Safest way to tile around bath, on paint or render?

[tom2011]

Set up is bath in corner of room, with two rows of tiles above (along side of bath and at tap end)

I want to remove these tiles and add new ones, and also increase the height of the tiling to close to ceiling height, so that a shower head can be fixed at tap end of bath.

I have a young toddler and another baby on the way and am a bit cautious about getting it wrong in case tiles fall off and hurt somebody!

I have removed the existing two rows of tiles around the bath. They took most of the plaster skim off with them.

So I now have a situation where the first 1.5 feet above the bath is exposed render (I think it is render, how do I tell the difference between render and under-plaster?)

Then the rest of the wall up to the ceiling is painted plaster skim. The paint seems to be bathroom paint rather than emulsion - the water runs off and the paint doesn't come off if I rub it with a wet finger.

I have read conflicting advice about tiling onto paint, even if it is sound. I am able to fairly easily remove the skim of plaster (and so the paint) from the wall, so one option would be to take down all of the plaster around the bath and then tile on to the exposed render.

Another option would be to try and remove the paint, but I dont think I can easily take the paint off the plaster - it is much easier to just remove the plaster altogether.

Can someone advise me on if it is ok to tile directly on to the exposed render (if that's what it is?) and if so do I need to use any particular type of bonding agent and tile cement/grout?

I have heard pva is not a good idea.

Many thanks
Tom

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Repair the damaged plaster, so you you have flat surface to tile to, does not need to be smooth, just flat. This will need to be allowed to cure before tiling.
Then the paint needs to be scored to allow for better adhesion.
So sanding down and roughing up the paint will help, removing any flaky loose paint.
Then prime walls prior to tiling. Use good quality adhesive and grout bal products are my preferred choice.
http://www.bal-adhesives.co.uk/contractors/productSelectors

Selecting the right adhesive, for format size of tiles is important.