Acrylpro, I'm not sure what to do next....

[Rickytileguy]

Hi There,

I had an installer come to my home and use Acrylpro to install the tiles in my shower. I read all the poor reviews on the forum, which I obviously took seriously. I went home and tried to pry the tiles off of the wall so that I could clean them and reattach them using the proper thinset. I've got a problem though.... they are stuck. I cannot get them off!

I knew that the Acrylpro took a long time to dry, so when he finished installing them I raised the heat in the room to 85 degrees, and have been running a dehumidifier to get the RH to around 20%. Perhaps the combination of the 2 has helped to dry the Acrylpro?

So currently I'm thinking of leaving the tiles ungrouted, with the high heat and low humidity for 6 weeks to make sure that it's properly dry. At the 6 week mark I'll grout.

Thoughts?

[Houston Remodeler]

Ricky,

That's as good a bet as any. We'd be interested in knowing how that works.

It may or may not work. Factors in your favor would be a tile that has a high absorption rate such as the typical 4x4" white glazed stuff. If you have a dense porcelain that's not so optimistic.

Posting some pictures will help us create a more accurate betting chart on when the first tile will become loose.

The more important factor - why aren't you getting your money back? I'n willing to bet you have some other issues, mostly on waterproofing that are of greater concern. Do you have any "during" pictures?

[GregO]

Is this a stand-up shower or a tub/shower unit? If the latter, I'd let it be, grout it and forget about it (and see what comes).

Otherwise...ugh. I used Acrylpro once, 10 years ago, for a bathroom floor (bonded to plywood) and never had an issue, but I would not use it for a shower floor and honestly would never use it again (at least not for anything more than a dry-area decorative wall tile).

As Paul mentioned, how the actual waterproofing was done is of greater concern.

[jadnashua]

The technical data sheet says the product should not be used for the floor of a shower http://www.custombuildingproducts.com/TDS/TDS-127.pdf or for tile larger than 6x6" if used over a waterproof membrane (otherwise, it can be used for up to 18x18" tile).

If they used it for the floor, you have a very good stand for a do-over, since the manufacturer specifically says it is NOT suitable. If it is just the walls, it should be okay.

[Steve Taylor]

As Jim said, Acryl Pro should not be used on the shower floor. It has been used successfully on shower walls for years. It meets the ANSI requirements A136.1 for a Type I mastic; which means it has good water resistance when it has dried completely. If it has only been used on the walls, over a properly prepared substrate, you will be good to grout after you let it completely dry.

[Rickytileguy]

The tile was applied to the shower walls only, not the floor.

They are very well attached to the wall. Is there an easy way to get them off? I had intended to take them off an redo them with the proper thinset but couldn't. I don't want to have to break all the tiles. If I'm going to have to break them, I may as well wait till they fall off, and replace 1 at a time :S

As well, we had 13" x 13" tiles installed on the ceiling of the shower (8' high) using the same product. Are they going to randomly fall down at some point in time? I'm very worried and not sure what to do. I cannot get them off in order to replace them with the proper thinset.

As for waterproofing, he used a mold and mildew drywall. The floor is a premoulded plastic base.

[Steve Taylor]

Ricky,
The bond strength of the Acryl Pro should hold up fine on both the walls and ceiling once it has dried. I am concerned that you have drywall behind it. Unless you applied a waterproofing membrane over the drywall the water can get to the drywall and weaken the gypsum core. Building code does not allow the use of gypsum based drywall in shower areas; we recommend a cement tile backer board.

[mctile]

Drywall with mastic .

Redo it now or redo it later...but you will be redoing that shower.

[Rickytileguy]

If the shower needs to be redone eventually, then so be it. My concern is the ceiling tiles. I don't want to worry every time my family uses the shower that 1 of the tiles will all of a sudden come crashing down and kill someone!

[Rickytileguy]

I have an idea. If I run some water over the tiles, will the mastic soften enough to let go? How quickly?

If I can manage to get the tiles off, I can then allow the drywall to dry. Then I can waterproof the shower and reinstall the tiles using thinset. My main issue is getting the tiles off - because the acrylpro is rock solid.

I really don't want to have to buy all new time

EDIT: Also - if I cant get the tiles off would it extend the life of my shower if I did a shallow layer of grout and then used a tinted silicone on top to seal all of the seams. I'm good with silicone and with a bit of painters tape I'm sure I could do a very clean job.

[jadnashua]

A couple of things...tile is not waterproof nor is grout, and should not be relied upon as a waterproofing layer. A properly built shower should be immune to water BEFORE the tile is installed. Would you shower with just drywall up on the walls? No, and the fact that they put tile up on top of it is just wrong, and does not meet any codes today. It COULD meet industry standards with drywall in there IF it was covered with an approved waterproofing membrane (at least several are available - the oldest one is Kerdi, maybe the newest one is Hydroban sheet membrane).

On the ceiling, I wouldn't worry about a tile falling off, but your walls where they get direct spray from the showerhead are more of an issue. The tile may be nearly impervious, but there will be moisture that gets behind it, and drywall only works when it actually stays dry. With nothing waterproof on top of it, that's not a given. Not every shower built that way fails, but many more fail than survive...and, it should never have been built that way in the first place based on accepted industry standards.

IMHO, you have a case for a total redo by the installer at his cost of the walls. He cannot point to any industry standards that support the construction method he used or corresponding manufacturers' spec sheets. That mastic would likely have worked fine IF it were installed over an approved backer for your shower...now, as built, only if you are lucky and don't use it much so it can dry out. Not likely if used daily, especially by more than one person.

[HooKooDoo Ku]

If you live in a jurisdiction with any sort of building codes on the books, the construction of this shower is almost certainly a code violation.

There was a time when mold/water resistant drywall a new thing and it was believed it would be a suitable sub strait for shower walls. But it didn't take long to learn that water that penetrates the grout and tile causes the disintegration of this type of drywall.

It's not a question of if, but when the shower wall will disintegrate behind the tile... based how the shower is utilized.

Since that time, modern building codes have been updated to specifically NOT allow this type of dry wall as a sub strait for tile in a "wet" area (i.e. shower).

[HooKooDoo Ku]

If the tile really has been applied directly to drywall with mastic... get you a kiddy pool, fill it with water, cut the tile out in sections by just simply cutting the drywall out. Lay the sheets in the kiddy pool and the drywall and mastic should turn into a goo that you could rinse off.

[Houston Remodeler]

Or use a power washer. Messier, but a lot more fun.

[Kman]

Ricky, if you have one of the oscillating tools that are popular, you can easily cut through the sheetrock as suggested earlier and take the tile off in sections.

How much do you have invested in this tile? How much free time do you have? Unless I had several dollars in each tile, I wouldn't waste a lot of time with it. Once the mastic is dried, it can be quite a chore to remove.

Quite frankly, your installer should be paying you for the tile. While some mastics can be used on shower walls, they wouldn't be my first choice of setting materials. The fact that you have green/purple/whatever color sheetrock directly behind it with no waterproofing is the bigger problem, which is why your installer should at the very least refund any money you paid him.