Aquapanel - below bath?

[Lectrician]

Bathroom is being re-fitted, and I plan to use aquapanel on the walls around the shower/bath (this only leaves a small portion of stud wall, so may do that too).

Is it normal to board floor to ceiling, and then site the bath, or site the bath and board to the bath? I have conflicting advice!

 

[Karis]

I always board floor to ceiling, site/fix the bath & then tile down to the top leaving a 2mm gap for a silicone bead. You wont have much of the bath top left if you panel & tile down to it, will look odd. Tiling behind the bath will need a bigger silicone bead & you will have more risk of standing water between the tiles & the curved bath edge.

Is all the Aquapanel fixed over studwork?

 

[Lectrician]

All the aquapanel will be on existing studwork with the plasterboard removed - I was going to board floor to ceiling, but a neighbour thought it pointless and reckons people don't these days, but your right about loosing "land" on the bath.

The remaining walls are block, and are cement scratchcoat and skim. The skim is popping off very easily in places, so I was intending on removing the skim from the scratchcoat and tiling directly onto that, with a primer of somesort if required (that was my next question). This is the outside walls with the sink, WC and towel rad on - No shower or bath.

Thanks.

 

[Karis]

All the aquapanel will be on existing studwork with the plasterboard removed

OK, just checking if you were planning fixing panels direct to walls.

I was going to board floor to ceiling, but a neighbour thought it pointless and reckons people don't these days, but your right about loosing "land" on the bath.

Your neighbour is just being a tight asre If you don’t board under the bath & water gets in, it’ll wreck the studding, it’ll also reduce sound insulation between any adjacent room.

B Regs now stipulate minimum sound attenuation/insulation requirements in stud walls for a newly formed/converted bathroom & w/c where it’s adjacent to a habitable room. It sounds like yours is a refurbishment of existing so not compulsory but, as you’ve got the studs open, it might be worth considering for the small additional cost. Cement based boards (Aquapanel) conform but standard wallboard spec isn’t high enough unless you double it up so you need an acoustic rated PB. You also need a min 25mm mineral wool insulation within the stud but I use cavity insulation batts.

The remaining walls are block, and are cement scratchcoat and skim. The skim is popping off very easily in places, so I was intending on removing the skim from the scratchcoat and tiling directly onto that, with a primer of somesort if required (that was my next question). This is the outside walls with the sink, WC and towel rad on - No shower or bath.

Plaster is not an ideal tile base due to weight restrictions & cement render is much better as long as it’s sound. It needs to be flat if your planning large format tiles; the larger the tiles, the flatter the base needs to be. I assume the outside walls are cavity?

The type of adhesive, grout & any primer you may need depends on the tile base & type, size/thickness/weight of your proposed tiles? With priming, you should always follow your chosen tile adhesive manufacturer’s instructions but if in doubt use an SBR/acrylic tile primer, never use standard PVA. Only use quality trade tiling materials, cheap DIY products are mostly inferior & can give problems.

 

[Lectrician]

Thanks.

They are larger tiles - 40cm/sq. The wall is pretty true, but will know better once things are removed.

They are actually ceramic floor tiles, 10mm thick, 16kg per m/sq.

Was going to put some form of insulation in the wall once open, not too bothered about the sound too much, but want something in there while it's open.

Powdered adhesive is the best to go for isn't it? For both the rendered walls and the aquapanel?

Cheers.

 

[Karis]

They are larger tiles - 40cm/sq. The wall is pretty true, but will know better once things are removed. They are actually ceramic floor tiles, 10mm thick, 16kg per m/sq.

Where are you getting 16 kg/sqm from, did you actually weigh them? Probably wont matter as you’ve render & Aquapanel but I would expect 10mm thick ceramics to weigh in around 22 kg/sqm plus addy & grout.

Powdered adhesive is the best to go for isn't it? For both the rendered walls and the aquapanel?

You must use powder adhesive on tiles that weight, size/thickness; tub mix is evaporative cure & will never set satisfactorily on tiles that size. You will need a very flat tile base & you can use either tile adhesive or quick set render to level out if necessary but don’t use conventional sand/cement render or you could have to wait up to 4 weeks for it to cure.

You will need a flexy adhesive & grout for the Aquapanel but standard will do on the render. You can use flexy everywhere if it works out more cost effective, it depends how much of each you need. Tape all panel joints & try to avoid tile grout lines coinciding with panel joints. Use a solid bed trowel.

 

[Lectrician]

Cheers.

The 16kg came from the box - Says 16kg per pack, and a pack covers 1m/sq.

Thanks for the advice with the adhesive/grout - This was always going to be a job I researched before attacking. I do believe in using merchants rather than likes of the DIY sheds too.

Thanks.