Tile Glue Smell in New Shower

January 3, 2012 by Debra Lynn Dadd

Question from Scent Free Girl

My husband installed a tile shower in my bathroom in mid September of 2011, and I can still smell the tile adhesive he used. He's a contractor and he used premixed tile adhesive. He didn't realize it would continue to put off a chemical odor after four months (he himself could hardly smell the chemicals and I wasn't there when he was getting ready to use the glue). I smell the adhesive smell through the grout lines and I don't know what to do. I contacted AFM who said they didn't have a product to seal in the smell (Safe Seal isn't appropriate for tile grout and their grout sealer does not prevent out-gassing). 

I am wondering what are my options to get rid of this chemical smell. Should I try to bake out the smell with heaters or do I need to ask my husband to bust out the tile and start again? Will this noxious smell dissipate over time?

Debra's Answer

Bust out the tile and start over.

I'll just say this again. Do NOT NOT NOT use tile adhesive. It's very toxic. Thanks for posting your first-hand experience.

Tile should ONLY be laid with thinset mortar.