use one method and not a hodgepodge of methods.
Tip number Two: read the instructions before asking internet people to guide you or answer questions which may be written in the instructions.

--

Anything called be called mold resistant. It is legal to call it that without any proof of any kind. Was it misleading? Yes. I would love to see a batch of class action suits against all the drywall manufacturers. People have gotten health problems because builders and buyers were misled for a long time.

[jadnashua]

As mentioned, there are numerous ways to make a 'proper' shower that will last leakfree for decades, and many, many more ways to mess up. A few simple, general rules: the waterproof layer must be sloped to the drain - this is NOT the tile, but underneath it; that waterproof layer must extend above the curb height and over the curb (at least a couple of inches); depending on the method you use, you generally should have a vapor barrier behind the wall (some methods put it on top of the wall, which has advantages since less can get damp - thus the shower dries out faster). Wedi is neat stuff, Kerdiboard is similar, hydroban, and numerous other products (my preference is Kerdi, but lots of others work well, too) are available. A 'conventional' shower has a pvc liner and cbu walls with a vapor barrier behind. There are variations on that theme. Then, lots of surface treatments from membranes and paint-on materials. A surface membrane can have drywall as the substrate, but none of the other methods should have any drywall in the mix (unless it is above the showerhead).