Help!: tiling my kitchen

[jag000]

I had a kitchen put in about a year ago, at the time the fitters said that if I wanted tiling doing we should do it before they fitted the kitchen because it would be easier, but because of the price and because the tiles there already were ok, I decided not to...now i have decided that i want to tile my kitchen, but only experience i have so far is from a course i recently completed.

There are already 2 layers of tiles on the wall so decided to start taking them off because i didnt want to put a third layer on, however i have run into a few problems.

1. The plaster underneath the tiles has crumbled and left big holes (as seen in the pictures).

2. If i take all the tiles of and just put one layer, there will be a gap between the tiles and the kitchen tops (because there were orginally 2 layers of tiles there)

3. The tiles at the moment are all the way upto the ceiling but i only want a splashback.

Please look at the photos and any advice on the best way to proceed would be good.
Specifically i would like to know if i should.

a. add a third level of tiles
b. take all the tiles off and dot and dab plasterboard.
c. any other method.

any advice appreciated, thanks

josh

[Prem Tiler]

You definitely did the right think getting rid of the ever growing layers of tiles.

If it was me I'd plaster board the kitchen out to bring the walls out to meet the worktops, this will eradicate the poor plaster problems.

as for the tiles above the wall units, dry line or tile over i would of thought??

[faithhealer]

Hi Josh, get all the tiles off and call a few plasterers round to have a look. This will get an expert to sort your walls out and might get you a future contact for tiling jobs' good luck

[jag000]

Hi Josh, get all the tiles off and call a few plasterers round to have a look. This will get an expert to sort your walls out and might get you a future contact for tiling jobs' good luck

thanks for advice, would love to get some plasterers round but just cant afford it right now, i was thinking plasterboard because its cheaper and i can do it myself

[terry the tiler]

iam with prem tiling !! plaster board the walls and tile over the tiles at the top if you want to save money, do it yourself (dot and dab) it looks a mess at the min but is easy to fix and will look great wen finished

[brian c]

josh you sound as if you need some reassurance about substrates and how to deal with them and also if you want to become a tiler then you need to firstly do more reading up on the basics like setting out and priming and preparing of substrates.If you do this you should have a better understanding of where to start and what to do with walls and floors that are not 100% for tiling to.Another tip is try not to tile over tiles as you dont know how well the tiles are stuck on and definetly dont ever tile over two layers of tiles because of weight ratios and safety issues.If you need any help with anything tyhen pm me and i will gladly help you out,just ask m8.

[Prem Tiler]

take pics along the way.

[Daz]

I'd like to see how "deep" the gap is between worktop and walls once all the tiles have been removed.

You could probably make good the worst areas of the walls with a rapid setting render (something like Ardex AM100 which can be applied between 2mm to 20mm thickness).

Depending on the thickness of your tiles and the gap between wall and worktop, you could use a 10mm trowel to build the tiles out slightly and the silicone should take care of the rest.

Obviously, it dependes on the gap though........

[Prem Tiler]

I'd like to see how "deep" the gap is between worktop and walls once all the tiles have been removed.

You could probably make good the worst areas of the walls with a rapid setting render (something like Ardex AM100 which can be applied between 2mm to 20mm thickness).

Depending on the thickness of your tiles and the gap between wall and worktop, you could use a 10mm trowel to build the tiles out slightly and the silicone should take care of the rest.

Obviously, it dependes on the gap though........

No that i'm questioning josh's skills but I think this would be maybe a bridge too far for a new tiler.

At least with pb he will be left with flush wall's

[Colour Republic]

Are you sure the kitchen fitters said 'Before' the kitchen is fitted and not 'whilst' the kitchen is fitted?

You have a few problems to get over here. The wall units will need to be removed along with the extractor hood.
I would then...
1) PVA then walls
2) Dot and dab new 9mm Straight Edged Plasterboard (using small amounts of adhesive, often, rather than big dollops as this will bring the board out too far)
3) Joint the boards with Gyproc fibre tape and Gyproc EasiFill (the joints will need two fills. Make the first batch of filler slightly stiffer than normal then the second coat make slightly looser than normal, apply this with a plasterer’s trowel)
4) Re-install the wall units and extractor fan - make sure the new fixings are long enough to go into the brick wall and not just into the new plasterboard
5) You might want to bury the extractor hood power supply when you do this so you can get rid of the trunking (I take it that is the supply in the trunking? and the kitchen fitters put up another length of empty trunking just so it was symmetrical?)
6) Tile away

[Colour Republic]

Edit: Double Post

[Colour Republic]

Also this would be a perfect time to practice your plastering skills - infill the large voids with Gyproc Multi-finish plaster or if they are very deep Gyproc Bonding - it doesn't need to be done if you are overboarding but would make it slightly easier for you and as I said would give you a bit of practice with a trowel and at £5 for a bag of plaster or bonding would be a cheap exercise

[jag000]

Are you sure the kitchen fitters said 'Before' the kitchen is fitted and not 'whilst' the kitchen is fitted?

You have a few problems to get over here. The wall units will need to be removed along with the extractor hood.
I would then...
1) PVA then walls
2) Dot and dab new 9mm Straight Edged Plasterboard (using small amounts of adhesive, often, rather than big dollops as this will bring the board out too far)
3) Joint the boards with Gyproc fibre tape and Gyproc EasiFill (the joints will need two fills. Make the first batch of filler slightly stiffer than normal then the second coat make slightly looser than normal, apply this with a plasterer’s trowel)
4) Re-install the wall units and extractor fan - make sure the new fixings are long enough to go into the brick wall and not just into the new plasterboard
5) You might want to bury the extractor hood power supply when you do this so you can get rid of the trunking (I take it that is the supply in the trunking? and the kitchen fitters put up another length of empty trunking just so it was symmetrical?)
6) Tile away

sounds like a good idea if i want to get everything perfect. at the moment i have just started out with tiling so probably will go for an option that doesnt involve taking out the kitchen..i dont think im skilled enough to do that yet, maybe something to perfect in the future

[jag000]

josh you sound as if you need some reassurance about substrates and how to deal with them and also if you want to become a tiler then you need to firstly do more reading up on the basics like setting out and priming and preparing of substrates.If you do this you should have a better understanding of where to start and what to do with walls and floors that are not 100% for tiling to.Another tip is try not to tile over tiles as you dont know how well the tiles are stuck on and definetly dont ever tile over two layers of tiles because of weight ratios and safety issues.If you need any help with anything tyhen pm me and i will gladly help you out,just ask m8.

you arent wrong, i def need to understand substrates better

[Colour Republic]

sounds like a good idea if i want to get everything perfect. at the moment i have just started out with tiling so probably will go for an option that doesnt involve taking out the kitchen..i dont think im skilled enough to do that yet, maybe something to perfect in the future

I really can't see how you are going to get even a half decent finish without taking down the wall units and extractor hood - I take it the kitthen fitters installed both these over the existing tiles

Believe me it will be easier to do it this way round rather then boarding round them - All you need is a bit of confidence! You Can Do IT! just think of the wall units as a set of shelfs and the extractor as a large wall light - it really isn't much more complicated than that

[jag000]

No that i'm questioning josh's skills but I think this would be maybe a bridge too far for a new tiler.

At least with pb he will be left with flush wall's

agreed, i need to concentrate on perfecting things that i have learnt so far and mastering the basics, i have used pb before so i am a bit more confident that i can do a better job with it

[jag000]

I really can't see how you are going to get even a half decent finish without taking down the wall units and extractor hood - I take it the kitthen fitters installed both these over the existing tiles

Believe me it will be easier to do it this way round rather then boarding round them - All you need is a bit of confidence! You Can Do IT! just think of the wall units as a set of shelfs and the extractor as a large wall light - it really isn't much more complicated than that

yes they installed them onto the exisiting tiles, i could probably take off the wall units without too much problem, im a bit worried about the extractor though

[Colour Republic]

yes they installed them onto the exisiting tiles, i could probably take off the wall units without too much problem, im a bit worried about the extractor though

The top part of the hood will come off no problems (the long square ducting), you may find two small grub screws holding it on right at the top, undo these and the ducting will just slip off, when you've done this you may find either a normal single socket and the extractor pluged into it (just unplug then un-screw the hood), or you may find it wired into a switched fuse spur, either way you can do this yourself or if it really does worry you a sparky with disconnect and reconnect for minimal amounts of money.