Backer board or OSB

[ScottishGasMan]

Hey all.

Starting work on my bathroom (part of a rennovation) and will be fitting solid wall insulation (celotex) to two of the walls in the bathroom. Was going to use concrete backer board over the insualtion as I was told plasterboard is a disaster waiting to happen in a tiled bathroom.

But I was wandering if instead of either if I could fit OSB over the insualtion and tile direct on to that?

Reason being, its cheaper, bigger sheets available locally, and I would have less concerns adding fixings (shower/shelves etc) to it after.

just looking for some opinions. all walls going to be fully tiled with 300x600mm tiles.

thanks

 

[tpt]

nope, dont even think about it

 

[xr4x4]

Tiler would say that.

It will be fine, in the short term.

But if you get a leak and it gets wet, it will fall apart and take your tiles with it.

Use the backer boards for showers deffo.

 

[tpt]

agree about it getting wet - worse than pb, but when you add to that type & cost of adhesive you'd need to get any kind of reliable bond - forget it, its false economy.

if your really watching the pennies then use m/r plasterboard and tank it in the wet areas, if not use a cement panel or backer board. OSB will cost you far more in the medium term.

 

[ScottishGasMan]

Thanks.

I think given the cost of the tiles/shower etc so far, I'll go for the backer board in that case.

Would it be suitable to use backer board around the wet areas, ie the shower cabinet/sink/toiler and then use m/r plater board for the rest of the bathroom? or is there still a risk of tiles coming apart medium/long term due to potential condensation in the room.

Never used backerboard before, is it sturdy enough to use rawlplugs in for shelf/shower cabinet fixings etc?

 

[tpt]

yeah thats quite common.

regarding fixings - it depends which one. aquapanel is 9-12mm thick and so are some of the other cement based boards so yes they are better than PB, that said, if you can hit the framework its always going to be better.