Shower Room Plastering

[notatiler]

I am converting my garage and fitting a shower room.

One wall is stud, the other walls are block with masonry paint.

The studwall is aquapanel where the shower is. The other showerwall is against the block.

The block walls are uneven.

The original plan was to hardwall and multifinish the block walls and skim the plasterboard.

Is this best if all the walls are to be tiled?
Al

 

[Richard C]

Hardwall should be OK but depending on the type of masonry paint that’s been used on the blocks, Bonding plaster with a Multi skim finish may be better. It’s better suited to low suction backgrounds with bonding agents; your plasterer will decide which is best when he sees it but are you tiling the whole area?

You say skim the plasterboard but previously you said Aquapanel, does the main part of the wall comprise plasterboard butting Aquapanel in the wet area? You can’t really skim Aquapanel with conventional plaster & you don’t need to anyway, just tape & fill the joins with tile adhesive & tile directly onto it; use a quality trade flexible adhesive/grout & not the DIY shed stuff. I usually butt the PB against the backer board, tape & then skim with Multi, blending in just where the 2 meet; PVA a 2” strip down the edge of the Aquapanel so the plaster will hold but don’t worry too much if it’s a bit rough. I always tile beyond the Auapanel & over onto the PB which so there is no chance of the join cracking; I would always advise moisture resistant PB in a shower/bathroom. With the PB walls, if your tiling the whole area & the PB is not going to be seen, you can just tape the joins & tile directly over the lot, no need to skim but make sure the tile lines don’t coincide with any joins.

I assume you’re aware of what you need to do to comply with Building Regs. regarding the garage conversion & shower installation?

 

[notatiler]

Yep its Aquapanel behind the shower and plasterboard for the rest of that wall.

Does the hardwall/bonding plaster on the block where the shower is need tanking or is there a better way to do it?

Al

 

[Richard C]

No you don't need to tank/waterproof it but float & set plaster work must be left for 4 weeks & be fully dry before tiling; a skim job should be Ok to tile after 10 -14 days.

 

[notatiler]

Ok so is there a way to prep the blocks so I can tile them quicker?

I know I could dry line with aquaboard but i cant afford the space for the studs.

Thanks for the info

Al

 

[Richard C]

Knauf recommend you use studs & say their panels can’t be dot & dabbed but they can; a little trick I use when space is tight is to dot & dab the panels as you would plasterboard but make sure you make a note exactly where the dots of adhesive are. Once the adhesive goes off, drill through & secure the boards to the wall using through fixings but you must position the fixings where the dots of adhesive are or the board will distort & crack when you tighten the fixings.

Or you could tile directly onto the block work as long as it’s flat enough & it’s primed:
http://www.bal-adhesives.co.uk/products/prime-apd
Then tile with this:
http://www.bal-adhesives.co.uk/products/rapidset-flexible
Strictly speaking you don’t need it for the block work wall but you can use it on Aquapanel as well; if you won’t have enough left for the Aquapanel, buy a bag of ordinary Rapidset & a tub of this;
http://www.bal-adhesives.co.uk/products/white-star unless you have large, heavy tiles
Grout with this;
http://www.bal-adhesives.co.uk/products/microflex

These products aren’t cheap but will do a good job that will last.