New plaster and tiling

moonpenny

Bathroom has to be skimmed as walls are uneven.

Do I need to treat the newly skimmed plaster before tiling?
The tiles are 60 x 30cm wall and floor tiles

Ruski

Yes, acrylic primer - freely available from whatever tile shop you go to.

HTH

Russ

FreeBear

Most certainly use an acrylic primer and not PVA. With large format tiles, you need to be mindful of weight - Plaster will only support around 20Kg per square metre as i recall. If the tiles & adhesive is likely to weigh more than this, you'd probably be better off fixing a cement board to the walls (e.g. Hardibacker).

jk0

I take it you couldn't just bulk up on tile adhesive where plaster is missing? I have tiled some dreadful walls that way.

moonpenny

I am having shower over the bath and it is this area where the walls are "wavy".
The other walls are flat and straight but have patchy peeling paint where wallpaper has been pulled off.
If I didn't need to skim plaster is it a case of just fixing tiles to original wall without any sort of primer?

ceredigion

moonpenny wrote: »

I am having shower over the bath and it is this area where the walls are "wavy".
The other walls are flat and straight but have patchy peeling paint where wallpaper has been pulled off.
If I didn't need to skim plaster is it a case of just fixing tiles to original wall without any sort of primer?

Mush depends what the wall is made off

moonpenny

Built late 50's red brick and plaster. Underneath bath I can see breezeblock backing on to bedroom.
Sorry, can't be more precise.

jk0

moonpenny wrote: »

I am having shower over the bath and it is this area where the walls are "wavy".
The other walls are flat and straight but have patchy peeling paint where wallpaper has been pulled off.
If I didn't need to skim plaster is it a case of just fixing tiles to original wall without any sort of primer?

I would pva all the walls IIWY. Just no need for them to be perfectly plastered if you are tiling over them.


I 'butter' both wall and back of tile with adhesive, before combing with 10mm notch trowel. I put up a row of tiles, then push the whole lot level with each other by pressing with a long spirit level. When I have the next row up, I level that to the first by having the spirit level at an angle.

phill99

jk0 wrote: »

I would pva all the walls IIWY. Just no need for them to be perfectly plastered if you are tiling over them.

No, no, no, no, no.


I fit bathrooms for a living. Do not use pva as a tile primer. It simply creates a skim over the plaster to which the adhesive struggles to adhere. You need an acrylic tile primer which allows the adhesive to grab on to the sub strata.


If you don't know what you are on about, then don't comment.

moonpenny

phill99 wrote: »

No, no, no, no, no.


I fit bathrooms for a living. Do not use pva as a tile primer. It simply creates a skim over the plaster to which the adhesive struggles to adhere. You need an acrylic tile primer which allows the adhesive to grab on to the sub strata.


If you don't know what you are on about, then don't comment.

So, if I don't skim the walls and fit tiles to original surface I need to prime the walls with acrylic tile primer first.

Sorry for questions but my son is tiling my bathroom and he has never done it before. He is a perfectionist so am just keeping fingers crossed it will be o.k. any other advice welcome!

Ruski

moonpenny wrote: »

So, if I don't skim the walls and fit tiles to original surface I need to prime the walls with acrylic tile primer first.

Sorry for questions but my son is tiling my bathroom and he has never done it before. He is a perfectionist so am just keeping fingers crossed it will be o.k. any other advice welcome!

DON'T use pva. Full stop.

Use primer regardless, as that will take care of 99% of substrate problems, apart from blown plaster!

I too fit bathrooms and kitchens for a living.

HTH

Russ