bathroom tiling

[Terry7556]

i intend to do up my bathroom.it looks dated and i want to make it look modern in comparison to how it is
so new white suite, old tiles off new ceramic 8mm thick wall tiles, 330mm square.,
its a bath ,no shower and the plasterboard is wrecked pulling the old tiles off.i will screw new 12.5mm p/bd to the stud, prime it (not with pva) and fix the tiles with flexi rapidset.the guy at topps is recommending their adhesive as opposed the bal i asked about as its only £11 a bag.
is the choice of adhesive a false economy? and should i use bal
2nd dumb question which side of the p/bd do i tile to the face of
thanks in advance

 

[evansbuilders]

as a manager i would say go cheaper option but i know my guy will only use bal as he knows its good stuff.plasterboard is one sided these days so you will see the white face you prime and tile that.

 

[prceramics]

i intend to do up my bathroom.it looks dated and i want to make it look modern in comparison to how it is
so new white suite, old tiles off new ceramic 8mm thick wall tiles, 330mm square.,
its a bath ,no shower and the plasterboard is wrecked pulling the old tiles off.i will screw new 12.5mm p/bd to the stud, prime it (not with pva) and fix the tiles with flexi rapidset.the guy at topps is recommending their adhesive as opposed the bal i asked about as its only £11 a bag.
is the choice of adhesive a false economy? and should i use bal
2nd dumb question which side of the p/bd do i tile to the face of
thanks in advance

bal stuff is the best but the tops stuff aint that bad mate

 

[Richard C]

Use Moisture Resistant PB in the bathroom not standard wall board. Use waterproof tile backer board in wet areas unless you tank it if you want it to last; costs no more once you factor in the tanking. Don’t plaster the tile base but you need to prime MR PB before plastering if you’ve any ½ tiled walls. Fix tiles to the light paper side of the PB; some PB has “plaster this side” on it so that’s the side you tile

What weight are your tiles? Acrylic prime the PB to avoid a reaction between the cement in the addy & gypsum.

There are many things to catch you out particularly if you intend tiling a suspended timber floor. I would advise you read the Tiling Sticky & Forum Archive posts, it could prevent you making disastrous & potentially expensive mistakes. It’s also important to use only quality trade tilling materials of the correct type for your tiles & tile base; cheapo own brand & DIY stuff is mostly crap.

I use BAL exclusively not usually from Topps though – too expensive; no idea about the Topps stuff but you tend to get what you pay for.

 

[Terry7556]

hi richard just back in from work, so delayed reply
i have been on the topps website and armed with the name on the receipt and the code number it wont post any details on the tile , so for the weight i dont know other than 33cm square and 8mm thick as i said in the first post.
i was intending to prime the p/bd with mapei primer g, it says on the sideits ok for gypsum based products
the bathroom is in a bungalow with concrete floor
i read the sticky before i posted and found it very helpful but felt it did,nt answer the points i put in the first post
i have purchased moisture p/bd for the job
any other advice would be appreciated, many thanks

 

[Richard C]

i have been on the topps website and armed with the name on the receipt and the code number it wont post any details on the tile , so for the weight i dont know other than 33cm square and 8mm thick as i said in the first post.

Check the box sometimes the weight sq/m is on there or weigh a tile & work it out; if not post it here & I'll work it out. You should be OK for unplastered boards (32Kg/m²) but could be getting near the limit for plaster skim 20Kg/m² .

i was intending to prime the p/bd with mapei primer g, it says on the sideits ok for gypsum based products

You must acrylic prime plaster/plasterboard when using powder cement based adhesive &, ideally, you should always use tiling product from the same manufacturer to eliminate any possibility of a reaction due to product incompatibility but Mapei primer should be OK. Beware, Mapei Buildfix products (as sold in some DIY sheds) are not the same as trade Mapei.

the bathroom is in a bungalow with concrete floor

Assuming your tiling the floor, do you know what type of screed; some newer properties use Anhydrite screeds which is also gypsum based, if in doubt prime that as well.

i read the sticky before i posted and found it very helpful but felt it did,nt answer the points i put in the first post

The Sticky doesn’t cover everything & ideally needs up dating; I always suggest reading it in conjunction with the Tiling Forum archive posts.

i have purchased moisture p/bd for the job

Even if you’re using Moisture Resistant plasterboard, I would strongly advise you to tank it around a bath. As your not having a shower over the bath, just replacing the board immediately around & over the bath would be better than nothing; probably 3 small sheets of Aquapanel. Tape all board joints & seal with tile adhesive, working it well into the mesh as you tile.

Rapidset flexi only has a pot life of around 40-45 mins so only mix up what you can use in 30-35 mins, wash your tools & mixing bucket well before mixing the next batch or the old adhesive will reduce the pot life of the new mix. If not use Single Part Flexible which has a much longer pot life but you can’t grout for 16 hours.

Leave a 2mm gap between the top of the bath & underside of the tiles for silicone seal, fill bath with water before applying silicone & leave to dry overnight before emptying; use quality sanitary silicone.

 

[Terry7556]

richard thank you for the time and trouble for such a thorough answer