Tiling a plastered bathroom

[johncorleone]

Hi,

I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction as I've been going around in circles for months!

We recently had the existing tiles from an en-suite removed and the walls re-boarded in parts and re-plastered completely. Unfortunately that appears to have been our first mistake (when we thought we were making progress) 🙁 We really wanted travertine or limestone for the walls but through searching sites like this have found this will not be possible due to the weight and the plastered walls. However, when we asked our tiler about this he said it would be fine, and he'd be happy to put them up ?! (These were 12 mm tiles). I'm assuming from reading here that he is incorrect ?

Since we wrote those off and went looking again, we've since found some nice porcelain tiles which are 8mm but weigh in at 22Kg per sq. m. Do you think these would be ok to use on the plastered walls ? (I know they're more than 20Kg but is there any lee-way in this at all ?) If not, are all we can use on the plastered walls, ceramic tiles? We have looked at a ton of tile shops and not found a single ceramic tile which we've liked so I'm really hoping not :/

Any help or advice would be really appreciated as I'm being told one thing by our tiler and something completely different by forums like this and at this stage I've no idea what to do next 🙁

P.S. There will be a shower enclosure in the bathroom with 3 walls (which will be tiled, eventually we hope!). Can this tiling be done directly onto the plastered wall or do we need some kind of water-proof boarding ?

Cheers,

John

 

[bigandy]

Ok this how i beleive the land lies.

Yes technically the tiles are to heavy, going off what we are told are the safe working weights, and if i was quoting you i would certainly tell you so.as it would invalidate my insurance.

However i have in the past fitted tiles in this situation but have stippulated no guarantee about the plaster and tile coming off.that is to cover my bum.

Re shower get it tanked so your out lay is not ruined.

Hope you can see what i am saying

 

[grumpygrouter]

The weight limits stipulated by BS and various other sources are given for a reason. If you have plastered walls and want to put up 22kg/m2 of porcelain tiles, you then need to add the additional weight of adhesive and grout to your calculation. This will end up somewhere in the region of 25 -26kg/m2. Not safe in my opinion.

If you are really set on having limestone or trav. then the only real way is to get rid of the plaster and put up a more appropriate substrate such as backerboard, mechanically fixed. This would easily take the weight of your chosen tiles. If you are staying with the plaster, then something much less substantial is the only real option, sorry.

 

[johncorleone]

Wow, that was fast! Thanks a lot for the quick reply 🙂

Ok, so the 22Kg tiles *should* be ok but no guarantees. Fair enough so. One other thing I forgot to mention which had me worried is that the walls are actually paramount partition walls, will this make any difference to what we can put up in terms of weights ?

Cheers,

John

 

[johno]

Maximum weight per m2 on a plasterboard is 32 kilos an the maximum weight per m2 on skimmed plasterboard 16 kilos. With the shower walls get a good tanking systems.

 

[GazTech]

The weight limits stipulated by BS and various other sources are given for a reason. If you have plastered walls and want to put up 22kg/m2 of porcelain tiles, you then need to add the additional weight of adhesive and grout to your calculation. This will end up somewhere in the region of 25 -26kg/m2. Not safe in my opinion.

If you are really set on having limestone or trav. then the only real way is to get rid of the plaster and put up a more appropriate substrate such as backerboard, mechanically fixed. This would easily take the weight of your chosen tiles. If you are staying with the plaster, then something much less substantial is the only real option, sorry.

Sorry John, I am in total agreement on this one. If you remove the skim you are within limits for your porcelain. I have done this before with a steam stripper, but be careful not to destroy the integrity of the board under it......Gaz

 

[johncorleone]

Sorry John, I am in total agreement on this one. If you remove the skim you are within limits for your porcelain. I have done this before with a steam stripper, but be careful not to destroy the integrity of the board under it......Gaz

Ok, thanks a lot for your help. Do you have any opinion on whether the "paramount" walls will have an affect on tile weights which can be supported ?

I've tried to find some information on the web regarding this type of construction of walls but it' been very hard to find anything useful.

Cheers,

John

 

[White Room]

It's still only plasterboard so 32kg

 

[Taz8130]

Description of Paramount Dry partition-2 sheets of plasterboard spaced a few inc hes apart by an egg-box shaped web of fibrous material; method of erection of partitions, including fixing to wall, floor, and ceiling; fixing door frames, wash basins switches and wires.

 

[Hardibacker Rep]

If its an option reboard the walls with Hardibacker 500....can take up to 45kg per sqm of tile and is completely impervious to water damage....all bases covered with one board....

 

[GazTech]

Ok, thanks a lot for your help. Do you have any opinion on whether the "paramount" walls will have an affect on tile weights which can be supported ?

I've tried to find some information on the web regarding this type of construction of walls but it' been very hard to find anything useful.

Cheers,

John

paramount carry the same weight as plasterboard and aren't skimmed are they...therefore 32kg per m2, less adhesive and grout.....Gaz

 

[johncorleone]

Thanks a lot for all the advice folks, really appreciate it. We found some ceramic stone effect tiles which weigh in at 16.5Kg per square metre so I think we're going to go with those 🙂

Cheers,

John

 

[brian c]

Are you getting the original tiler in to do the job John?

 

[johncorleone]

Are you getting the original tiler in to do the job John?

Good question, given the poor advice we've been given in the past couple of months, we're going to try and get a few other quotes and hopefully go with someone else.