Bathroom tile/plaster repair

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Hello all! From reading these forums it seems like everyone finds their way here in their hour of trouble...looks like it's my turn :-)

I am having quite a bit of an issue with my bathroom that went completely unnoticed until this morning. My house was built in the 20's so all the walls are plaster, and the bathroom tub was simply tile over plaster. In the tub there is a window (brilliant design), so when the wife and I moved in last fall we used two plastic shower curtains to ensure that water would not be damaging the stool/interior casing. Unfortunately it seems that the inside shower curtain didn't do it's job, and on top of that it hid the issue until now.

This morning while showering I noticed what looked like sand at my feet. Being ever so curious I pulled back the curtain and saw that the tile was bulging out in a spot, letting the sandy material drop into the tub. Figuring the I should fix it I pulled the bulging tile off and was greeted with 3 more tiles dropping off with it. I then removed 3 other tiles that were obviously unattached.

Please see attached pictures since I cannot directly link them here without 15 posts (I will soon though I'm sure!)

I have always been a drywall man so plaster is a complete mystery to me. Can anyone give me a general scope of work of what I'm looking at here cause it sure looks awful to me.

[HayZee518]

you say its time to replace the whole wall? IMO that's the next step. your problem begins with no vapor barrier to the outside walls so any difference in temperature is going to create condensation in that wall and further the destruction. early houses never heard of insulation OR a vapor barrier. modern older houses used metal lath over a sheathing material or directly to the studs. the plaster base coat was keyed to the lath and the finish skim coat over that. there's too much moisture in that wall to fix it. rip all that stuff down and use insulation and concrete board BEFORE any tile

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Thanks for the reality check, figured it was a complete tear down.

Since this is my first go at plaster wall repair, can you recommend a good DIY tutorial? I'm sure one day I'll laugh at this starting point after I've replaced every wall in the house

[HayZee518]

Home & Garden TV has several good techniques in wall repair/replacement. It's really no mystery. AND just because the bathroom wall needs replacing doesn't mean the whole house needs a makeover. A lot of older homes are still in good shape.