Maybe a stupid question but...

[cr0ft]

Is it normal for tiles on a stud/dot & dabbed wall to sound hollow when tapped?

[doug boardley]

not really, unless you're tapping them with a sledgehammer!

[diamondtiling]

They would sound hollow if they were also dot and dabbed onto the plasterboard.

[suave]

not really, unless you're tapping them with a sledgehammer!

[Phil Hobson]

Is it the tiles that sound hollow, or the voids behind the dot and dabbed plasterboard?

[macten]

Yes this is normal for stud compared to tiles on a solid wall.

[Scott]

If the sound of the 'tapping' changes over the entire surface it could be the airspace behind the tile but then again it could be the sirspace behind the plasterboard. Although i would expect the sound of the hollow plasterboard to be a much duller/muted sound.

[Dan]

It would sound different to tile on render, though you should be able to tell if it's the tiles sounding hollow as in the adhesive isn't fully covering the back of the tile. Pretty sure it's 80 - 100% coverage in wet area's but only 60 - 80% in dry area's on walls. Obviously always 100% on floors. So on well fitted wall tiles in a dry area you may find the odd hollow sound when doing the tap test.

One way to test perhaps is to see if you can spot where the studs are maybe? If you can tell where the stud are and those bits sound solid, but there are large area's sounding hollow between them, then that would suggest to me it's the hollow note from the air behind the boards.

When tiles don't have adhesive behind them and you tap them with a coin, it sounds very similar to tapping a tile in your hand that's not been fixed yet to anything.

[cr0ft]

Dan,

Sorry for the delayed reply. Could you please elaborate on where you heard about the 60-80% coverage for dry walls and 80-100% for wet areas? By this do you mean the area of the tile that must be stuck to the wall with adhesive?

Thanks.

[diamondtiling]

Dan,

Sorry for the delayed reply. Could you please elaborate on where you heard about the 60-80% coverage for dry walls and 80-100% for wet areas? By this do you mean the area of the tile that must be stuck to the wall with adhesive?

Thanks.

There is a minimum figure but 100% is always advisable.

[Dave]

Dan,

Sorry for the delayed reply. Could you please elaborate on where you heard about the 60-80% coverage for dry walls and 80-100% for wet areas? By this do you mean the area of the tile that must be stuck to the wall with adhesive?

Thanks.

Bs5385 state 75% coverage for dry area tiling..i,e kitchens..( walls only) floors are always 100%..

Then for bathrooms or areas subject to minimal to constant wetting then it increases to a maximum as stated of 80% to 100% solid fix..