Tiling straight on Plasterboard?

bery_451

Hi,

In the bath shower area is it ok to tile straight on to normal plasterboard on a studded partition?

If not which is the best route to take?

bris

Yes it's ok to go straight to plasterboard. There are waterproof adhesives and grout and it's exceptionally ordinary to do so.

bery_451

Ok but I hear people prime the boards or tank the wet areas otherwise plasterboard will get weak crumbly or rot from water/moisture getting in.

You sure waterproof tile adhesive is just needed?

Arent all grouts waterproof anyway?

I hear and read PVA and hear/read mixed responses on this.

k3lvc

Having just had to rip out a shower and redecorate the living room underneath I'd be very wary of straight onto plasterboard - not sure on the change of materials over last 5yrs or whether ours was just badly installed by previous owners. No idea what was used on the plasterboard but it had crumbled with moisture behind the tiles

martinsurrey

bris wrote: »

Yes it's ok to go straight to plasterboard. There are waterproof adhesives and grout and it's exceptionally ordinary to do so.

Its also exceptionally common for grout to crack, and normal plasterboard to suck water through, leading to mould and damp issues in the wall.

OP I would just replace the common splash areas with Aquapanel.

It'll be a lot more forgiving if you do get an issue.

peachyprice

Having had a bathroom tiled straight on to plasterboard by the previous owners of the house I would definitely NOT recommend it! A second vote for Aquapanel here, it's what we ended up having to replace the plasterboard with. You'll only need it in the shower area, the rest of the bathroom will be fine onto plasterboard.

Norman_Castle

Recently used tub of waterproof tile adhesive advised a coat of PVA to seal the walls. Read the container. I believe this is to stop the porous plasterboard sucking the moisture out of the adhesive too quickly affecting how it sticks to the wall.

Its likely waterproof adhesive will fail if it gets too wet too often. If the grout is applied properly and you check for leaks the wall should stay dry.

I recently bought a grout float, Plasplugs pro, £1.50 new from a car boot sale. Brilliant and recommended if you can find one cheap enough for irregular tiling jobs.

Carrot007

Bathroom in current house was like that when I got here.

Got new bathroom and removing the tiles was impossible without removing panel as well.

Though to be honest the whole old bathroom was a bodge.

So it's ok for a bodge. You will probably be fine. Probably best to coat with pva first though which is not gonnas cost much!

TheCyclingProgrammer

bery_451 wrote: »

Arent all grouts waterproof anyway?.

No. And "waterproof grout" just means its suitable for use in wet areas and won't breakdown, not that it forms an impermeable waterproof layer to the substrate below.

AFAIK there's a weight limit for tiles directly onto plasterboard (32kg/m2 I think) which is better than skimmed plasterboard but IMO if its anywhere near a wet zone you should use a more suitable cement board like hardibacker board.

I'm also fairly sure that PVA should go nowhere near tiled walls in wet areas. Use appropriate waterproof adhesive on an appropriate water resistant substrate and follow the adhesive manufacturers instructions.

When we re-did our shower room (the old tiles fell off), we re-tiled onto walls which were mostly gypsum skim plaster over rendered walls. We also tiled directly over some bonding plaster which had been used to fill in some of the shower pipework - ideally you're not supposed to tile onto bonding plaster but it was such a small amount it wasn't worth skimming. We went for the belt and braces approach - we used a Marmox waterproof tileable shower tray, completely sealed all the joints between the tray and the walls and up the corners with the provided waterproofing tape then tanked all three walls up to 5ft or so with a Mapei tanking kit (you just paint it on). Then waterproof adhesive, tiles, waterproof grout, properly siliconed around the tray and up the corners, haven't had any problems with it.

Its a lot easier to just hire a good tiler who knows what he is doing and will know all of this. :beer:

bery_451

Ok we already put the plasterboards up.

From all the responses here which is the best way forward for me to take.

TheCyclingProgrammer

bery_451 wrote: »

Ok we already put the plasterboards up.

From all the responses here which is the best way forward for me to take.

Did you use WR plasterboard (the green stuff) or normal?

How is it fixed to the wall? Would it be easy to remove and reline with cement tile backer board?

If not, I would seriously consider tanking it before tiling it. This is the kit I used:

http://www.screwfix.com/p/mapei-shower-waterproofing-kit/78484

Took about a day to do. You'll also need some cheap disposable rollers and a cheap brush.

Don't use PVA.