Bathroom with tiles over plaster board

[kofi2003uk]

hi Everyone,
i need some advise please. am refurbishing my bathroom which is about 20 years old now.

my plumber and bathroom fitter tells me that to take the tiles off the wall will not be a good idea as walls are plaster boards and will get damaged. in fact he believes the walls might have to be completely replace if we want to remove old tiles and re tile with new.

am struggling to accept that should be the case and hence seeking some advice before proceeding.

my question is- is this the case? cant bathrooms with plaster board walls be re tiled without damaging the walls?

house was built in 1999 and as is the pattern now, mostly plaster board walls.

thank you

 

[KenGMac]

cant bathrooms with plaster board walls be re tiled without damaging the walls?

Not without damaging the plasterboard which will be 12.5.mm thick and you simply cannot get all the original tile adhesive of the existing plasterboard.

If I have to specify a re-tile on a plasterboard wall i will also ask for the plasterboard to be replaced.

Ken

 

[Iamchamps]

I am guessing you have never tried to remove tiles from plasterboard? If they were fitted well you will struggle to get them off keeping the plasterboard in tack. Even if you damage the plasterboard it is not expensive to replace and will probably be the best plan.

 

[kofi2003uk]

Thanks both.

lamchamps,No I haven’t and had no idea hence my seeking advice

From the above replies, my fitter is right.
Many thanks to you both for the fast replies. Most appreciated. Thanks

 

[KenGMac]

kofi2003uk, good evening again.

If you opt, as you will have to to replacing the plasterboard, use a water tolerant plasterboard, or if you can afford it use a plywood in "wet areas" such as behind wall tiling exposed to shower spray.

Ken

 

[donrkebab]

I have the same problem, just remove the tiles and plasterboard in one go, replace the plasterboard and skim if required. Saves hours and hours of frustrating work and a lot less mess.

 

[kofi2003uk]

' just remove the tiles and plasterboard in one go, replace the plasterboard and skim if required'

not a bad idea....

 

[kofi2003uk]

thanks so much everyone. i will discuss with the plumber/tiler.

donrkebab's idea will save some time too and mess.

 

[foxhole]

Rip it down and replace with plasterboard except wet areas where cement board ( aqua panel etc) should be used.

 

[Paul C.]

kofi2003uk, good evening again.

If you opt, as you will have to to replacing the plasterboard, use a water tolerant plasterboard, or if you can afford it use a plywood in "wet areas" such as behind wall tiling exposed to shower spray.

Ken

Plywood in a wet area??? Not a good idea, disaster waiting to happen.

Contact with water and it starts absorbing and over time, will swell, go mouldy, rot and its back to square one. Even temperature change can cause expansion and anything tiled on top will fail. Its been taken out of the recent British Standards as a suitable wall tiling substrate regardless of being in a wet or dry area. They haven't done that for no reason.

Plasterboard can be used but would recommend tanking in the immediate wet areas (with something like the Ardex WPC), Aquapanel and Hardiebacker or any cement backer-board will also need tanking in showers. Manufacturers used to try and tell you otherwise, but the fact is, they are water resistant, not waterproof, so water can simply pass through. Waterproofing boards such as Jackoboard, Wedi or marmox can be used with the joints and screw fixings covered with a waterproof tape without the need for tanking.

For the remainder of the room where there is no direct water contact, just occasional humidity from steam, bare moisture resistant plasterboard should be fine, but cement backer boards would be my preference.

 

[koomber]

I'm going to second the tanking kits. They're an absolute sawdle to put in. You basically end up with a rubber skin over all the walls, they're about £50 for the kit and my advice is go ham with it. I only needed it for my shower area but had enough left over to do half the bloody bathroom.