Tanking and tiling timber batten to bath

[bodgermatic]

I'm planning to tile this over-bath shower with 250mm x 400mm tiles, I also have the Mapei tanking kit. I've no idea of the best approach to dealing with the timber batten in terms of tanking and tiling. Should the tiles be proud of the bath lip? Is it best to slope them down towards the bath so that they drain better? Do I tape and tank across the batten to form a waterproof runoff before starting to tile - i.e.: is it OK to tape onto the bath (which will be subject to some movement, obviously).



Any advice much appreciated!

 

[Deleted member 9966]

hi there

in an ideal world, you could really do with taking out that wooden batten and moving the bath up so it's fully adjacent to the wall. Is there any way you could move the bath up towards the shower head wall? It would make for a better situation if you could. That way, you could tile straight on to the bath edges when you start tiling.

I think you need to sort the wooden batten out first before you do anything else. Wood in a high velocity wet area is not the best.

GRR

 

[jay]

as above i wouldn't tile direct to the baton it need to have cement sheet over it any chance of building the wall out to meet bath edge

 

[bodgermatic]

I've just had a look and I could remove the batten and shift the bath. Shouldn't take long to sort out. The original idea was to centre the bath in the room, but the window it's under isn't centred so I don't think it'll make much odds either way. I think I was just hoping to not have to undo work

Any tips for getting grip-fill off timber?

Thanks.

 

[Deleted member 9966]

by taking the batten out, you can butt the bath right up to the walls, silicone seal the bath edges to the wall, then tank down the walls to the bath, then tile. and when you've tiled and grouted, you can then run another bead of silicone to join the bath and the tiles together. that's how I did it in my own bathroom

 

[bodgermatic]

By moving the bath up to the wall at the shower end, I'll end up with a bigger gap at the other end - which will have to be bridged with something. What's the recommended approach there?

 

[jay]

can you post a pic of the whole area of the bath just so we know what were looking at

thanks

 

[bodgermatic]

Here's a bit more context for you:



The original idea with the battens was to centre the bath in the room, but the window isn't central, so the taps look offset anyway

 

[Deleted member 9966]

hi bodger

by taking the batten out from the right hand side and shuffling the bath along the right, how much of a gap at the left hand side will that leave?

 

[bodgermatic]

The gap will end up about 80mm, it's an 1800mm bath.

 

[Deleted member 9966]

The gap will end up about 80mm

I was just wondering if there might have been enough space to perhaps build a false wall out by 80mm, and incorporate some kind of recessed shelves. Am I correct in assuming that you will be tiling all the way around the 3 sides of the bath?

 

[bodgermatic]

Yep, tiling all the way round the bath, but only two tiles high at that end. Not keen on the shelves idea: it seems like a bit more work than I was planning on at this stage. Given that this end of the bath won't get very wet, is there any harm in tiling a horizontal batten with a slight slope towards the bath?

 

[Martyn Leeds]

Ideally you need to lose the batten at the shower end
if the wall can't be built out, then I'd move the bath along & just have the bit of boxing at the other end of the bath. You'll lose your symmetry, but its better than having a dodgy bit that's going to get constantly wet & potential leeks

As for 2 tiles high at the end of the bath, depends how big your tiles are - but i'd be inclined to go in-line with the window if possible

 

[bodgermatic]

The tiles are 400x250 and will be laid with the long edge horizontal, so that will make the two rows at the end ~500mm, which is a bit higher than the window ledge.

 

[widler]

like jay said,you could cement board the batton if you don't want to move the bath,i suppose you could plasterboard(cement board would be thinner) it and silicone all the way around,then tank it with the tanking kit along with your shower area. not ideal.

ideally you should just put your bath against the wall(silicone in)then tile down,watertight then. make sure you either cement board ofr plasterboard the opposite end before you tile it,and use powdered adhesive,not tubbed

 

[DHTiling]

Make sure you remove the rest of the protective plastic from the bath edges before you try to silicone in the bath..

 

[bodgermatic]

Thanks for all the advice, I'm trying to take it all on board I've shuffled the bath up and boxed in at the end. I don't have any cement board, so plasterboard will have to do - I'll tank it just to be sure. Siliconed all round the bath last night, and I'm starting the tanking now - wish me luck!

 

[diamondtiling]

That silicone seems to be quite proud of the bath, you need to cut it flush with the surface prior to fixing any tiles.

 

[bodgermatic]

I'm not sure I understand about the silicone. The tiles are 9mm thick, so it'll disappear behind them quite nicely I think. I've also got to add the tanking tape over that silicone too (If I've correctly read the kit directions)

 

[diamondtiling]

The silicone should be flush, otherwise it will hold the tiles up too high from the edge of the bath. You should be aiming for a 3mm gap from the tile to the bath in order to acheive a nice silicone finish. As you look at the first picture the silicone needs to be cut flush to the bath now before you start tiling.

 

[jay]

you are doing fine just follow the directions and ask if you have anything you do not understand thanks for the pic and the update

witch tanking kit do you have

 

[bodgermatic]

diamontiling: I can see what you mean from the picture, but it's not the case. The silicone bead is actually very thin - it's smeared up the wall somewhat because I wasn't particularly bothered about making a neat job of this bit so it appears thicker than it actually is. Thanks for the input though, best to check beforehand

 

[bodgermatic]

I've just noticed that the plasterer has left me with a windowledge which runs AWAY from the bath What's the best way to build up the back edge so I get a fall towards the bath on it?

 

[diamondtiling]

You could build up a slight fall using adhesive (bagged varient only).

 

[bodgermatic]

Why bagged? I ask because I don't have any in I have enough tubbed to do the job.

 

[diamondtiling]

Tubbed adhesive is just no good for anything especially in a bathroom, but you have used it now. You cant build up with it because it takes 5 years to set, if you can get a bagged adhesive (slow set) then you will see the difference.

 

[jay]

Tubbed stuff is not recomended over tanking recommend you get bagged adh or else it will fail

 

[Brinkley]

also yourtiles are too big for tubbed gear it should state this if you read the side of the tub

 

[bodgermatic]

I have BAL Green Star. I did tell the man in Topps that I was tanking, and he sold me the tiles. The tub says max 300 x 300 (= area 90,000) , and I have 400 x 250 = (= area 100,000). So I guess I'm going back to Topps Any recommendations for which bagged adhesive to go for?

 

[diamondtiling]

The shop has sold you the wrong gear, you need to ask them to explain why? Go to a tile giant and get a bagged adhesive, they will help you.