Tiling help

hkt7383

HI

going to do my bathroom wall tiling soon.. i have however one wall of it already tiled.. whats the best way to get rid of these tiles so i can have a blank canvas upon which to tile from scratch.. also- once i remove the old tiles do i need to do anything to the wall before i tile straight on?

cheers

nelly_2

most tillers tile straight over tiles.

woodbutcher_2

If they are solid,leave well alone and tile on top of them.

Alan_M_2

You are better off removing the tiles if possible but you need to take into consideration haow they are fixed and what they're fixed to. Whilst it is quite possible to tile straight over them as other posters have inferred this is really not the best way to go.

What have you got? Plasterboard, plastered brickwork?

hkt7383

hi.. i have plasterboard underneath.. the problem with tiling straight over is that surely it will look odd as only one and 1/2 walls are tiled and so will be at a different thickness from the rest.. especially on the wall which is 1/2 tiled where i plan to finish it off but at the same level as the rest..

hope this makes sense..

Lucie_2

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=145523&highlight=tiling
I asked a similar question about removing tiles on this thread a few weeks ago

Alan_M_2

Your alternatives are plaster above the the tiles to bring the levels flat and the tile over the tiles and new plaster.

Or strip the tiles (which really means replacing the plasterboard which sounds like a huge upheaval but is actually much quicker and cheaper.

Mozilla_2

When I chipped away the old tiles in my bathroom, I had patch plastered the big holes and then gave a final coat with finishing plaster. Wickes do a great One Coat plaster that doesn't crack when it dries.

You may also want to brush the new plaster/plasterboard with 1 part PVA glue and 5 parts water. This gives the tile adhesive better grip for your new tiles.

Alan_M_2

Under no circumstances should you use PVA before you tile, it actually does the exact opposite of giving better grip for the tile cement. For a technical explanation of why click the following link:-

http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/forum1/viewtopic.php?t=168

I'm the author of that post, I post as Mudster on many of the trade sites.

nelly_2

Nice one alan I never knew that

hkt7383

well.. i think ill call a tiler in and leave it to him.. though have another question - i have a shower i wanted fitted to one of the walls that is to be tiled.. should i tile first then get the plumber to fit it over the tiles or should i fit first and then tile around the area?

cheers