Tile spacers and tile adhesive.

[Navy]

Hello all,

Quick question. I am replacing the tiles in my new build flat (2002) bathroom from the exiting 195mm x 245mm tiles to 200mm x 100mm.

The area to be tiled (please see photo) will only be lightly splashed by the water from the basin and is currently in plasterboard which needs to be fully screwed in.

My questions are, I am planning to seal the plasterboard with SBR but I am unsure if I need a flexible tile adhesive or will a standard adhesive (Mapei wall & floor tile adhesive 20kg screwfix) work just fine.
Also, having laid the tiles out I would like the smallest space between the tiles, ideally none but unsure if I need at least 1mm possibly 2mm.
I've attached 3 pics.

Many many thanks for any advice/guidance

Kind regards

 

[simplesteve]

With those ceramic tiles, going onto plasterboard, you can use either flexible or non flex adhesive. In fact, and I'm going to use a tilers swear words here - " tubbed" ! A ready mixed, e.g. BAL green or Bluestar would suffice.

In terms of spacers, I wouldn't go any less than a 2mm. Two main reasons for this: Grout should be thought of as a feature, so make sure it can be seen, and secondly ( and don't take this the wrong way ) those are not the most expensive of tiles - they will not all be exactly square nor fully glazed on the front face - so you'll need a wee bit of wiggle room to move some ever so slightly and cover up some wee nice etc with grout.

A couple of tips:
White grout with white tiles can look cheap and amatuerish if not done properly.
If you're not using white grout, maybe consider using a grey adhesive.
Make sure you get the right size of trim, for the edging. If you're not confident with mitres then I'd suggest a square/flat edge trim.
And lastly, you'll need to think about what you're doing with that plywood next to the sink !

 

[Navy]

Many thanks for replying simplesteve.

I'll go for the Mapei non flexible adhesive if it makes no real difference and I have a screwfix near to me.
Yes, the tiles are not good quality as I discovered when I opened the box for inspection and they are not from the major diy outlets..ahem!!
The colour was our main concern and having tried many many samples we both opted for these as the time was dragging on.

I was hoping to use 1mm spacer but I think your advice is spot on regarding the quality of the tiles so 2mm it is. I will be using grey adhesive and at the moment grey grout although a shade off the green may be another option on the table.

I have a chrome trim for the top edge and a quick check seems to be a good fit so far.

Lastly, the original tilers used the same adhesive betweeen the plywood and plasterboard. I noticed no issues for the best part of 20 years and was hoping to replicate the process. Do you think I need a different adhesive on the plywood?

Many thanks once again for replying.

Kind regards

 

[simplesteve]

Well, let’s just say it’s ’not best practice’ to tile onto the Ply and it’s something that should be avoided if poss.
But as it’s not a floor, or a large wall/loadbearing/constantly wet or flexing area, it can be done. Make sure you score it first and plenty of SBR as you mentioned.
Or, if you can, just do it properly and slap another sheet of plasterboard across the whole lot

Good luck

 

[Navy]

Many thanks Simplesteve for replying.

I will score the ply and sbr everything. Yes, I could add another layer of plaster board but the height of the basin is currently at the max based on the plumbing underneath but yes that would be the safer bet.

Thanks again for replying and all your help re: adhesive and tile spacing it's very much appreciated.

Kind regards