www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

I stripped off the old tiles, back to the skim-coat.

The new shower is twice the length of the old one, so half the new tiles are to go onto the wall that was not part of the old shower, so are painted with emulsion.

None of my local ironmongers / diy shops has HEARD of a "tiling primer", and vrtually ALL have recommended PVA !

I'm minded to use stabilising solution.... whaddya t'ink ?

i think you should pop into a proper tile supplier and ask them about primers! oh and wire brush the wall to key it up before you prime and tile!

best practice is to remove the emulsion.

Emulsion is not designed to take weight. Adhesive can reactivate the emulsion which means tiles would fall off of wall. PVA only seals the emulsion, it does not make it suitable for carrying the weight of the tiles.

You can test emuslion for stability. If it is ok, PVA and then tile. That is a lottery game though. Might last, might not.

I have done refurbs and tiles have been up for years on emulsion but have also done refurbs where tiles have been on for less than a year on emulsion.

Bottom line is that for chargable work, it is not worth the risk, in my opinion. DIY work, you have to make that judgement yourself. You haven't got much paint to get off the wall.

Would you still PVA it ROC?

Why not a BAL APD or even SBR perhaps as a primer. Tiles stick well to a primed wall with those, providing you have a good surface as you note.

Only downside its that is expensive!

DIY_Johnny wrote:Would you still PVA it ROC?

Why not a BAL APD or even SBR perhaps as a primer. Tiles stick well to a primed wall with those, providing you have a good surface as you note.

Only downside its that is expensive!

not as expensive as having someone sue you for tiles falling off on them!!!!

OP attack the wall with a wire brush t remove as much off the emulsion as you can, then either buy an adhesive with a primer built in or prime the walls before tiling, as ROC says anything else is a gamble, and you dont want them coming off on someone in the shower cos that gonna be bad!

Emulsion is not a good surface. Tile adhesive can weaken it, if it isn't primed. Primer is also wet and can weaken it. Although it isn't as much of a problem in bathroom as it shouldn't be matt anyway.

You can test emulsion by putting gaffer tape on it, leaving for ten minutes or so and peeling off and then see if emulsion peels away with it.

This is why when you tile half height and just lap over onto emulsion, when you wipe adhesive off, the emuslion comes away too.

If I was going to chance it, then I would test wall if paint was solid then I would prime it and tile.

Thank you, all three of you, for your useful comments.

But you didn't comment on my idea of using stabilising solution to "stabilise" the matt vynil emulsion. What do you think ?

Stabilising solution is what it says.....a 'stabiliser'. That will not work a miracle, it will only stabilise paint to receive paint.

robin in essence what you are suggesting really is no diiferent to tiling over wallpaper! as your adhesive will only be stuck to the top layer thats on the wall! as i and ROC have said remove the emulsion first then tile!

Thank you both !

acrylic primer..
mapei primer G..or
bal..
primer,
apd,
or sbr,

follow m.i. for mix ratio.