How Can I 'fix' This?

ecaryn

Alright, a good buddy of mine has an issue with his bathroom. I've attached a pic below so you can see what the problem is.

Apparently, his tub faucet pipes have no backing or support so when he was fiddlin' with them he pushed the faucet back too far and broke through his tile. The kid is in college and has no dough to spend to fix this the right way (pull all the tile, new cement board, retile, etc) and wants to try and patch it in I guess. I told him I would see what I could come up with and try to help him out but I'm not wealthy enough right now to foot the entire bill to repair the hole and tile the correct way.

What, if anything, might you suggest as a way to support the tile backerboard if I am trying to patch it in through the access I got in the pic? Thinking along the lines of how you would patch drywall by screwing boards in for support but I have nothing to screw to in that area - and definitely couldnt screw through the tile. What do you think?

Attached Thumbnails

 

mikec

You're a "carpenter/remodeler" and you can't figure out how to fix that?
lol God help us!

Cdat

Where are you located? If in the neighborhood, I'd do it as a favor for free. Good will and all that junk.

My question, other then why if you are a carpenter/remodeler, can't you fix it, is, where is this kid living? Sounds like an apartment or somewhere he is renting. If that is the case, isn't the landlord responsible for the repair?

threaderman

Was he fiddling with it or did he get too rough during monkey love?How the hell do you push in a spout ......you don't unless it was already wet and soft from water damage or grout failure,either that or that was a hell of a party.Open the wall more from front or back and support the plumbing then fix your wall.If you can't match the tile put in something with a pattern .In other words,do it as well as possible.It's often harder to temporarily repair something than to do it right the first time.

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Mike Finley

You're going to have to pull off more tile, probably 4x4 or 5x5 block of tiles, pop them off with a demo bar, keep going until you have good solid drywall all around the hole. Patch the drywall using clips or backing, put the tile back. The tub filler and valve escutcheon will come off to make it easier on you. Tub fillers rarely have the backing or support you think should have been there. The grout has been compromised so the drywall rotted out is all.

Forry

What about plastic and duct tape? Done that a few times temporarily.

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ifireplace

if you have spare title like as per image..so first fill all space with the white cement than insert the tile over there...if you require to cut the tile you cutter to cut it...

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ecaryn

Thanks to the helpful people. As for the first wiseguy, if you would have read my post more carefully I said I am not looking for the correct fix I am trying to find out if there is a way to patch this in a short amount of time for as cheap as possible and hope it holds up reasonably well. Yes, I am a carpenter, but perhaps, unlike you I have not done shoddy, rigged up repair work before, so don't know how to go about a 'patch' job on this - if he were a paying customer I would rip it out and install it the correct way from the studs out with hardibacker.

Regular drywall is supporting the tile, not even worthless greenboard. So water leaked back there and weakened the structure. I'm not sure if I could pull anymore tile off the drywall without it all coming down.

He lives in a small inherited house, no landlord or maintenance staff to fix anything. Again, I am trying to help a broke buddy out, not kill a few work days time and spend alot of money I don't have right now. Whatever I do to try and fix this, I would be buying everything needed, so we really are talking about a favor here - not just free labor. He's got plastic taped over it now - that's the extent of his budget. I'm happy to help as much as I can but theres a limit if its not for family or pay, you know?

samthedog

My suggestion is that since it looks like it's all rotted I would go a little drastic. Rip the tiles off, replace the rotted studs. Instead of tiles use laminate sheet and leave it at that. At least with large laminate sheets it can't happen again and it will be cheaper than re-tiling (at least in this neck of the woods) and a heck of a lot faster too.

Cdat

Once again I ask you your location. If you're in the neighborhood, I'll GIVE you all the material to do the job right.

ecaryn

Thanks for the offer Cdat, but I'm a few hundred miles away in Texas. The guy lives close to an hour away from where I live on top of everything else. He told me on the phone he had a couple of tiles fall off and asked if I could come by and fix them. I go out with basic supplies and some tile mastic thinking I'm just sticking a few tiles back on and thats what I see when I get there.

winn

the damage was already done before the wall fell in. if qick and/temporary fix is needed cover the wall with tile board from the bottom to about 6" above the control knob. glue it on with polturethane adhesive, seal edges and at spout and krob w/ silicone. should last about 6 months but repairs done properly are badly needed.

dkillianjr

I would do what Mike said as a temporary fix. Pop off some more tiles, cut out rotton drywall, screw in some 2x blocking or someting, patch with drywall, retile, grout and your done. Those tiles look like your standard white 4"x4" I bet you could find something close or even almost exact. Or like threaderman said, just buy something different and make a pattern.



Dave

OCRS

And strap the pipes so it doesn't cave in again, since it'll be exposed anyway.

dkillianjr

Yup, good call


Dave

Tom R

Ceiling fan escutcheon would look nice, - - don't forget to caulk from the back of the tube . . . J/K

reveivl

"don't forget to caulk from the back of the tube . . ." but how do you get the plunger through the little hole?

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dayspring

now that is funny

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wyoming 1

As a quick temporary and I stress temporary fix try a cheap piece of frp the plastic crap you see in gas station bath rooms I would go like 30 x 30 caulk it to the tiles and on all four edges that would be a quick cheap BAND AID not a fix but if money is tight that might buy you a month or two (or maybe a day or two).

j_builder

I was thinking along the same lines just to "jury rig it" with some plastic Plexiglas material sheet say like 24"x24" and silicone caulk for least 24 hours to cure before dumping any H2O... I guess that would be called "jerry built" instead of "jury rigging" though as in half azz. Might as well throw in some Fix-All jk

Do you have any access to the back wall?

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