Help!: desperate tile advice needed please

[beamer]

hello everyone. im really hoping someone can help me. i am looking to fully tile my bathroom walls but need some advice( o.k i lie...lots of advice). the tiles are ceramic 45cm x 30cm and 8mm thick. i have a shower bath and straightforward mixer shower.

the problems are the walls it was artex and tile so i have removed all the tiles and artex but it does leave some old tile adhesive which will not come off no matter how i try.(it isn't protruding but my worry is will it keep the tile secure). the walls are plastered onto i think render. some of the plaster has come away with the removal of the old tiles. one small area of the bathroom has plasterboard on the wall (new) and the area with the shower attached has aquapanel.
if anybody has the patience of a saint to help me i would value your advice.
what adhesive could i use for the best coverage and do i need to prime the surface before tiling. what size trowel would i need and what build up would that give to an 8mm tile ( just to help with the space for fixing the shower)
i am on a budget so looking for whatever will do the job at a reasonable cost but saying that do not want it to fall off in 6 weeks.

i have looked at so many diff products but becoming confused by it all and also asking in store seems to be a nightmare so much conflicting advice.

i have looked at mapei, buildfix, wicks own cement based, bal......some say no need for primer as would do more damage than good others say must use it or it wont bond....

i have tiled before ( i can understand you may find that hard to believe) but never using large tiles. the thought of one of those falling on my head is not appealing.

looking forward to some advice i can trust at last

thank you

[user123]

Hey beamer, you sound stressed!!

To be honest, and other people are better for answering this but thought I'd add my two pence worth - I would tank the whole shower bath area with tanking membrane (got mine from Topps tiles, even after talking to very helpful wetdec who thought that was the best and cheapest option for me) - have a look at my photos, I did that myself on Dave's advice and had to work around the shower fitting pipes also, but it is pretty straightforward, you can balance out unevennesses in the wall with the cement adhesive underneath the membrane and so have a nice clean start you know is going to be waterproof. If you can wallpaper you can tank.

The rest is straightforward, as the membrane takes any powdered adhesive suitable for wet areas of your choice, you can remeasure for the spacing after you got the membrane up and for grout use mapei ultracolour plus (my very very very favourite), or Ultra Pro grout I really like, too, and I always seal with seal guard (the liquid works out cheaper), love the stuff, works extremely well. I forgot a few grout lines when sealing, and when wet the white grout got darker without it, i.e absorbign moisture, but the sealed parts did not, proof enough for me, as well as NETT Darren's advice and demo at the course.

Deep breath now, you'll be fine. Tanking will sort the main question I reckon.

[GirlRacerRed]

hello everyone. im really hoping someone can help me. i am looking to fully tile my bathroom walls but need some advice( o.k i lie...lots of advice). the tiles are ceramic 45cm x 30cm and 8mm thick. i have a shower bath and straightforward mixer shower.

the problems are the walls it was artex and tile so i have removed all the tiles and artex but it does leave some old tile adhesive which will not come off no matter how i try.(it isn't protruding but my worry is will it keep the tile secure). the walls are plastered onto i think render. some of the plaster has come away with the removal of the old tiles. one small area of the bathroom has plasterboard on the wall (new) and the area with the shower attached has aquapanel.
if anybody has the patience of a saint to help me i would value your advice.
what adhesive could i use for the best coverage and do i need to prime the surface before tiling. what size trowel would i need and what build up would that give to an 8mm tile ( just to help with the space for fixing the shower)
i am on a budget so looking for whatever will do the job at a reasonable cost but saying that do not want it to fall off in 6 weeks.

i have looked at so many diff products but becoming confused by it all and also asking in store seems to be a nightmare so much conflicting advice.

i have looked at mapei, buildfix, wicks own cement based, bal......some say no need for primer as would do more damage than good others say must use it or it wont bond....

i have tiled before ( i can understand you may find that hard to believe) but never using large tiles. the thought of one of those falling on my head is not appealing.

looking forward to some advice i can trust at last

thank you

beamer, have a look at the link below. it should give you some indication as to the weight of each tile, plus adhesive and grout, and how much strain this will put on each wall.

Tiles and Adhesive Weight Per Square Metre - THE TILE SOURCE

your tiles sound rather large, and I would definitely recommend a cement based adhesive. I'm not a pro so I wouldn't even begin to recommend a brand or specific adhesive as I don't know what is fit for your purpose. If you pop into your nearest Tile Giant store, their assistants will be able to help you figure out what adhesive is best for your substrate.

There's not so many of the pro's are on here during the day, so if you pop back after 5pm each evening, I'm sure you'll be overwhelmed with responses.

Feel free to keep asking questions too, it's the best way to learn

[Dan]

Hey hey,

You want to try a little more to get as much as that existing adhesive off the walls. You may find that wetting it a little and then waiting a little and wetting it a bit more could help (that depends on what type of adhesive it is). If that doesn't work get a couple of wallpaper scrapers and give it a good going over. Providing most of it is off you should be okay.

Then for sure as above, tank the bits that are going to get wet with a quality tanking kit. And then use a cement-based adhesive.

Tiling is all in the setting out, so make sure you're setting it all out and you know what size each cut is going to be before you even mix the adhesive.

Just to note; all cementicious products will allow water to pass through them and not break them back down or damage them. This doesn't mean water can't get through the grout, through the adhesive, and onto the background wall. So you're tanking it to stop moisture getting to the walls. So treat the area around the bath/shower with care when you tank it.

Personally I'd avoid "own brand" adhesives. Even when they're made by a reputable company and re-branded they don't make them as good as they would their own.

Mapei is my fave adhesive, BAL used to be though that's quite pricey in most area's and Mapei has a much better grout range and silicone sealants to match exactly, you can't get that with BAL.

And as the girls said above, I'd rather not quote an actual product from Mapei in case I'm wrong as I'm not a pro. Though I'm sure you'll get some actual names in the next couple of hours.

A question which I don't think you've covered that might help the guys help you out.

- Are the tiles ceramics or porcelain?

[jimbob]

hello everyone. im really hoping someone can help me. i am looking to fully tile my bathroom walls but need some advice( o.k i lie...lots of advice). the tiles are ceramic 45cm x 30cm and 8mm thick. i have a shower bath and straightforward mixer shower.

the problems are the walls it was artex and tile so i have removed all the tiles and artex but it does leave some old tile adhesive which will not come off no matter how i try.(it isn't protruding but my worry is will it keep the tile secure). the walls are plastered onto i think render. some of the plaster has come away with the removal of the old tiles. one small area of the bathroom has plasterboard on the wall (new) and the area with the shower attached has aquapanel.
if anybody has the patience of a saint to help me i would value your advice.
what adhesive could i use for the best coverage and do i need to prime the surface before tiling. what size trowel would i need and what build up would that give to an 8mm tile ( just to help with the space for fixing the shower)
i am on a budget so looking for whatever will do the job at a reasonable cost but saying that do not want it to fall off in 6 weeks.

i have looked at so many diff products but becoming confused by it all and also asking in store seems to be a nightmare so much conflicting advice.

i have looked at mapei, buildfix, wicks own cement based, bal......some say no need for primer as would do more damage than good others say must use it or it wont bond....

i have tiled before ( i can understand you may find that hard to believe) but never using large tiles. the thought of one of those falling on my head is not appealing.

looking forward to some advice i can trust at last

thank you

Voila!

[Dan]

Ahhhhh ha. There you go then lol.

Cheers fella. You wanted that much advice I skipped past that bit (joke).

You'll want any standard cement-based adhesive, if you're confident you can get the rapid set (sets in a couple of hours, working time isn't that long so mix small amounts) and if you're not that confident get the standard set, depending on brand that'll set between 8, 12 , 16ish hours and has a longer working time. Though sometimes it can be a pain waiting for bits to go off if you tile from bottom to top as you add weight to it tiling up the walls you'll find your bottoms ones slipping if they're not set and you haven't held them up well with a batton or something.

Again, I'll let the guys quote the Mapei standard set and rapid set as I'm not 100% sure.

I'm about to go to tile giant with a mate in a mo to order his mums tiles and I'll find out then for you.

[david campbell]

the only non rapid set i have used is bal ctf and has a bucket life of about of about 4 hours,very good stuff,i'm pretty sure the mapei equivalent is keraflex

[whitebeam]

Could use a wallpaper steamer to try and remove the finish plaster, just keep the steamer on the wall and it could blow the finish

[beamer]

hello again....wow, thank you so much, what a great site, you have all been so kind to help me (my husband gave up years ago ..lol) .... btw they are ceramic tiles.. if i were to use the keraflex ( which i think sounds the best ), do i need to prime the walls before hand (on the parts not tanked).

[whitebeam]

Yes

[Dave]

the only non rapid set i have used is bal ctf and has a bucket life of about of about 4 hours,very good stuff,i'm pretty sure the mapei equivalent is keraflex

CTF3 isn't a flexible adhesive..keraflex is....personally i would use a modified adhesive of at least C2TF or C2TE...

Mapei P9 or keraflex would be ideal for what your are doing....you really need a flexible adhesive for installing the tanking membrane to cope with substrate expansion.

[beamer]

hi again, thank you to everyone. i have removed most of the plaster and will now be using the keraflex maxi and primer g. a few more questions though...sorry.....
what size trowel do i buy, will 2mm spacers be o.k for these tiles and any ideas where i can buy paint on tanking as only a small area to do.

[Rav daniels]

hi again, thank you to everyone. i have removed most of the plaster and will now be using the keraflex maxi and primer g. a few more questions though...sorry.....
what size trowel do i buy, will 2mm spacers be o.k for these tiles and any ideas where i can buy paint on tanking as only a small area to do.

bal do wp1 kit, but other companies do their own, 2mm spacers Are fine, 6mm trowel, as long As Walls are not too bad