How to fix falling shower tiles on old drywall backing
Glues and mortars won't hold onto crumbling drywall or old mortar, and trying to cut out sections to retrofit cement board makes it nearly impossible to get new tiles to fit right. This leaves DIYers stuck between spending hours chipping away old material with a multi-tool or risking a wall that won't hold bonding surface.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- People have been saying this in most months since September 2026.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
How to fix falling shower tiles on old drywall backing
- 1Ripping everything out except the floor and installing new drywall everywhere except the shower area.Did this help you?
- 2scraping off only what is loose while leaving old mortar that is still tightly bondedDid this help you?
- 3pulling down all loose tiles to completely reinstall themDid this help you?
- 4mortaking loose tiles back into place temporarily until ready for a full renovationDid this help you?
- 5Scraping out old thinset, cleaning the area thoroughly, mixing a small amount of thinset, and reinstalling the tiles.Did this help you?
- 6getting them polished by a professionalDid this help you?
- 7using a cream cleaner and a microfibre clothDid this help you?
- 8replacing the affected tilesDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Much of the tile in the shower area has already started to fall off, and since the backing is drywall, you really can't (and don't want to) reglue tile to it.”source ↗
“I initially attempted to cut out the drywall and install cement board and retrofit new tiles, but it's been a real pain with getting things to fit properly and with more tiles falling.”source ↗
“I'm wondering if I need to completely remove the old motor before applying new mortar and reattaching.”source ↗
“Will filling the gaps in the old mortar provide sufficient bonding surface for the tiles? Short of removing it with a multi-tool, it won't come off easily.”source ↗
“I lost two tiles from my shower floor. They’re right next to the drain, so they do see a lot of moisture. What’s the best way to replace them so they don’t pop out again?”source ↗
“I used a regular sponge and viss when cleaning the tiles, because that was what I was doing back home and everything was okay! Just after cleaning, some hairline-looking purplish grey stripes began to appear on the tiles.”source ↗
“It is just a crack-looking stain, and when I touch it, it's smooth like a normal tiles. Also, it doesn't come off!”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 20Should I put caulk over missing grout in shower corners?
- 17How to fix white spots on a shower floor finish
- 18Why are my floor tiles cracking and tenting?
- 8How to fix a botched DIY bathtub finish?
- 18How to get rid of severe black mold on bathroom grout
- 9How to replace a shower drain cover with a broken screw hole