Tips for tiling old/unevn walls

[martyc]

Have done a bit of tiling and have the basics Ok.
I am about to tile the bathroom with largish tiles...300*450mm and the walls are not the straightest as its quite an old house.
Any tips for tackling this?...would using a deeper trowel help??..i have a 9mm one i used for tiling kitchen floor.
Cheers,
marty

 

[g20]

get the walls skimmed over so there level before you start would be the easist option, or just add more addhisive to the tiles, depends how uneven they are though (that might not be posible)

 

[gcol]

Quote from the tiling sticky.

Wall tiling
Deciding what tiles to get
How good is your wall? If it's uneven then the smaller the tile, the easier it will be to lay and the edges of the tiles won't kick up. However, the smaller the tile, the longer they take to fit. For large tiles you need very flat walls. You can easily test how flat your wall is by putting a 1 metre long straight piece of timber on it. You don't want any large gaps under the straight edge or you'll have to fill them with adhesive when you fix the tiles and this makes things difficult. If this is the case, getting a plasterer to skim the walls would be a good idea; tell him you want it flat enough for large tiles.

 

[martyc]

Cheers guys for the tips...to be honest i pretty much know a skim would help and that big tiles wont!!(but they are bought now!!)
Anyways dont have the time/cash to get the walls skimmed.
What i was really asking was "how to apply extra adhesive"...do i lash it on and smoothen it with the flat edge of the trowel and then go over it with the notched edge etc etc
Also what depth notch would be best.
Many thanks
Marty

 

[g20]

You could just put the adhesive onto the tiles (a blob in each corner and the middle) instead of putting it on the walls like normal, Just put bigger/smaller blobs on depending on the wall, you might find this an easier option

 

[lancenotalot]

You could just put the adhesive onto the tiles (a blob in each corner and the middle) instead of putting it on the walls like normal, Just put bigger/smaller blobs on depending on the wall, you might find this an easier option

Dot and dab isn't a good idea espcially under larger tiles,you will end up with hollow spots/voids underneath,this doesn't give proper adhesion.

 

[martyc]

Yeah...dont like the dot n dab idea TBH!!
Ill try laying it on heavy before notching it out...so anyone able to tell me what notch size trowel for walls?????
(have only done a floor and a splashback before and used a 9mm one as advised by the shop)

Cheers,
Marty