Faulty tile adhesive

We are refurbishing our house at the moment. Initially it was planned to be a DIY job so we went to B&Q and bought tiles, adhesive and a few other bits you need for tiling. My partner then decided to get a tiler in.

We came home one evening to see the shower fully tiled which was great but the next morning the tiler rang to say that all the tiles were loose and he had to take them off. He also had to go to builders providers to buy a new adhesive.

I took the damaged tiles and an empty tub of adhesive (as well as remaining unopened tubs) back to B&Q and they replaced the tiles and refunded the adhesive. However, we have to pay the tiler for an exra day's work €200 which I said to the manager and I said that I'd like that refunded by the store.

It's been several weeks and all I'm getting from them is that the adhesive was sent back to the manufacturer for testing and if the tests prove that the adhesive was faulty, the manfacturer will arrange a refund for us. I feel utterly fobbed off and disgruntled by this, especially given that the small bit of adhesive in an opened tub wasn't solid even three days after originally used.

I am thinking of taking B&Q to small claims court but am not sure if it is worth my while. Any advice is most appreciated.

Did the tiler make any comment about the quality of the adhesive when he was using it?

Caveat said:

Did the tiler make any comment about the quality of the adhesive when he was using it?

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He didn't say anything about it while he was working with it. I'm guessing that the texture and the density of it were right (or whatever other factors). However, it should have set overnight and when he came back to grout the tiles, they were all loose and the adhesive was almost soggy underneath.

Should I mention that the brand new marine plywood was installed underneath and the packaging didn't say anything about the adhesive not being suitable on such surface.

Yachtie said:

Should I mention that the brand new marine plywood was installed underneath and the packaging didn't say anything about the adhesive not being suitable on such surface.

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It could well have made a difference. I've just finishing tiling bathroom and used three different types of adhesive. one for the floor (tiled onto floorboards), one for the outside (block) walls and one for tiling onto the internal (timber walls).

You need a flexible adhesive for tiling onto ply, wood, etc. Standard CTA will not work. Maybe this was the problem. How much was the adhesive? Flexible CTA is usually expensive.


S.B.

If it was a tub of readymix called dura------ something or other, that crap takes 3-4 days to dry and is a messy bugger to work with

It was about €60 per bucket (not sure how many liters/kilos) but the standard big bucket.

The main problem was that even three days later, bits of adhesive in the bucket were still soft and soggy eventhough the bucket was left open. I would have thought that by then they'd be rock solid.

Expensive for a standard cta. Must be dodgy adhesive.


S.B.