tiling directly on to plasterboard?

[CharlieB1981]

i'm led to believe that you can tile directly on to plasterboard, but surely this will wreck the board if you ever take the tiles off.

do you need to do any specific prep to the board before doing this.

only asking as i have very limited space in the bathroom, and the 10mm of plaster in an alcover for the bath will make a big difference.

thanks

 

[tpt]

You can go straight onto plasterboard, in fact its a great surface. Yes it will get wrecked if you ever take them off, but its cheap to replace.

Prime first with acrylic bonding agent, then tile direct.

You should be concerned about the wet areas though. Plastered or unplastered board isnt the best idea. Make sure you tank it first, it adds very little cost or thickness

BTW, a plaster skim should only add 2mm, but its not a great surface for tiling on.

 

[dann09]

My view is, no prep required for non-wet areas of tiled plasterboard.

The opinion nowadays, is to use cement backer board in wet areas - Hardieboard etc.

Make certain that the bath will slip in and out of that alcove.
Why not post length dimensions of the alcove from brick to brick/stud? And proposed bath length.

Be cautious of a build-up of backing and tile at the bath head - finger space is required to operate the taps.

 

[CharlieB1981]

photos below of what i'm working with i'll add dimensions later.

where there is a studded wall i've used aquaboard, the ceiling is moisture resistant board with the plan to skim this throughout and paint- although i am debating if its better to do directly above the shower with aquaboard and tile. -do you know if theres an issue with skimming plasterboard in the area above a shower?

the large blue wall is moisture resistant board which will be skimmed and painted.

the issue is the large bare wall on the right of the second pic where the window is as this will be at the side of the bath but the wall is very uneven and if i stud it it pushes a bath too far over- the other side is above the stairs and at the bottom it slants due to the ceiling beams for the stairs.

i've tried sticking aqua board with insta stick and screws for extra strength, but didnt seem to hold too well, the options i can see are:

1)try pva on the wall again before instastick and see if it holds the weight.
2)dot and dab moisture board then tile on to this.
3)use wooden and metal studs to fasten it to, then raise the bath up about 5 inch above the ceiling beams.
4) any better idea people can think of. View media item 60416 View media item 60415

 

[dann09]

1. Where is the shower going to go?

2. You could render the wall to the right of the bath say, from the bath rim up. There's no call for rendering below the bath rim.
You could also render the return wall - with the air brick.

Render mix say, 4 sand:1 cement or 3S:1L:1C, scratch on, then 10mm float.

3. You could do with the head of the tub to be out of the alcove, for access to supplies and trap.

4. Make sure that the bath could be removed at some future date.

 

[tictic]

If you render the walls you will need to wait till it cures/sets....good few weeks...

The brick walls....are they single skin or is there a cavity??

 

[dann09]

We've just done a S&L render on some dry internal walls, this was not DPC work:

1. Scratch and first coat day one

2. float and rub up day two

3. Leave one day, and start tiling on day four.

External walls can be quite different, but a waiting time of weeks, that, we've never done.

 

[CharlieB1981]

thanks for the responses guys,

to answer the questions

1)shower is prob going to be fastened to the wall above the stairs. left hand side of the alcove in the pic with the air brick at the end.
2)looking to have an l shower bath in the corner- means the waste will be almost in the middle so although not perfect will still provide access.
3)external walls are 9 inch double brick
i4)'m looking to board the walls etc to make it easier to get the bath out in the future rather than plaster up to it. plus the long wall has a large bow in it and isnt straight

seen another article that recommends using dot and dab at the back of the board to get a level wall then screw through the aqua board using concrete screws of framing screws to hold it in to the brick, cement board would be thinner than gtec so i may look in to this along the long wall.

when you've mentioned tanking, i'm assuming there you mean using something like wp1 or dryline board sealer. can you skim over this?

any more thoughts?

 

[tictic]

IMO
Go down the route off dot/dab cement based backerboard s onto walls,then as you say plug and screw thro...no need to waterproof just use fiba tape on all joints ect...

Use a single part flex adhesive for tiling..

Is there a cavity between the bricks?

 

[tictic]

We've just done a S&L render on some dry internal walls, this was not DPC work:

1. Scratch and first coat day one

2. float and rub up day two

3. Leave one day, and start tiling on day four.

External walls can be quite different, but a waiting time of weeks, that, we've never done.

What adhesives are you using??

I flick between..ardex/mapei/bal....

And not one off these mfr will cover warranty onto a render that's only 4days old...

Not unless you use a quickset render from one off the above mfr...but your just using s/l mix...

Interesting.. your not taking shrinkage/movement ect into the mix...(pardon the pun).....

 

[CharlieB1981]

IMO
Go down the route off dot/dab cement based backerboard s onto walls,then as you say plug and screw thro...no need to waterproof just use fiba tape on all joints ect...

Use a single part flex adhesive for tiling..

Is there a cavity between the bricks?

not really, cavity is about 10mm as the 2 skins are tied together by bricks turned at 90 degrees.

would prefer to skim and paint the ceiling above the shower, would this not need ceiling also?

 

[tpt]

Sorry been away a bit!

Like tictic says, backerboard. see this http://www.nomoreply.net/installation/solid-walls/

 

[CharlieB1981]

cheers, interesting read, so this doesnt say anythinig about mechanical fixings also

 

[tictic]

You will put your dots on the wall across every 250mm and down every 300mm,bit like this...


@........ @........ @



@........@.......... @



@........@...........@



Then you will drill,plug and screw,and you will have a very good idea where they are.

Wait at least overnight before you drill/plug/screw...gives times for it all to set.

 

[dann09]

tictac,

we use anything at hand if the bag is open and it's roughly in the spec zone.

Typically, we would use BAL or Ardex adhesive powders mixed with Admix
or similar.

I used to keep a record of what had been used where - for reference, and in case of c c c .. call backs.