Tiling advice please

Ke1th · Post by **Ke1th** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 4:52 pm

Hi all.

Nearly ready to tile the bathroom wall around the bath/shower and could do with some advice.

The end walls are of plasterboard and the other plaster. The bottom half of the plastered wall previously had tiles and after removing them, a small layer (2mm) of plaster has come off. Also there are some gouges cut into it.

Is it better to plaster this wall prior to tiling or can I just level it out with adhesive?

Also after looking at the Bal shower kit, is it really neccessary? It is pretty expensive, are there any alternatives?

Thanks,
Keith.

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 5:53 pm

2mm is not a lot and so the adhesive should compensate for this, if you use a bit more.

I have never used the tanking kits, but the pro's all swear by them!

I am sure that my shower area is not tanked and it has been ok for 15 years. I suppose it depends on how much use it gets daily, if you have lots of people in your family then it may be a good idea to tank it.

panlid · Post by **panlid** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 8:08 pm

2mm is fine to go over with adhesive. as for the tanking kit...well...
i use them as i am trying to do a pro job. but as UHM says they are not strickly neccesary if truth be told. loads and loads of bathrooms arnt tanked and are perfectly fine. as long as the boards are well fixed and you use a solid bed of a good adhesive it should be fine.
if you want belt and braces then by all means tank.

Ke1th · Post by **Ke1th** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 9:05 pm

Hey thanks guys. I'll not bother tanking the walls...but that means I can start the job tomorrow

owen · Post by **owen** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 7:12 am

i would be tempted to plaster the damaged area as i find it easier to tile onto a nice flat surface. you can just build out with adhesive though.

Jaeger_S2k · Post by **Jaeger_S2k** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 9:04 am

Tank IT!

Dirk Diggler · Post by **Dirk Diggler** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 9:27 am

Hi Keith, i wouldn't go to the trouble of plastering the wall as ultimatehandyman is correct when he says that you can use the adhesive to overcome such a small anomaly, and contrary perhaps to a lot of advice, i wouldn't bother tanking. i have installed a few bathrooms in my time and have friends who install bathrooms professionally, and they consider them an unnecessary extravagance.
i have a had quite few student rental properties for many years now that have shower enclosures in, these were fitted around untanked plasterboard walls and i can honestly say that i have never had a problem.

touch wood

panlid · Post by **panlid** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 9:29 am

this a good discussion actually. i do see the point to tanking but i also think if it is done right with the right materials it will be fine. for years there was no tankning and most were fine. i say most as always there are jobs done crappily with cheap materials and this will have a bearing on whether those tiles leaked.
i also think where does it end?
its like the next toothpast being brighter and better. does that mean that the one they told us was the dogs gonads for years is suddenly not good at all even though it has done perfectly well for years.
i am all for new technology and new products to help make jobs better and as i say i do tank as the customer is paying and i want to cover my back. but i am not in the school that says if you dont tank it will fail. you could say it has more of a chance to fail i suppose. but then that gets to the argument have you put the tanking kit on right.
oh i m rambling. look at the weather, why am i sat in hear typing b*llox to other numpties that should get a life and stop scaring each other.

oh look a robin

does a robin know it has a red breast?

do birds see colour?

im off googleing

Dirk Diggler · Post by **Dirk Diggler** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 9:35 am

panlid wrote:this a good discussion actually. i do see the point to tanking but i also think if it is done right with the right materials it will be fine. for years there was no tankning and most were fine. i say most as always there are jobs done crappily with cheap materials and this will have a bearing on whether those tiles leaked.
i also think where does it end?
its like the next toothpast being brighter and better. does that mean that the one they told us was the dogs gonads for years is suddenly not good at all even though it has done perfectly well for years.
i am all for new technology and new products to help make jobs better and as i say i do tank as the customer is paying and i want to cover my back. but i am not in the school that says if you dont tank it will fail. you could say it has more of a chance to fail i suppose. but then that gets to the argument have you put the tanking kit on right.
oh i m rambling. look at the weather, why am i sat in hear typing b*llox to other numpties that should get a life and stop scaring each other.

oh look a robin

does a robin know it has a red breast?

do birds see colour?

im off googleing

bathstyle · Post by **bathstyle** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 11:20 am

I offer a five year guarantee when I tank, it costs £53 for the tanking kit and my Apprentice installs it so it's a relatively cheap extra. I charge £150 inc VAT to supply and install it.

No Tanking, no guarantee.

Not only is it a belt and braces approach to your work, it also is a great selling point, especially when you include the WP1 leaflet with your written Quote.

I just provide the customer with the information and they all say yes, if any said no then I would install FOC anyway, for my own benefit.

bathstyle · Post by **bathstyle** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 11:22 am

Just to add, the smaller the tiles, the more vital it is to tank, if someone isn't tanking with mosaic tiles beind installed, they are highly likely to get big problems.

Dirk Diggler · Post by **Dirk Diggler** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 12:41 pm

Thats commendable bathstyle

panlid · Post by **panlid** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 4:12 pm

thats why i use it. its a good selling point. that isnt in question that it works. my point is that it will most likely be fine without it. if someone wanted mosaics in a shower i dont think i would do it anyway

Ke1th · Post by **Ke1th** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 7:21 am

Ye definately just gonna put the tiles on without tanking. I only really want them to last the next 5 years really anyway.

I'm sure I read somewhere on here to leave a 6mm gap between the bath and tile, is this correct? I plan to use silicone to seal.

I planned to do this job last week but remembered I had to finish the ceiling first :(

Thanks,
Keith.

Ke1th · Post by **Ke1th** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 7:25 am

Robins are NOT colorblind--in fact, their colour vision probably covers a wider spectrum than our human vision does. Robins fly into windows for two reasons....
-They don't see it, and simply are trying to pass through.
-They DO see it, or at least their own reflection in it. If a male sees a male robin, or a female sees a female, it goes ballistic and tries to chase it away.