Tiling over plaster in the real world.

[joe-90]

I've been doing some reading on the huge number of posts in this excellent forum, and they all seem to say that a plaster skim needs 4 weeks to cure before tiling.

I know that may well be the real way to do it but I know that isn't how it is done in the real world.

I've worked on numerous houses over the years where bathrooms were being sorted and even though the walls have been skimmed the whole job is done within a fortnight.

I pro tiler once told me he waits just 48 hours until the plaster goes pink - and then tiles.

So what I'm asking here is not "What is the right way to tile a plastered wall", but rather "What usually goes on out there in the trade to tile a recently plastered wall regardless of what you think about it personally".


Do you simply wait for it to go pink?

If not - do you turn a 2 week job into a 6 week job waiting for plaster to cure?

So if you would, please tell me what your co-workers do, your mates and others. Just how do you get past the 4 week wait?

Cheers



joe

 

[Mudster]

I wait until it goes pink, then thoroughly prime it. On one or two jobs where the walls were a right mess this meant a two week delay whilst the plaster dried properly.

One thing to consider, two weeks in 30 degree heat in July is like 6 weeks in December with a dehumidifier running constantly.

 

[joe-90]

Thanks for that Mudster. Do you prime it with the recommended primer the same as recommended by the adhesive manufacturer? Or just PVA?

joe

 

[Mudster]

Always recommended primer, see my post on here re PVA, I explain why it shouldn't be used.

 

[joe-90]

Always recommended primer, see my post on here re PVA, I explain why it shouldn't be used.

I've read the threads on PVA but the thing that I don't understand is that the plaster skim coat is almost certainly sitting on a coat of PVA. Shouldn't the skim coat have a special primer too?


joe

 

[Mudster]

You need to ask the plasterers that, I've never fully got my head around why they still use it.

I think the very thing that makes it bad for tiling use, makes it good for plastering although I've still to find anyone to give me a definitive answer (chemically that is).