tiling a bathroom wall

pamaho

Is it a good idea to tile over existing sound wall tiles over a bath or should I knock them off and patch up the plaster work or even just blob extra large spots of tile cement on the back of the new tiles?

coolagarry

I have tiled over existing sound wall tiles without any problems. I had tried removing the old tiles first but gave up after one wall because of the awful mess. If I was you I would go for it.

plumb1_2

If the tiles are sound then its ok to tile over.
Clean the tiles, then De-grease the tiles, then paint the tiles with tile primer.

weekendwarrior

You can tile over existing tiles as long as they are firmly fixed.

DO NOT DAB THE ADHESIVE ON THE TILES, this can cause them to crack. You must use a notched bed of adhesive.

You can get some good tips here- DIY Tiling

ozskin

weekend warrior is spot on but must use correct adhesive too

firbyfred

being a builder I wouldn't, and watch out that there is an enough room between the taps and the existing tiles.

Lord_Gardener

firbyfred wrote:

being a builder I wouldn't, and watch out that there is an enough room between the taps and the existing tiles.

I agree, I wouldn't either - it's surprising how much space you lose!

poppyolivia

Its not that hard to knock them off and redo, I did it and the walls were terrible but I got there in the end and glad I did it that way. If you retile over then if you change your mind in say 5 years what are you going to do? Retile over THEM again!! Youll end up with a tiny bathroom in 20 years time and the tiles will be touching your face when you are in the bath!!
Seriously though I know someone that tried retiling over old tiles and they tried heaps of different types of adhesive and they kept sliding/falling off (he followed instructions) In the end he had to take the old ones off, fix the walls and retile normally. What ever you decide to do good luck, either way your hard work will be worth it.