Ceramic tiles onto old, dry render.

[dummer]

Hi All. I’ve searched the forum to see if the question I am about to ask has been raised before by anyone else. I find that it has, but it didn’t get any replies!! I’m not sure if that’s because it’s such a dumb question, but here goes……… I am renovating a bathroom, and having removed old ceramic tiles from the ‘basin’ wall’ (ie no shower or bath against it) most of the plaster has come away, leaving the old sand/cement render visible. This was mainly due to the amount of adhesive previously used…there is no signs of damp. Question is, can I seal the render with pva or similar, and then tile directly onto it? I would like to avoid having the render plastered because of the time delay in the plaster fully drying out.
Any comments/advise would be much appreciated.

 

[Richard C]

Providing the render is not powdery, shows no signs of delaminating & is flat you can tile straight onto it. Do not use PVA as a primer, use an APD primer to kill the dust & help control suction but always follow the adhesive manufacturer’s recommendations regarding pre-treatment.

 

[dummer]

Thanks Richard. Sorry to ask, but what does APD stand for. I'm thinking 'All Purpose something'??

 

[Richard C]

No problem, it’s an Acrylic based primer;
http://www.tilefixdirect.com/index.php?app=gbu0&ns=prodshow&ref=BAPR25

 

[tictic]

if its not a deep area you could skimm over it with a rapidset adhesive.

 

[dummer]

Thanks tictic. It's only about 8-10mm deep, and so I'm sure that would work ok. I'll price up the different options. Thanks to all.

 

[Richard C]

It's only about 8-10mm deep

Finish skim is only around 3 thick so it sounds like you have also lost some of the render base, are you back to brick/block in some areas? If so & depending on the area involved, it may be better & certainly cheaper to rough fill the missing bits using a bag render redi-mix first but you must damp down the area first or the render won't stick.

 

[dummer]

Thanks Richard. No, not back to brick/block, but back to that dark, scored render (I call it render - might be a different name for it!!) onto which the plaster is 'floated'. Maybe I have the depth wrong - it's a buy to let property and I am not there at the moment. Will check and decide best way to go. Thanks again for your interest.

 

[bathstyle]

Old render is one of the best surfaces to tile onto, especially when it's nice and flat, fill the odd bits here and there with a cement based tile adhesive, the same one you use for the tiling. Prime walls first, I would use an APD