New to porcelain !

[graybags]

I'm a DIY'er who has done a fair amount of tiling, but for the newly formed en-suite my wife has chosen and bought porcelain wall tiles. Having scanned through various threads it looks like I could be in for a bit of a challenge, just interested to hear if they are much more difficult to fit than ceramic. Should I cut wet or dry and should they be sealed before grouting ? The walls are a mix of stud, plaster on block, and aquapanel, the intention at present being to skim all, (bar the aquapanel !), just wondering if it is necessary to skim the plasterboard, or just seal it, if so , what with, PVA ? shouldthe plaster alkso be sealed ?

Also,the builder nailed the plasterboard to the stud, presumably I should ask him (nicely !) to screw the boards ?

The tiles are 450x220 Instone Bianco and I will be using Ultra Profles SPES adhesive , with limestone flex grout.

Thanks

[doug boardley]

if you have a cutter that will dry cut your porcelain I would reccomend that. Use a powdered flexible adhesive, as a primer DON'T use pva, use SBR.(actually just re-read your question and you're using adhesive and grout thar I normally use!) Would advise screwing plasterboard not nailing,and have you considered a tanking system to eliminate moisture ingress into your (various lol!) walls.?
good luck,
Doug

[graybags]

Thanks Doug,I've got a pretty naff dry cutter, but am happy to buy a new, better one, any recommendations, probably don't want to spend more than £150 +/- ? I also have a wet cutter, but would prefer to cut dry if OK to do so, simply to avoid the mess, plus I won't have to keep going downstairs and outside every time a tile needs cutting !

The only area where water ingress might be a problem is behind the shower cubicle, but I've used aqaupanel there rather than plasterboard.

Should the tiles be sealed before and after grouting ?

Thanks

Graham

[graybags]

Just done a google and found SBR ,but unsure about how you use it, all the instructions refer to it as an ad-mixture,but for my purposes, namely sealing the plaster and stud surfaces, can it just be painted on neat (or diluted, like PVA ) ?

[TilingLogistics]

The primer you need is APD

Kev

[Dave]

Thanks Doug,I've got a pretty naff dry cutter, but am happy to buy a new, better one, any recommendations, probably don't want to spend more than £150 +/- ? I also have a wet cutter, but would prefer to cut dry if OK to do so, simply to avoid the mess, plus I won't have to keep going downstairs and outside every time a tile needs cutting !

The only area where water ingress might be a problem is behind the shower cubicle, but I've used aqaupanel there rather than plasterboard.

Should the tiles be sealed before and after grouting ?

Thanks

Graham

welcome to a tilers world.......

You just need an acrylic primer to stop any ettringnite failure with the cement based adhesive and any gypsum substrate..

You can use an sbr primer but 2 neat coats of an acrylic one would be easier to get right than a synthetic primer...

[graybags]

Thanks for that, is APD an acrylic primer ?

[Dave]

Thanks for that, is APD an acrylic primer ?

yep.....

[monty]

I've just bought some of the SBR from tradtiler....

Whats the difference in the application to this and the APD??

Cheers

[Dave]

I've just bought some of the SBR from tradtiler....

Whats the difference in the application to this and the APD??

Cheers

If you are applying it to plaster monty....then you need to water it down...usually 4 parts water to 1 part sbr.....if you apply it too neat then it will skin on the surface and peel off....but watered down it will penetrate the gypsum and seal it ...but when using cement based adhesive an acrylic primer like apd or mapei primer G is better imo...

[365drills]

You'll either need a wet cutter fitted with a quality diamond blade. Or a high quality dry cutter. Porcelain is bullet hard to cut so wont respond well to low quality cutters.

If it were me I would use a wet cutter fitted with quality diamond blades.



Just like you we used mulitple wall materials (Wood, Ply, Plaster) but we then applied a Bal tanking system to cover everything. Expensive at £100 a tub but better than water ingress. 5 years on and no leaks!



Our tiler did wet cutting outside (appreciate you dont want to do this...) So if there is space inside and you can cover your floor with a plastic sheet and towel then you shouldnt get too much water mess.

FINAL RESULT


Porcelain is more difficult to work with than ceramic for two reasons.
1) Its more difficult to cut. But with the right tools its OK.
2) Larger sizes are achievable which magnify any errors. Non flat walls cause the edges to kick out. To resolve this spend time preparing your surface to get it as flat as possible if you use large format tiles.

And now for a message from sponser 365Drills...

Finally (and I always say this...) bathroom installations need up to 30 holes. There ar two types of hole needed:
1) Service pipes [Shower head, 15mm radiator pipes, sink pipes, 22mm bath pipes, Body Jets, Waste pipes]
2) Fixtures and Fixings. Both load bearing 8mm or accessories at 6mm [Cabinets, mirrors, shower equipment, shower doors, loo roll holder, toothbrush and soap dish etc]

We supply an all-in-one diamond drill kit specifically for C5 grade porcelain tiles for a total £49.99 project cost. Everything you need in one simple solution. Advert ends!


All porcelain tiles need holes....

[monty]

Thanks Dave..

[doug boardley]

You'll either need a wet cutter fitted with a quality diamond blade. Or a high quality dry cutter. Porcelain is bullet hard to cut so wont respond well to low quality cutters.

If it were me I would use a wet cutter fitted with quality diamond blades.



Just like you we used mulitple wall materials (Wood, Ply, Plaster) but we then applied a Bal tanking system to cover everything. Expensive at £100 a tub but better than water ingress. 5 years on and no leaks!



Our tiler did wet cutting outside (appreciate you dont want to do this...) So if there is space inside and you can cover your floor with a plastic sheet and towel then you shouldnt get too much water mess.

FINAL RESULT


Porcelain is more difficult to work with than ceramic for two reasons.
1) Its more difficult to cut. But with the right tools its OK.
2) Larger sizes are achievable which magnify any errors. Non flat walls cause the edges to kick out. To resolve this spend time preparing your surface to get it as flat as possible if you use large format tiles.

And now for a message from sponser 365Drills...

Finally (and I always say this...) bathroom installations need up to 30 holes. There ar two types of hole needed:
1) Service pipes [Shower head, 15mm radiator pipes, sink pipes, 22mm bath pipes, Body Jets, Waste pipes]
2) Fixtures and Fixings. Both load bearing 8mm or accessories at 6mm [Cabinets, mirrors, shower equipment, shower doors, loo roll holder, toothbrush and soap dish etc]

We supply an all-in-one diamond drill kit specifically for C5 grade porcelain tiles for a total £49.99 project cost. Everything you need in one simple solution. Advert ends!


All porcelain tiles need holes....

hi 365, what,s the range (size wise) on your kits? mine goes from 25mm upto 75mm( i think) total of about 6 bits, cost me about £150 inc vat. I do have a 110mm bit for toilet waste that's probably done about 150 holes (in porc!) and is still going strong, but not been able to find a replacement for when it wears out?
cheers mate,
Doug

[grumpygrouter]

hi 365, what,s the range (size wise) on your kits? mine goes from 25mm upto 75mm( i think) total of about 6 bits, cost me about £150 inc vat. I do have a 110mm bit for toilet waste that's probably done about 150 holes (in porc!) and is still going strong, but not been able to find a replacement for when it wears out?
cheers mate,
Doug

Doug, click on the link in the advertisers scroll on the right - 365drills.com. All the info is there for you , and you can order online.

[whitebeam]

The plasterboard is it butted against the block wall flush or into the wall to make corner, If it's flush against the blocks to continue the wall then I would over board because of the movement between the different surfaces

[Jo Kelly]

"Should the tiles be sealed before and after grouting ?"




You mentioned the tiles were Instone Bianco 450x220mm - if this is the Leonardo (Italian Factory) range, they do not require sealing. They are an unglazed porcelain and the tiles are very high quality so will have a very low porosity - a sealer would just sit on top of the tile rather than penetrating it.

Jo

[graybags]

I'm almost at the tiling stage, walls are all sealed, but where one of them butts up against the aquapanel and has been skimmed some of the plaster has splashed onto the aquapanel.DoI need to do anything with this ?

[grumpygrouter]

I'm almost at the tiling stage, walls are all sealed, but where one of them butts up against the aquapanel and has been skimmed some of the plaster has splashed onto the aquapanel.DoI need to do anything with this ?

Scrape it off? Plaster and cement do not mix very well, which is why plaster is primed before using cement based adhesive.