NEW BATHROOM FITTING QUESTION

[GPMANCHESTER10]

Hi

I'm in the process of having a new bathroom suite fitted. I want to get the bathroom plastered as well but wondered when is the best time to plaster? I will be tiling from floor to celing as well. I have to build a false studded wall for the shower so I was thinking of doing that and losely fitting the toilet, basin and bath. Then plastering - waiting for that to dry then tiling and then and connecting and sealing everything properly.

Can anyone advise me?

 

[Richard C]

If you’re tiling you don’t need to plaster, just tile straight onto the plasterboard; it’s a waste of time & reduces the tile weight you can hang. You need to consider the weight of your tiles, bare plasterboard will take 32kg/sqm, plaster skim or existing plastered walls will reduce this to 20kg/sqm including adhesive & grout. This can be a problem if using large format tiles. If tile weights exceed the above, use a tile backer board.

I hope you’r using Moisture Resistant PB & not just standard wallboard? In wet areas (inside the shower) you should use a waterproof tile backer board rather than plaster board; if you use plasterboard, it should be tanked if you want it to last any length of time!

Take some time to read the Tiling Forum sticky & the Forum archive posts, it may just prevent you from making some potentially disastrous mistakes as you will see.

 

[GPMANCHESTER10]

Thanks for your quick response.

The reason I wanted to plaster is because the walls are very uneaven due to the bottom half all the walls being previously tiled and the top half just being painted. Would it be straight forward to just panel the whole room in the aquaboard?

 

[Richard C]

What size/weight are your tiles? How much damage is there? If it’s not extensive then it’s usual to fill holes & level with powder cement tile adhesive or a quickset render the day before you tile. If you plaster, you’re going to have to wait till it dries out; 10 days for a skim coat but can be up to 4 weeks for a base coat & skim.

If your referring to Lafarge Aquaboard, it’s still only moisture resistant plasterboard; that’s OK for dry areas but you still need to tank it in wet areas, much less work & hassle to use a waterproof tile backer board.

 

[GPMANCHESTER10]

Thanks Richard

I'm not too sure about the weight of the tiles as I will be purchasing these on Saturday - I have taken on board what you have said about the weight though.

It's not so much the damage as more the uneveness of the walls - As you go up the wall to where the old tiles finish there is a wedge that goes inwards - The depth is probably about the depth of a tile - So I'm just wondering whether it would be best to board all the way up from floor to ceiling so everything is flush.