Plywood versus Tiles...

[Thediygirl]

Hi everyone,

I've recently been tiling my kitchen and bathroom but have come across a problem...plywood!

I made a great plywood box to cover my gas pipes in the kitchen and when I tiled it (you guessed it), they all fell off!

I didn't realise that you couldn't tile directly onto plywood.

Anyway, I also have boxed over pipes in the bathroom with plywood and now need to work out how best to deal with both locations for tiling.

I thought about simply covering the plywood with green Aqua plasterboard, but unfortunately there's not a lot of space in either location. I'd love to find another solution that doesn't involve taking down my boxing.

I assume I can't just use SBR primer? (That'd be so easy if that works!!)

Any advice welcome, thanks.

 

[London Mike 49]

Did you pva the plywood first before you started tiling? if so, then the tiles would fall off but the adhesive would be stuck pretty good to the tiles.
........anyway, I would recommend that you buy some tile backer board and cut and screw to the plywood, it is the ideal surface to tile onto but...........DONT pva the board!

Good luck
Mike

 

[Thediygirl]

No I definitely didn't PVA the board beforehand. Is there anything I can do to the plywood without taking up more space? Thanks. (I suspect I know the answer...)

 

[London Mike 49]

If you type your query on the BAL tiling products website , they will be able to give you a well informed answer rather than me giving you advice which I am willing to give but may not be the 'right' thing to do.

Their products are in my opinion the best on the market and they have always been very helpful when I have a question.
Mike

 

[Thediygirl]

Thanks Mike. I'll check it out.

 

[joe-90]

The trick is simple. You PVA the ply and apply your tiles whilst it is still tacky. It's been done that way for decades.