Tile In Shower?

gtmstang

I'm doing a 3x5 shower and have hit a snag. Its in a basement and one wall is cinder block. 3 of the walls are studs so I put durock on them. The back wall is the block and it has tile aleady on it. When I try to chip off the tile I either get a little cinder block or grout from the joints. I'm worried I'll mess with the blocks integrity if it starts to chip and crack. So the question is, can I go over the existing tile?

genecarp

if it is as solid as it sounds, rough it up and go for it, the makita grinder should do the trick...

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Mellison

Sorry, it is tough to say without actually looking at the job, for a multitude of reasons.

Bill

It would seem to me that if the surface is ground rough enough for the thinset to grab, then it should work fine. Keep in mind that each tile should be checked to see if it is loose. If so it should be removed.

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R&D Tile

And, is this a shower wall, what type of floor is being used, pre-fab pan or tile?

Bud Cline

This all sounds very familiar. Is this the only thread you have going with these details?

gtmstang

I think this is the only thread. I may have asked a few weeks ago while I was quoting the job, but I dont think so. The tile is on solid and the few I got off came in peices, not easy. Its a tile floor and I put mud bed down today. Its the rear wall in the shower. So check for loose tile grind and go? Do I just grind it down or do crossed notches like a scratch coat? Sorry if these are stupid questions, I'm just a little lost. Thanks for all the advice so far.

genecarp

no need to crosshatch every tile, just break the surface(glaze) clean really well, dust will do you in. then go for it.

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R&D Tile

What mud, in the shower floor or outside of it, you have a photo of this?, nothing makes any sense here.

If a tiled floor shower, how was it constructed, I wouldn't tile over any tile in a shower.

gtmstang

The shower is in the basement which is a concrete slab. I did a mortar bed with liner for the shower floor and then built the curb also.. I'm sorry I've always just called it a mud bed. The only place I have existing tile left is on the back wall of the shower 3' wide 6' tall. One wall. I tore all the other tiles and mortar bed up from the floor and got the old tile off of three of the walls because they were sheetrocked and I was needing to put durock up anyway. The fourth is the rear wall in the shower and is adhered to cinder block with GOD knows what and I'm having a very tough time getting the existing tile off. Did this clear everything up? Everything in the shower is newly constructed, new mortar bed, three new walls, new drain, etc. Except the cinder block wall with the existing tile left on it.

R&D Tile

How was the pan liner installed if there was tile on a wall, it's supposed to be behind the new walls and is there a pre-slope under the liner?

gtmstang

Bottom pan went right back where the old one was. Then my preslope, I couldnt get my next liner to go in right so my tile dist. told me to redgard on top of the presloped bed and put my final mortar bed down and redgard it also. It was the best solution to this problem. The original mortar bed had no liner under final mortar bed. Just one mortar bed with a real crappy liner. I'm guessing they had trouble with this cinder block wall also. I ran everything I'm doing by the HO and they have checked off on it so I'll carry no liability, hopefully. They beleive my fix is better than what they had. I sure hope so.

MattCoops

First off, you should demo that old shower pan abortion as far down to nothing as possible. Better to start fresh. It's a remodel, not a repair.
I would rip all the tile off the cinder block wall and shoot wood studs into it.
Then install your pan liner over a preslope and backerboard over the wood studs. (We use DensShield)
Then install your drain and create your mud bed for the shower pan.
And tile away.

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Matt with Cupan Custom Tile & Paint of Lowell, Massachusetts
Design and installation of ceramic tile and natural stone for floor, wall, and countertops
(978) 601-8774 | cupantile@gmail.com | view tile pictures and more

gtmstang

So much help. Thanks guys. I'm almost finished with the shower. Decided to get as much of the tile off the cinder blocks as possible, install studs and then go with my pan an mortar beds. It was a bear but I feel alot better about the job. My laborer whined the whole day "This is a waste of time" and "why do you always have to do stuff the hard way". Started to make me think....was this how I was when I was a laborer and will he ever learn every job can't be easy. But anyway thanks again guys for all the advice.

Snow Man

Id make a my own a wall

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