Is this plaster good enough for tiling if skimmed?

Hi, I have recently removed the tiles in my bathroom, only the bottom half of the wall was tiled and the top half was painted.


Anyway after removing about 20 layers of paint from the wall I have discovered the plaster in the photo, it appears fairly cracked but doesn't really sound hollow. I suspect it's not good enough to use to tile over other wise they wouldn't have plastered to bottom half of the wall.

Would skimming (the old skim came of the bottom with the previous tiles) over the lot do me any good or maybe I should dig it all out and plasterboard over before tiling?

Thanks for any help.

I wouldn't bother skimming it if the wall is sound and not "boxy". I would prime it with an sbr sealer and if there are any irregularities in the plaster just a thin skim of tile adhesive over it ,then tile it as normal..

It’s not necessary to skim it, just rough fill out the larger holes & irregularities before tiling. You can use tile adhesive as Roy suggests but some have better filling capabilities than others; in particular the DIY shed stud is carp! On the larger holes/gouges, I mix up a little of whatever plaster I happen to have around at the time, Multi, Bonding or Hardwall will do; you don’t need to be too fussy!

Thank you for the replies

dont use bonding as it attracts damp in kitchens and bathroooms

adam20 said:

dont use bonding as it attracts damp in kitchens and bathroooms

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I use bonding everyday, (literally), in kitchens,,bathrooms, lounges etc on ceilings and walls, onto plasterboard, bricks/blocks, wooden lath, wire lath, and have never heard that before Adam. Where I wouldn't use it, or any other Gypsum plaster,would be on old stonework or some brickwork that might draw through the damp or salts. I cement scratch coat some surfaces now and again and then use bonding coat, if a wall has "had" a problem. I would never plaster a wall with a known, or on going damp problem.......But back to your Quote about bonding attracting damp in kitchens and bathrooms.......... Bonding undercoat, applied internally in a normal ventilated domestic situation, with Multi finish topcoat, properly decorated/painted, is no more likely to attract damp than plasterboard, multi finish,browning, hardwall etc. Bonding is a plaster that's been on the go for decades, and used properly in the right conditions, no problems,, ever.

Roughcaster.

adam20 said:

dont use bonding as it attracts damp in kitchens and bathroooms

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Yes we`ve all tiled over bonding, but beware as tiles are not like they used to be, Bonding can go brittle and break away in chunks with stress, and for this reason British Standard and British Gypsum specify not to tile over bonding! roughcaster i`m not saying your wrong but times have changed and newbies should get used to the up to date standards as if they go wrong no guarantees will stand, this also applies for putting Bonding over brickwork, it is not designed for brickwork (well only engineering) Bonding is NOT the same as Browning, thats why they invented Hardwall.