About to tile

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Getting stuff ready tile bathroom, got wall tiles that are around 15" x 10", what would be the ideal spacers for these ? Should i PVA the wall then use a good waterproof adhesive, was thinking about Wickes adhesive unless other advice

Thanks
 
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Grout line of 2mm-3mm for wall tiles.
The wall will need priming, but read the directions/instruction on the adhesive you intend to use, as they should give guidelines on the primer required and the application of it.
 
Don't use PVA. What are u plastering onto? I always use flexible bag adhesive. Regarding priming - if I'm honest, rarely do it and never have any issues but for the cost, u might as well do ot
 
If in doubt, prime the walls is a general rule. You didn't say what adhesive you are going to use but one thing that is ABSOLUTELY DEFINITE - DO NOT USE PVA.

Use a "proper" acrylic based tiling primer such as TileMaster PrimePlus or Weber PR360

PVA is not suitable for tiling for various reasons

When you treat a surface with PVA it partly soaks in and partly sits on the surface of the substrate much in the same way as wallpaper paste.

If PVA gets wet it becomes slightly live again, it doesn't completely return to it's liquid state but it becomes sticky.

When you spread tile adhesive onto the wall, the water in the adhesive makes the PVA live and stops the adhesive from penetrating the substrate and providing a mechanical grip. Basically your tiles, grout and adhesive are being held to the wall by a thin layer of PVA.

Most tile adhesive works by crystallising when it sets (some are slightly different such as epoxy based ones) but generally they all work the same way. Once the adhesive starts to set crystals from and expand into any imperfections in the substrate surface (at a microscopic level) to create a grip. PVA stops this process by creating a barrier between the substrate and the tile adhesive.

Ok so what's the difference between the pva and the primers mentioned above? well basically the tile manufacturers primers soak right in to the substrate and stop the sponge like "draw "effect but they don't coat the surface in any way, they are an impregnator as opposed to a barrier. They also stop a chemical reaction occurring between the cement based adhesive and a plaster substrate, a known problem know as "Ettringite failure"

Lee
 
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Lee has it to a tee with the PVA explanation. And use a powder based adhesive too as they are much more reliable than tubbed.

And don't use Wickes. Or unibond. Use proper stuff like Ardex, BAL, Tilemaster etc.

I would recommend tanking your wet areas too but for that you must use slow set if you use matting as it won't bond sufficiently.
 

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