Several tiles below water line fell off - what to do, when and what materials to use

[quentin_1]

Good morning all

My pool is about 5-6 years old, and about half a dozen small tiles fell off the other day - all adjacent tiles in a row. It is just in one area of the pool, thankfully, and the tiles and grout around the pool appear in good shape. The area where the tiles fell off isn't in good shape as I think more tiles will fall fall off as the water gets "behind" the other adjacent tiles. Hence, I think I might need to do something to prevent further deterioration. Asking for help/advice please:

-is it possible to re-tile a small area (about 6 small tiles in a row) below water line and then apply grout? Or is it always better to wait when the pool is drained for winter and thus the area with missing tiles isn't under water?

-what products to use for cement (to attach the tiles) and grout? Could you please recommend particular brand or brands, and where to buy? Are these products specifically for pool tiles or are these regular type cement and grout used in bathrooms and showers etc?

I searched the forum but wasn't able to find any posts about retiling. Appreciate your advice in advance!

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

[gwegan]

Lower the water to a few inches below the tile. Scrape or grind off the original thinset. Grout any voids. Install with any quality modified thinset, or a standard thinset with acrylic polymer instead or water. Use sanded grout for 1/8" + grout lines, unsanded for smaller. Nothing different from tiling a shower.

Go to any Home Depot or Lowes and they can show you what to buy based on the instructions above.

One national brand not sold in HD or Lowes is Laticrete.

Find a Laticrete dealer and ask what to use.

One Laticrete suggestion might be:

First: 226 thickbed mortar w/ 3701 admix ----- To act as a grout to clean up your surface and fill voids if you need to
Then: 9235 for waterproofing
Then: 254 platinum thin$et
Then: Apply tile
Then: Grout SpectraLock Pro or (Tri-poly (1500 or1600 series) mixed with 1776 grout admix plus).

That is one commercial solution using Laticrete products as specified by Laticrete -- its not the only way to do it with Laticrete products and there are plenty of other products out there. To do it as specified above you may have to special order the specific product.

While I'm sure there are products that will work below water - with tile is is generally agreed its best to start with a clean dry surface.

 

[quentin_1]

Thanks gwegan!