Bathroom wall preparation

House_Hunter

Just trying to understand the work which is required to tile my bathroom walls (any help, suggestions much appreciated!)

- At present, the walls are simply painted, the walls are solid brick with natural an internally wet plaster. This plaster is a bit dodgy in places....

So my thoughts were..

1) Rip off all old plaster
2) Do plumbing work (e.g. shower pipes etc..)
3) Fix an aqua/thermal plasterboard (5cm or so thick to help the room temperature!)
4) Tile on top...

Does that sound sensible? Am I shooting myself in the foot by putting up a plasterboard - in terms of the weight limits?

Is it just a case of having to use extra big screws to then get through plasterboard and into the brick? Surely this would "break" the vapour barrier?

The reason I am concerned with weight is that we have a vistorian style suit planned with elevated cistern etc....

Many thanks!

greyteam1959

Why make work for yourself ???
If you are going to tile the walls just patch up the plaster seal it and then tile it.
I think you will find particularly in older houses most of the plasterwork is 'a bit dodgy' .
My house was built in 1910 and if it was'nt for the wallpaper the plaster would just drop off.......I would leave well alone.
Oh and don't be concerned about the weight of you elevated cistern. That will be screwed through any wall covering direct to the brick work.

House_Hunter

As long as you can get a good finish going on top of old dodgy/not-straight plaster I might be tempted...

Though the thought of having a nicely insulated bathroom is appealing. It currently has 2 large external walls!

Tucker

If you do go down the route of plasterboard, use something like Bal Primer, before tiling (not PVA).

It prevents the moisture from the adhesive getting sucked out into the plasterboard too quickly.

I don't think the Aqua board is a waterproof barrier, it just has greater resistance to moisture than standard board. This would be nailed or screwed to stud walls anyway, so it's normal to fix it.