Can I tile on to this surface?

[Jupiter01]

am I okay to apply bonding in the uneven areas and apply tiling on to this? It seems solid. That’s where the filing was before.

Ordinarily I would fit new boards but I am really pressed for space.

If yes, should I PVA before tiling?

 

[daggermark]

What is the green area? Is it emulsion paint over the plaster?

 

[Jupiter01]

It’s artex with emulsion. I’ve knocked off the higher points

 

[daggermark]

I know opinion is divided on this one, but I personally think its a risk to tile over it. Whilst the adhesive will stick, the weight of the tiles could pull the artex off the wall. Artex can normally be steamed off, but beware, older artex could contain asbestos and you don't want to be messing around with that!

 

[Jupiter01]

Will it make my life easier to tile over this given the risk I run with asbestos? I would consider dabbing new boards but I really don't have the space in this ultra small bathroom.

 

[daggermark]

It really does depend on many factors such as the security of the artex, the weight of the tiles (are they large-format tiles? how thick are they), and also whether this area will get wet. Bear in mind that tile adhesive is wet, and therefore can actually be the cause of the artex failing! I believe there are companies which will test your artex for asbestos for about £30. If you are lucky and it doesn't contain any, just get rid of it.

 

[Jupiter01]

It’s the 60cm x 30cm ceramic tiles.
I can tell you that the artex looks rock solid and is very minimally raised as part of the pattern. Unknowingly, I did knock off some of the higher spots but with the asbestos caution, I won’t be disturbing this any further.

I will look int inspection and removal.

Also, in my initial pictures you can see the window wall has some imperfections. I was going to bond coat these voids before dusting everything off and tiling on to this. I was also going to bond coat the radiator pipes. Is this okay as I’ve seen a few posts suggesting that you cannot tile on bond coat.

 

[daggermark]

Tiling over bonding is generally a bad idea as it sucks all the moisture out of the adhesive. How deep are the imperfections? If they aren't too bad, I'd be tempted to fill them with tile adhesive in advance and let it go off a bit before doing the tiling job. In terms of adhesive, I'd recommend a cement-based that you mix yourself from BAL or Mapei. I tend to use keraflex.

 

[Jupiter01]

I would say some of these imperfections are 15-20mm deep. I also need to tidy up around the window and had assumed that I can use bonding for this...
I was also advised that tile adhesive at that thickness is likely to crack/fail.

I appreciate your advice with this.

 

[daggermark]

Yeah that may be a bit deep. You can patch the holes with BAL quickset render probably. I know you've ruled it out due to space but normally in these situations I'd just board the walls out and tile on the boards.

 

[Jupiter01]

Boards would have made my life easier. Agreed...
Can I buy that product from one of the sheds? Struggling to find it online

 

[Jupiter01]

Scrap that. I found a local stockist for bal quickset render from their website.
I assume this is different to bonding as it doesn’t absorb the tile adhesive but is still applied by a trowel and similar to work with - compared to bonding coat

 

[Lower]

I'd just use a bagged tile adhesive to pack that out.

But definitely do not use PVA!

 

[Jupiter01]

I checked the so-called local stockists and neither have the bal quickset render.
Should I use regular adhesive or someone else suggested mortar repair?

 

[daggermark]

I'd just use a bagged tile adhesive to pack that out.

But definitely do not use PVA!

TBH this was my original thought, I'd probably do it if i was doing the job, but always careful of any advice coming back to haunt me!