Discuss First bathroom project in the DIY Tiling Forum area at TilersForums. The USA and UK Tiling Forum (Also now Aus, Canada, ROI, and more)

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Hopefully someone can help!

Currently attempting to gut and refit a small bathroom with plasterboard walls. walls.. First time ive done it, never really plumbed or tiled but learning fast! The gutting went OK and bathroom now empty. but now confusion starts.
The long wall of the bath I was going to fit backer boards mainly for a smooth tiling surface on the biggest wall. Originally was going to repair but thought best to fit the boards. Shower is over bath, so shower wall and end of bath wall I was going to tank with mapei. There is no room for more backer boards on those sides the bathroom is literally 1700mm long and any extra mm will cause a problem.

The tiles came off mostly ok but some plaster has come off the other walls with the adhesive. Does this need to be repaired/replastered? For the bigger damaged areas how would I repair those? And what next to provide sufficient surface for tiling?

Can I bond coat the damaged areas and then use a primer before tiling?


Hope some of this makes sense!
 
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Photos of the tiny bathroom
 

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The trick is to make everything easy for your self. You could patch in the missing piece in pic 1, using perimeter noggins to secure the new plaster board to the old but if the are next to, as i expect, the area of the shower, I would probably remove plasterboard from the whole wall and replace it with 12mm cement faced boards (ie Wedi), the same at the back of the washbasin although this could be PVA'd and skimmed flat (not bonding!)
If the shower wall is solid, jsut scrape it as smooth as poss and tank.
When you fit a shower over a bath, you have to remember that the bath will move when you get in so make sure you make a solid frame for the rim of the bath to sit on, either a stud like affair or fix battens to the wall and prop them from the floor as well.
Seal the bath to the walls before tiling, then when tiling, leave a small (2-4mm) gap for the silicone to go under the tiles and create a proper seal, rather than an L shape.
Use primer where you don't tank, back butter your tiles, make nice straight patterns in the adhesive, not wavey like it was, and make sure you stay perfectly plumb, level and flat.
Make a staff from a straight piece of timber and mark out the size of the tiles and the spaces both vertically and horizontally, and check carefully every feature, such as the window, top of bath, height of splashback etc. Spend enough time making sure you know if the walls are leaning in or out, and if there are bulges in the surface.
Pay particular close attention to the window!
Then, the job will be a piece of cake!
 
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The trick is to make everything easy for your self. You could patch in the missing piece in pic 1, using perimeter noggins to secure the new plaster board to the old but if the are next to, as i expect, the area of the shower, I would probably remove plasterboard from the whole wall and replace it with 12mm cement faced boards (ie Wedi), the same at the back of the washbasin although this could be PVA'd and skimmed flat (not bonding!)
If the shower wall is solid, jsut scrape it as smooth as poss and tank.
When you fit a shower over a bath, you have to remember that the bath will move when you get in so make sure you make a solid frame for the rim of the bath to sit on, either a stud like affair or fix battens to the wall and prop them from the floor as well.
Seal the bath to the walls before tiling, then when tiling, leave a small (2-4mm) gap for the silicone to go under the tiles and create a proper seal, rather than an L shape.
Use primer where you don't tank, back butter your tiles, make nice straight patterns in the adhesive, not wavey like it was, and make sure you stay perfectly plumb, level and flat.
Make a staff from a straight piece of timber and mark out the size of the tiles and the spaces both vertically and horizontally, and check carefully every feature, such as the window, top of bath, height of splashback etc. Spend enough time making sure you know if the walls are leaning in or out, and if there are bulges in the surface.
Pay particular close attention to the window!
Then, the job will be a piece of cake!

Thanks Slippery, some easy to follow tips there, much appreciated!

Yes that wall with the missing piece is the long side of the bath so is the shower area. I think I was just worried about stripping things back to much and making it worse for myself but you saying "The trick is to make everything easy for your self" kind of hit home. I don't want to be battling with knackered plasterboard when tiling for the first time. I have now ripped that whole wall off and will get some Hardie Backer Boards. We need a plasterer to sort the artex ceiling out so I might get a quote to skim the basin wall, although there are two quite deep damaged areas on that side so I'm considering removing those boards also.

The photo attached is on the shower wall does that need skimming over before tanking and tiling? Strips of previous skim have come off where the tile adhesive was. Its these little things that wind me up the most.
 

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You could fill those missing bits with tile adhesive and let it go off.
It will be much easier to get good coverage if the wall is smooth and flat .
 

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