What material is my wall - tanking required??

[wolfwiser]

Untitled

• wolfwiser
• 27 Jan 2012
• 1

What material is the wall on the right made of, its grey in colour? This is within my shower area, an external wall. I have removed the wall tiles and was thinking that I would have to re-board with aqua panel, not realising it was a apparently cement based wall, smooth solid wall.

Does this require tanking? or can I (fingers crossed here) just remove the old tile adhesive (yawn) and coving (double yawn!) and then simply re-tile?

I understand that the plasterboard on the left requires removing and replacing with aqua panel. It would be great if I'd saved having to re-board the other wall.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Richard C]

What material is the wall on the right made of, its grey in colour? This is within my shower area, an external wall. I have removed the wall tiles and was thinking that I would have to re-board with aqua panel, not realising it was a apparently cement based wall, smooth solid wall.

If it’s a solid wall, it’ll almost certainly be a render or base plaster with plaster skim which can be either grey or pink depending where the gypsum is mined. Other option could be someone has previously over boarded with a cement based backer board but it will sound hollow if so; impossible for me to tell without seeing/tapping it.

Does this require tanking? or can I (fingers crossed here) just remove the old tile adhesive (yawn) and coving (double yawn!) and then simply re-tile?

The tile adhesive will definitely have to come off & this may well remove the plaster skim with it. But this will be in your favor if your laying large format tiles. Plaster skim has a maximum weight limit of 20 kg/sqm including > 4kg/sqm for the adhesive & grout so if your tiles weigh more than 18 kg/sqm, it’s got to come off anyway; render will support up to 40 kg/sqm but it must be in good condition, no hollow sounds when tapped. Any damage caused to the render should be repaired with quick set render or powder cement tile adhesive which you should use on tiles larger than around 250mm x 250mm in any case.

You can tank render/plaster/Aquapanel walls but it’s generally not necessary except in extreme conditions or in a wet room.

I understand that the plasterboard on the left requires removing and replacing with aqua panel. It would be great if I'd saved having to re-board the other wall.

If the render is shot, remove it & overboard with Aquapanel, initial fix with a dot & dab grid of around 200mm to level then mechanically fix through (frame fixings) the adhesive dabs or you’ll crack the boards.

Tiling isn’t rocket science but there are many things that can catch you out, particularly if you intend tiling a suspended timber floor. I would advise you read the Tiling Sticky & Forum Archive posts before doing any work or buying materials, it could prevent you making disastrous & potentially expensive mistakes. It’s important to use only quality trade tilling materials of the correct type for your tiles & tile base, cheapo own brand & DIY stuff is mostly crap.

 

[wolfwiser]

Thanks Richard, the wall is definately solid, and doesnt appear to have a top coat of plaster. The wall is generally in very good condition, and the tile adhesive is coming of OK with little damage to the surface below.

I was a little surprised as the finish of the render is excellent, just like multi-finish plaster. I have found a couple of areas where the surface has been damaged that it is solid an pretty thick (at least 20mm). It doesn't appeat to be boarded either.

So I guess I've got quite lucky and can just repare if necessary and tile away?!?

Thanks for the input!

 

[Richard C]

Are you sure it’s not skim? Could be render but that’s not usually grey & it will be rougher in texture. How old is the property, are the walls of conventional construction?

 

[wolfwiser]

Untitled

• wolfwiser
• 27 Jan 2012
• 1

hopefully you can see from the (rotated) picture the wall. The property was built in 1937, and the wall seem to be standard, but I'm not sure. There is evendence externally that a window has been moved at some stage in the past on this wall, yet the internall wall composition seems to be consistant (as opposed to a plastered pacth etc)so may be more recent renovation.