Can I tile onto this type of plywood? - Tile Advice

[Chloe]

Hi,

My friend's Dad built some boxing around the toilet in my bathroom using some plywood salvaged from a building site. I think it was previously used for boarding up windows (shuttering ply?). See pics attached.

Can I tile onto this if properly primed or am I better off redoing the box in a different material?

Is there a good way to tell what type of plywood it is?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Tile Fix Direct]

It is now against British Standards to tile on ply in bathrooms. The simple reason is that ply swells and shrinks due to humidity (which fluctuates a lot in bathrooms) but tiles do not. The end result is the tiles are likely to fall off. Your best solution would be to overlay with a tile backer board. However, this will increase the thickness of the tiles and may mean you have to re-fit your toilet to take this into account. I do not recommend applying a waterproof coat to the ply as this will encourage it to swell, and it will continue to swell and shrink as the back of the ply will still be exposed to the vagaries of the bathroom humidity. I have attached links to our Orbry backer board.
Orbry Board - https://www.tilefixdirect.com/product/Orbry-Insulated-Backer-Board

 

[acaciaguy]

As above you can’t tile onto ply. Either over board with a thin backer board or repack ply with a thicker one. Tilefix will sort you.

 

[Waluigi]

Text book answers and I would never construct a tiled boxing in this way however I would take a close look at the veneer you have on your ply. See how thick it is. Also take any offcuts you might have and leave them outside in the rain, to see if it starts to delaminate.

Modern ply woods often have a very thin veneer, poor glue used between each layer of ply and generally cheap softwoods are often used. That said, some ply woods are very well made and still industry standard in a lot of flooring installations.

 

[Chloe]

Thanks guys, this is really useful. Will go for the backer board I think. Thanks again.