Tiling around Bath ?

[paulsa]

Hi There
I am just boarding a bathroom with Moisture resistant Lefarge plasterboard and will have a shower fitted over the bath. I am intending to use a circular shower curtain enclosure to reduce water onto walls etc from the shower.

At present the plan is
- board from ceiling to floor with MR p/b from Lafarge
- Use Bal WP1 Tanking on the walls around the bath prior to tiling
- then tile an area around the bath from floor to ceiling with 20 * 25 cm white ceramic tiles
- Using Wickes waterproof adhesive and grout http://www.wickes.co.uk/waterproof-wall-tile-adhesive/invt/230626/
- the rest of the wall area will be papered and painted - should I seal the m/r p/b before putting paper on?


Having read previous posts would I be advised to buy the Bal adhesives and grout and forget about the Wickes adhesive i already have?

If so is the right sort of shopping list?

BAL WP1 5m Tape £23.55
(£28.26 inc. VAT)

BAL WP1 Tanking Coating (8kg) £37.32
(£44.78 inc. VAT)

BAL Prime APD Primer (2.5 Litre) £13.49
(£16.19 inc. VAT)

BAL Microflex White Grout (3.5 Kg) £16.18
(£19.42 inc. VAT)


BAL Rapidset Flexible White (20Kg) £72.04
(£86.45 inc. VAT) for 2.


I am committed to the tanking (I think) but what about the tile adhesive as it looks like another £100 for that.

Another slightly different question I overbought on Lafarge Universal Bonding compound (two boards will have to go straight onto wall due to a clearance problem with the door - could I use the excess for the joints in the plasterboard or is that a bad idea?

Lastly any suggestion for a bath sealant at the join between tile and bath the floor is suspended so the bath is likely to move up and down a little.

Any advice or comments will be gratefully received

Regards

Paul

 

[tpt]

Your plan sounds mostly good but avoid the wickes adhesive. Bal is great stuff but theres no need to use a powdered adhesive or a flexible one - no harm if you do but you can save a bit of cash if you wish. Just use a good waterproof ready mixed addy - Bal do one as do granfix and others.

Silicone wise make sure you get a good brand of bathroom sealant that is silicone not acrylic, fill the bath so its at its lowest point and then just run a small bead around followed by a finger thats wet with soapy water -just smooth it once. Masking tape can be used to stop a disaster with it going everywhere. Are you fitting the bath after or before tanking? it can be a good idea to silicone the actual edge of the bath when fitting but be careful not to overdo it, if your fitting it before tanking, then you can tank onto the edge of the bath by 5mm or so. just remember to mask it!

 

[lancenotalot]

I use this

http://www.tilechoice.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=800530

and this

http://www.tilechoice.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=800565&cat=24

both made but granfix,if you set up a trade account they are cheaper.Been using it for about three years now.

 

[tpt]

I agree its great stuff, but please dont pay that much! I sell it for £12.95 (retail inc vat). i dont expect you to buy it from me due to delivery charges but any local tile specialist should be around that price.

 

[Richard C]

Regards adhesive/grout brands, it’s the most important part of the job & you generally get what you pay for but those prices your quoting are way OTT, you either need to shop around or negotiate if using Topps. You won’t have any problems with BAL as long as you use the right addy/grout for the job; others to consider are Mapei (but not the stuff in BnQ) Granfix, Webber, Ardex, I would avoid chepo products, they can be a recipe for disaster.

You should be OK with a decent tub redi mix on 250mm 200mm tiles but 250mm is on my personal limit before I consider switching to powder adhesive. You should definitely use a flexy adhesive if tiling over boards; White Star is my personal favourite!

I know there are specialist bathroom products available & I’m not a dec but I wouldn’t use paper in a bathroom or direct painting come to that, I think it will start to look shabby in a very short space of time! My advice is spend a little more & get it skimmed but MR boards need priming or the skim wont stick. If your dabbing the boards directly onto the wall, don’t just rely on the adhesive if you tiling, you also need some mechanical fixings (through the adhesive dabs) or it could end up on the floor.

Regards bath sealant, just how much movement do you have & why? Conventional silicone bath sealant (high modulus, acetoxy cure) will only tolerate so much movement. A low modulus, natural cure will tolerate more & sticks better but is considerably more expensive but if the flex is too much even that wont work.

What are you doing with the floor?

 

[paulsa]

Many Thanks for the replies.

What would be the right material to fill the joins and the tapered areas in the P/B - I have excess board adhesive would that be good?

The MR P/B should be sealed with PVA? before skimming?

Then paint or paper as desired?

I am not sure how much bath movement there will be after its finished but the house is ~80 years old and the joists are pretty substanial (3x6 from memory)
so it wont be much.

As far as the floor I was covereing it in Vinyl Cushionflooring - but I havent bought this yet.

Thanks again for all replies

 

[Richard C]

What would be the right material to fill the joins and the tapered areas in the P/B - I have excess board adhesive would that be good?

No don’t use board adhesive; if you’re having it skimmed, your plasterer will tape, prime & skim over the joints with finishing plaster before skimming over the entire wall; you should really use square edge boards when skimming, less work.

The MR P/B should be sealed with PVA? before skimming?

No you can’t just use PVA, you need a bonding primer;
http://www.british-gypsum.com/produ...le_plaster_bonding_agents/thistlebond-it.aspx
Are you intending to plaster this yourself? It’s not quiet as simple as you may think!

Then paint or paper as desired?

When painting, prime new bare plaster with a mist coat; matt white emulsion thinned 25-30%, leave to dry overnight & then apply your chosen finish. When papering, either prime as above or size with diluted wallpaper adhesive but I would not advise you use wall paper in such a humid environment as a bathroom.

As far as the floor I was covereing it in Vinyl Cushionflooring - but I havent bought this yet.

Just wanted to check you weren’t proposing to tile it.

 

[paulsa]

I was considering having a go at skimming it - Ill think again.

Many thanks for your replies.

 

[ColinCMD]

If you're tiling walls, a ready-mixed adhesive may be perfectly fine, depending upon the circumstances.

Never, ever use a ready-mixed adhesive to tile a floor. Not ever. No, not in any circumstances, with any kind of tile onto any type of substrate.

For the full chemistry on why not, ask the experts at BAL. They have a department employed just to answer questions on tiling all day, impartially and without cost. The number is 0845 600 122 and this should also be your first place to ask any question to do with tiling. BAL has been the first choice of professional tilers since the 1960s for a reason.

Incidentally, no genuine professional tiler would consider using a product from the DIY sheds - with the possible exception of B&Q Trade Point, now that some of those stock a few BAL products.

You can't go wrong with BAL, as long as you've picked the right product. Again, they make more than two dozen different task-specific tile adhesives for a reason.

Before anyone asks... No, I'm not employed by BAL and never have been and nor is any of my family. But, yes, I do know some of their people.

One more time... Regardless of the manufacturer, if it's a tub containing ready-mixed tile adhesive, it's only suitable for walls. DON'T use it on any floor.

 

[ColinCMD]

Ye gods, I missed that one...

Never, ever use PVA as a primer on any surface you intend to tile.

As before, I don't have the time to go into a long lecture and you're better off asking the undoubted experts for the reasons behind it. Ask BAL on 0845 600 122.

Simply, PVA should never be used as a tiling primer. Ever.

 

[ColinCMD]

And, finally...

Tiling isn't like wallpapering or painting.

If you get it wrong, it's not just likely to be expensive to put right, it's also - depending upon the circumstances - potentially dangerous.

The REAL answer to any DIY question about tiling is: Don't do it. Hire a professional. It will be better looking, better fixed, completed faster and, in the long run, cheaper.

You can find a choice of good local tilers on www.tilerworld.com, which is free to use.

The only thing worse than DIY tiling is tiling by a cowboy, usually a plumber, builder or handyman 'Jack-of all-trades' who also "does tiling" as well as everything else.

Tiling? Get a real professional to do the job.

 

[paulsa]

Again many thanks for all the help (and warnings) one thing - I thought White Star was a different make to to BAL now found it on the BAL website.