Plywood floored shower room on 3rd floor/loft room

[gobby]

Got a job to see tonight, fire earth ceramics onto plywood about 2m sq apparently, lady tells me small job, quality ply blah blah. It's not local but the guy who put me forward told she's good for referrals and more work with her contacts. Said I'd view first and see if suitable but what would you guys be thinking already,, I can supply ady and grout if I want to, go around tray sink and toilet unless easy to get out, house is built within last 7 years. Bit apprehensive about ply having read the forum a bit but it's a small area however I've not yet seen it, opinions welcomed, Mark

 

[Stef]

Got a job to see tonight, fire earth ceramics onto plywood about 2m sq apparently, lady tells me small job, quality ply blah blah. It's not local but the guy who put me forward told she's good for referrals and more work with her contacts. Said I'd view first and see if suitable but what would you guys be thinking already,, I can supply ady and grout if I want to, go around tray sink and toilet unless easy to get out, house is built within last 7 years. Bit apprehensive about ply having read the forum a bit but it's a small area however I've not yet seen it, opinions welcomed, Mark

Depends on ply thickness, if it's solid & no bounce & provided it's not 6 or 9mm then I would tile straight onto it.
I'm not a great fan of tiling direct to ply now, I would always try & overboard 1st as I feel you get a better bond with using something like Hardie etc.
I also don't tile round sinks or toilets, the time spent cutting them in perfect then you are far quicker taking them out, if you can't do it yourself then tell client to organise a plumber.

 

[beanz]

I don't know about getting a better bond, not using ply.. I ripped a bathroom out the other week, and it was fully ply'd. Walls & floor!! Hardest rip-out I've ever done! The tiles came of in little 1 inch pieces.... It took 2 days to rip that blasted (for want of a better word) bathroom out!

 

[gobby]

If it's springy then I'll suggest taking her tiles back and fit vinyl tiles! (I can do them too) if it's patchwork ply then a 6mm cement tile backer board could be the way forward? Glued and screwed, i'd read not to use flexi adhesive with hardie but is that right? I used flexi rapid with 10mm marmox and ufh recently. I prefer and am capable of removing toilets and sinks etc but it depends on boxings & pipe heights and lengths, connections etc as to how much extra that is though as you say if I can't then her plumber can! You know it's going to be a pain when someone tries telling you its a tiny job and 'it''ll only take you half a day' and when you say I'll come in an evening to 'see' it they say 'do you mean to do it?' you have to explain no I need to see it first because if your tiles come up in 3 weeks time you wont be best pleased! Mark

 

[Stef]

I always fit Hardie with a flexi adhesive although they say you don't need a flexi as it's only there as a gap filler.
I've ripped Hardie up after I've fitted it & I can tell you it's more than a gap filler.
Oh how I hate jobs like that where the client tells you how it is, the joys.

 

[Qwerty]

Up to you what you are happy to work with with regards to removal of items. I would whip them out if it were me, but either way backer boards would be down over the ply before I tiled!

 

[charlie1]

I always fit Hardie with a flexi adhesive although they say you don't need a flexi as it's only there as a gap filler.
I've ripped Hardie up after I've fitted it & I can tell you it's more than a gap filler. 
Oh how I hate jobs like that where the client tells you how it is, the joys. 

i love over it when a customer tells you how long the job will take you... (Instant hatred!!)

 

[gobby]

and she said it in a very well spoken voice lol.

To be fair she might have been trying to convince me to do it rather than tell me how as she perhaps thinks it's not worth my while and it isnt local but she hasn't seen my price yet lol

Do you all screw hardie down as well as use adhesive, if so do you all use genuine Hardie screws (30mm) or others with 6mm, I was concerned they could protrude into a pipe or cable under the floor. I'm getting ahead of myself and I haven't been there yet but was thinking I'd offer her the choice and the risk and stick a disclaimer on it. Mark

 

[Stef]

and she said it in a very well spoken voice lol.

To be fair she might have been trying to convince me to do it rather than tell me how as she perhaps thinks it's not worth my while and it isnt local but she hasn't seen my price yet lol

Do you all screw hardie down as well as use adhesive, if so do you all use genuine Hardie screws (30mm) or others with 6mm, I was concerned they could protrude into a pipe or cable under the floor. I'm getting ahead of myself and I haven't been there yet but was thinking I'd offer her the choice and the risk and stick a disclaimer on it. Mark

Glue & screw your Hardie, I always make my adhesive a little thinner when putting Hardie down, walk over the top of it to bond it to the floor then use 25mm turbo golds from ScrewFix to secure it to the floor.
Them screws will bite in tight & the heads will never snap off them, I use an impact driver & you can batter through the boards.
The Hardie has a grid pattern on the face, just look for the circles & that's your guides for the screws.

 

[gobby]

Well it was a very tiny, triangle shaped ensuite in the corner of a loft room with a triangular shower in a 4 bed semi town house style new build with more angles than an angle finder could find, green chipboard floor and a concealed cistern with pan siliconed to the wall tiles. Didn't know where to start really and didn't bother measuring it but explained it would need hardie first then more cuts than a self harmer could muster and take all day including running up and down two flights of stairs on cuts. Suggested karndean wood plank vinyl tiles which I'm going to quote instead, nice lady that doesn't want to spend any money on it, I doubt I'll get it but nice part of the Cotswolds to drive around. Mark