How good do the walls need to be before tiling?

[Penster]

Hi

Just removed most of the tiles around the bath, which was a much bigger job than expected! Those suckers werent moving! Anyway, the walls are wood of some kind and seem pretty decent. The only problem is, there are patches of grout/cement/adhesive type thing on the wall that is impossible to remove. So, the question is, how perfect do the walls need to be before we tile? Do we need to skim the wall before we tile, or can make up the gaps with adhesive/grout?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[alwest197]

Good question.
I recently did the same thing in my bathroom, same issues some tiles came off easy others left great gobs of tile adhesive behind or holes. The problem is that if you do not remove all of the adhesive you can only tile level with the largest outcrop of leftover tile adhesive. Which could mean a lot of adhesive behind some of the tiles which of course takes longer to go off than a standard amount plus it can be a little difficult to get level as they tend to float on the depth of adhesive. I had both wood and brick walls to contend with, where there were holes I filled with plaster and used a bolster chisel (wide blade) to remove any outstanding adhesive. surprisingly, as the bathroom plaster was only about 15 years old I had to plaster over about 4' as the walls sloped in the further I got to the top.

If the existing adhesive was not of the waterproof variety they sometimes soften a little if you soak them.

You can buy panel which you attach directly to the wall then tile on top. I would have thought them to be more trouble than they are worth in a standard bathroom. Best bet if the above cannot fix is to re-plaster...

Best of luck..!

 

[Richard C]

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[TicklyT]

In the past, I have found a wallpaper steamer, and even a damp sponge can be effective for softening old tile adhesive once the tiles were out of the way.

 

[jctilingservices]

you do not say which type of old adhesive mate so i assume its tubbed, as the lads say dampen it and use a scraper or old wood chisel, or even a steamer. If its a powdered adhesive you may have to resort to using a grinder ( done that a few times in the past), wear a respirator and goggles, tapen the door from the inside and open a window ,