Tiling over old tiles? (merged threads)

JENJEN30X

Hi,
I was just wondering if it is worth tiling over old tiles as we are not sure if our plaster will come off with them in the bathroom?
Or is it not a very good idea?
I haven't got a clue so any advice appreciated.
Thanks Jenjen

fitterastra

Hi, Chances are that yes the plaster will come off, but you may get lucky like me and they may come off easy. Try a couple of tile as a tester to see.

If they come off clean then gently ease them all off.

On the other hand you can tile straight onto tiles no problem doing that.

merch

If you think the substrate is unstable then tiling-on-tile may not be a good idea, especially if the new tiles are thick ie 9mm or more. You also have to account of the weight of adhesive and grout. Tile on tile is ok if the wall can take the weight. Ensure the existing tiles are clean, wash down with sugar soap. Use a good quality adhesive such as BAL Blue Star or BAL White Star
The maximum recommended weight of tiles/adhesive/grout onto a plaster/brick substrate is 20kg per square metre
It may be better to remove the old tiles then patch up the plaster before re-tiling. The plaster doesn't have to be perfect as it won't be seen.
Interestingly, the maximum weight that can go onto a plasterboard/stud wall is 32kg per square metre (OK, I know it's not interesting, but I'm a bit of a tile geek!)
Hope that helps.

merch

fitterastra - crossed posts! :beer:

tanith

JenJen we had exactly this dilemma 6mths ago and decided to take the tiles off... some of the plaster did come off with the tiles but on the whole not too bad... what we did was roughly replastered where there was damage and then evened up with tile adhesive when we were tiling... ie: just put on more adhesive when needed...... it worked out fine and the tiles came out looking perfect ... I had my doubts but it worked fine......

my son in law assured me that builders do this all the time especially when the client is not watching :eek:

good luck

grumbler

Tiling over tiles
Tiling over old tiles

raddy59

I ahev inherited a large kitchen covered with horrible tiles. the kitchen units are attached to the wall over the tiling!. the existing tiles are in good condition - just horrible.
can I simply tile over the existing tiles?

Rubber_Duck_4

You can but make sure you buy the right adhesive and prepare the tiles correctly. A friend of mine tried it with the wrong stuff in his bathroom and a day later his bath was full of his new tiles.

Ask for some advice at your local DIY centre they are usually good with this sort of thing

alanobrien

Yes its no problem.

You will need to rough up the surface of the existing tiles so that the adhesive can Key into the surface. Other than that its fairly straight forward.

Nile

Hello raddy59


I've merged your thread with the existing 'Tiling over old tiles' thread. If you read back from post #1, you should find the help you need.;)

Regards

Nile

pageee2004_2

Hi can anyone please help with some advice with tiling....
we are going to re-tile our bathroom soon, and have seen on several home programmes that it is fine to tile over exsisting tiles (which would be brilliant as less mess and work involved)...
Has anyone else ever done this and if so do we need to do anything to the exsisting tiles first in preperation?

And what would be the best adhestive to use?