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Just to check i'm on the right wavelength here. I'm putting up new plasterboards in my small bathroom next week, the old ones definitely weren't moisture resistant and taking them down sounds quicker than ripping all the old tiles off. So new boards are moisture resistant, I've bought an Aquaseal tanking kit for the shower corner of the bath, and I'm planning on using a tubbed adhesive as i'm a newb to tiling (BAL White Star seems to be the way to go?) Tile wise we are either going with square <16cm tiles or 20x30cm tiles.

Soooo any big mistakes anyone can spot so far or am I on track? Should I be priming the areas of plasterboard that aren't being tanked, or the edges of the boards etc?

Many thanks!

mikedigitales wrote: Tile wise we are either going with square <16cm tiles or 20x30cm tiles.

Soooo any big mistakes anyone can spot so far

You won't want to be using a ready mix adhesive with 20x30 tiles IMHO, 16cm square is about the limit..

Nothing wrong with readymix on that tile in my opinion.

Done so many jobs with 250x400, 300x600 etc with Ardex D15/D20, Granfix supergrip.

I always recommend priming plasterboard with a suitable primer, IE Ardex P51, Granfix primer & bonding agent, believe BAL, Mapei have similar products.

DTWCeramics wrote:I always recommend priming plasterboard with a suitable primer, IE Ardex P51, Granfix primer & bonding agent, believe BAL, Mapei have similar products.

Is this to aid water resistance or bonding of the adhesive, or both? :)

It's not a water resistant compound, just to improve the adhering properties of the adhesive.

Always ensure a surface is dust free before tiling & tanking too, and always tank as much as your product will allow, no need to skimp if it can be avoided.

Please don't hate me DTW


ARDEX D 15 adhesive is applied to the
wall with a trowel, pressing the adhesive
into the surface and trowelling out to give
a uniform coating on the area being tiled.
The applied adhesive should then combed
through with a notched trowel to give a
straight ribbed adhesive bed into which
the ceramic tiles are bedded. For fixing
porcelain tiles larger than 150mm x
150mm or porous bodied tiles greater
than 300mm x 300mm use the appropriate
ARDEX cement based adhesive.

ARDEX D 20 adhesive is applied to the
wall with a trowel, pressing the adhesive
into the surface and trowelling out to
give a uniform coating on the area being
tiled and then combed through with a
notched trowel to give a straight ribbed
adhesive bed into which the ceramic
tiles are bedded. For fixing porcelain
tiles larger than 150mm x 150mm or
porous backed tiles greater than 300mm
x 300mm use the appropriate ARDEX
cement based adhesive.

To be fair Granfix don't spec a maximum size but it is generally accepted that 300x300 is the maximum for dispersion adhesives, although Granfix do state it is a thin bed addy i.e. no more than 3mm thick, so that leaves a maximum trowel of 6mm.

So although the 200x300 would be ok for these adhesives (assuming they are ceramic) it might be worth going for cement addy if you can, If not then i'd suggest White Star

If you are going to tank any areas the I'd use the same manufacturer as the addy, so White Star = BAL WP1, Ardex = Ardex WPC

Tanking doesn't normally require priming but you may find the plasterboard does as DTW says, but check the addy first as some do, some don't

oo'er!

No hate CR.

The amount of tilers using said adhesive does pretty much say that Ardex are trying to cover their bums a bit, but specsheet says what it does and that's what's best to abide.

We had a dispute a few years ago with X7R on floors, up to this point they had never stated about the size maximum, but they recommended only laying 300x300 tiles, and that different adhesive should have been used. However, this info was never to be found on a specsheet haha!

I'm not sure on the properties of BAL adhesives unfortunately, so I'll leave that to the guys who've used them.

Sorry for any inconvenience caused if there is any :)

Cheers

The problem is if you advise someone as a retailer and it fails because the datasheets weren't followed then they may well blame you. For example ardex say their ready mixes are self priming, so no need for it, what's more on P51 it doesn't mention plasterboard at all or give mix ratios for it. You may advise to prime anyway as an added extra, which is fine as long as there are no problems. If it's a rep that has told you this then I'd get it in writing off them so at least you're covered seeing as it's come from Adrex despite it not being in the datasheets.

One of many problems tilers face is when they tell the customer one thing and the retailer tells them another. The customer then has to decide who to believe. It's very hard to spec a job without seeing it first hand as often there are details left out. If tiler and retailers both followed spec sheets then it would be a whole lot easier. Sometimes a tiler will do something that contradicts a spec sheet which they are well within their rights to do, but should anything fail they have to stand by their decision and take responsibility of it.

Colour Republic wrote:If you are going to tank any areas the I'd use the same manufacturer as the addy, so White Star = BAL WP1, Ardex = Ardex WPC

Tanking doesn't normally require priming but you may find the plasterboard does as DTW says, but check the addy first as some do, some don't

Hmmm I've already bought the tanking kit (Everbuild Aquaseal Wet Room System Kit) but not pulled the trigger on the adhesive or grout yet. I had planned on using BAL White Star and a BAL grout, would I be better off to use an Everbuild Aquaseal adhesive instead?

mikedigitales wrote:
Hmmm I've already bought the tanking kit (Everbuild Aquaseal Wet Room System Kit) but not pulled the trigger on the adhesive or grout yet. I had planned on using BAL White Star and a BAL grout, would I be better off to use an Everbuild Aquaseal adhesive instead?

No I wouldn't use their adhesive. It's not the end of the world and you shouldn't have any problem. It's just good practice to use the same brands as they are developed to work together better. But given the choice of using two different brands together or having to use Everbuild for the whole lot i'd go for 2 different brands every time!

Everbuild adhesives are fairly pants IMO, I can't say i've ever seen it in a trade outlet. To be fair i've never used their tanking kit but anybody that states you can use MDF (tanked or not!) in a wet area shouldn't be trusted!

And there's me making a point on going by maufacturers specs

have I got anything to worry about with the Ardex D15 on the wall with 250 x 400 tiles? (ceramics)

suspect not but no harm asking

warmadmax wrote:have I got anything to worry about with the Ardex D15 on the wall with 250 x 400 tiles? (ceramics)

suspect not but no harm asking

Technically speaking the tiles are too large for it but if you've done it already I would leave it longer to dry. If you've primed the walls then I would leave longer still as the primer will act as a retarder slowing the process down. If the adhesive is thick, then leave longer still.

Ready mixed adhesives dry by dispersion, what happens is the adhesive dries around the edge of the tile and the adhesive in the center has no air flow to dry out or very little so the whole process takes much longer.

Will you have a problem? probably not but it is easier to not have the worry and use cement based adhesive (which dries by chemical reaction and can be used thicker than ready mixed) for large format tiles.

If you're ever in doubt, ring Adrex technical and ask their advice.

not started yet but already have brought the materials.
i'll give it at least a few days to dry before grouting

just started to sand the paint off the walls to get back to plaster before i start,
top coat is emulsion so has to come off, the other two (blue and purple, previous owners!) feel solid and don't come away with tape stuck to them,
but as the tech spec says "remove oil, grease, paint" then supposed i'd better!

I'd give it 3 or 4 days tbh