tiling plywood

[donmaico]

Hello,I just made a box out of plywood and attempted to tile .Unfortunately some of the joints came apart , the box is somewhat flexible and i found the tiles cam off quite easily.Should I be using a sealer first or a different kind of adhesive? Thanks!

 

[xerxes]

Do you mean that the joints in the plywood box came apart? If so, it sounds as if you need to make a new box, of ply that is thick enough, and rigidly made so that it will not flex.

It would help if you could describe more fully what you are trying to achieve.

 

[Richard C]

What’s the box for, what type of plywood have you used? You can’t just tile straight onto plywood, it must be sealed first. If it’s a bath/shower, tank it but I would never use plywood as a tile base in these areas. You must also use a flexible tile adhesive & grout (the good ones are expensive) but, if the plywood is too flexible, even that won’t hold.

 

[donmaico]

the u-shaped box was made to place under a combi boiler and resting on a work surface.I wanted to be able to move it in and out as required to reach the controls on the underside of the boiler whilst hiding the pipes which run down the wall behind.Now the joints of the box are rigid enough but i got a feeling the main front face is too thin ( 1/4 inch thick)and therefore too flexible which would account for the grouting breaking up .Presumably a more flexible grout is available but I have not seen one.
I set the tiles about 30 hours ago but noticed this morning that tiles just simply peeled off which made me think I should have sealed the box first, maybe with primer undercoat .
The side panels are about 3/4 inch thick
Thanks

 

[gcol]

You can't just tile straight onto plywood, it must be sealed first.

This is incorrect.

 

[donmaico]

the plywood is just the ordinary stuff one finds at B&Q ie not marine.
I thought maybe the wood was too absorbent

 

[Richard C]

You can't just tile straight onto plywood, it must be sealed first.

This is incorrect.

Oh well come on then; instead of slapping my generalism down, explain to the OP

 

[roughcaster]

We have a small area of ply pipe boxing in our kitchen. It has 24 x 4" tiles on it, and they are all "stuck" on with "No More Nails", and grouted with flexi grout. We have had no problems at all.. Ours is a permanant fixture though, but i'm sure the same method of fixing etc to your moveable " ply pipe boxing" would work too..... It was convenient for us to do it this way,,,, but saying that,, there are proper flexible tile adhesives and grout for using on plywood. If it is the correct thickness and type of ply (WBP) and it is firmly fixed (screwed) into place, there should be no problem.

Roughcaster.

 

[donmaico]

. If it is the correct thickness and type of ply (WBP) and it is firmly fixed (screwed) into place, there should be no problem.

Roughcaster.

i think this is where I went wrong ie too thin(1/4") therefore too flexible and probably not exterior quality.I Think I shall also use diluted unibond to seal the wood as well

 

[gcol]

You can't just tile straight onto plywood, it must be sealed first.

This is incorrect.

Oh well come on then; instead of slapping my generalism down, explain to the OP

And to you huh? Didn't mean to "slap" your advice down - merely to say that it was not correct.

Ok, well the first thing to mention is that you need to follow the instructions on the adhesive. If it says you need to apply a sealant to ply prior to tiling then you should do so. The reason I mentioned that your advice was incorrect Richard, is because I have primarily used Bal adhesive. Bal do recommend sealing the ply, but they only recommend sealing the back and edges of the ply - not the surface to be tiled. The reason for the sealing is to reduce the amount of expansion of the ply sheet due to atmospheric changes. Their adhesive (Blue or White Star) will cope just fine with tling straight onto ply.

 

[Richard C]

Apology accepted. My initial answer was a generalism, tailored to suit the OP’s obvious lack of experience (no offence OP) but you didn't give me a bloody chance! I was attempting to gain more information before going into detail but the OP seems to have come to his own conclusions. I agree that in some cases I would be incorrect but in others I would undoubtedly be correct, it depends on the adhesive being used & the type of ply; & I have read BAL’s fact sheet!

 

[gcol]

Apology accepted.