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In short, can I tile straight on to Marine ply?

I'm building a shower cubicle part of which is going to be a partition stepping out 60mm from the wall (for the pipes to go behind and to leave me a 800mm gap for the tray & screen).

Thanks in advance.

yes you can but a tile backerboard would be better, what addy are you using?

I just have normal tile adhesive which you would use to tile a wall with. Obviously I will get something else should I need it.

The partition is going to be holding the thermostatic mixer so its going to have to be strong. Initially I was going to use marine ply, which made me ask about tiling on to it. Someone has mentioned 'Aquaboard' so I'm not sure where to go from here...

All I know is that I'm going to have to use some kind of board which will be fixed to 3x2 batons, and the surface of the board will be tiled and will also be holding the mixer.

Forgive my ignorance but what is a 'tile backerboard'?

Thanks

Ok ;lets start from the begining to see if we can help you out.

What tiles have you chosen? Cermaic/porcelain/stone/glass?
and what size are the tiles? wxhxd?

Ceramic 250x330x7mm WxHxD

Ok you don't have a weight issue with those tiles but the size of the tile is on the border with dispersion adhesives (ready mixed) which I wouldn't recommend in a wet area anyway.

Firstly there are two main types of adhesive -

Dispersion adhesives which dry via air contact, much like paint. If your tile is too large then it is possible that the adhesive round the edge of the tile will set but then stop the adhesive in the middle of the tile setting as it has created an air tight pocket. It will dry eventually but could take days/weeks/months depending on the substrate so not ideal in any way. Some ready mixed adhesives can also break down when in contact with water, remember that grout is water resistant not water proof so some moisture (although small) will travel through the grout with every use of the shower.

Cement based adhesives (bagged) set via chemical reaction and also have the added benefit of not breaking down when wet.

Tile backer boards are a replacement type board in the place of say plasterboard and ply. Some marine ply can stop the addy getting a good bond depending on the resins in it, so I’d opt for a tile backer board or plasterboard that is then tanked

There are plenty of tile backer boards on the market

Aquapanel is one, there is also Hardiebacker, marmox, no more ply, wedi etc. etc. they all have slightly different properties although will do the job in your case equally well, tile backer boards also don't break down when in contact with water.

You could also use a normal plasterboard and then tank it (waterproof it), this could be with a paint on system like BAL WP1, Mapeigum, dunlop etc. etc. Or it could be tanked with a membrane system like Dural C1, ditra etc. etc.


I know that all seems like a lot to take in but when tiling a wet area you want to get it right or it will only come back to bite you later

Maximum respect for taking the time to give such detailed advice.

Thanks,

Blakes.

So will Aquapanel be ok to mount my thermostatic mixer on? If so is there anything I should be aware of?

Thanks

blakes wrote:So will Aquapanel be ok to mount my thermostatic mixer on? If so is there anything I should be aware of?

Thanks

Is it a concealed valve or suface mounted?

Surface mounted.

Aquapanel is only strong when left intact and fixed at regular intervals to a stiff substructure. As soon as you cut holes in it, it crumbles. It's not really the best substance for trying to get a fixing in, so you wouldnt want to put anything of any significant weight on it without supporting with timber or such behind.

Take the time to plan where everything will go, where your fixings for a shower screen, shower riser, shower unit will go etc, and try and make sure you have some solidly fixed timber to recieve the screws, thus saving you messing about with plugs.

If your mixer valve is surface mounted I would secure the copper tails to which the shower valve will connect (via a male/female iron) to the wall/stud work behind the valve using back plate elbows. You can then put a noggin between the studs, below the copper tails and then fasten the tails to this. THat way you can then use wedi board/aquapanel without having to worry about fastening anything to it as the backplate elbows and noggin will provide all the support. I do this all the time.

I hoep that the explanation is clear, it may be stella-ised!!

dinolep wrote:If your mixer valve is surface mounted I would secure the copper tails to which the shower valve will connect (via a male/female iron) to the wall/stud work behind the valve using back plate elbows. You can then put a noggin between the studs, below the copper tails and then fasten the tails to this. THat way you can then use wedi board/aquapanel without having to worry about fastening anything to it as the backplate elbows and noggin will provide all the support. I do this all the time.

I hoep that the explanation is clear, it may be stella-ised!!

Yes thats pretty clear, thanks. I'm actually using HEP20 though, I'm wondering if that will make method less plausible?

Hep20 is a big No No behind the shower. By all means use Hep20 up to the boxing but then change to copper. You should be able to use a length of copper from Hep20 to valve for hot and cold feeds, with just bends to it and no soldered fittings. Then come from the valve with one length of copper to the back plate elbow.

Peace of mind and less chance of leaks developing later on down the line is the main reason for copper and not Hep20.

Personally, I don't have any Hep20 on my jobs.