Help, window out of plane / Bal adhesive

[geordie13]

Hi there,

I'm a DIYer tiling my bathroom and find that the window is jutting proud of the rest of the wall. To the left and top & bottom centres it is 3 - 4 mm out, but to the right and rh bottom, it is 10 - 12 mm out.

My first thought was to take the angle iron off the window and cut the plaster back to the line of the wall. Messy, time consuming and I would only be going back 3 - 4 mm.

Looking at the floor adhesive, it can be laid in beds up to 20mm. Could I but a thick bed on the wall and fill the gaps when tiling? If I do this would it be better to fill the hole with adhesive first to give a reasonably flat surface for tiling?

Also, would it be better fitting a row of tiles at a time and allowing the adhesive to set before fitting the next row?

The tiles are ceramic 60 * 30 cm.

The local supplier stocks Ultra Profix would this do the job.

I see from the forums that Bal is the adhesive of choice. Why? Is it easier to work, does it grip the tile better. I live in the sticks and the nearest stockist is some 45miles away, so using the Ultra would be easier, but would the Bal be advisable?

Thank you, Ed

[Tats]

20mm on the floor is not 20mm on the wall I'm afraid and there is no adhesive out there that will cope with 20mm on the wall. I suggest you look at sorting the wall out prior to tiling for example you could dot and dab plasterboard over the wall first to make it flat.
This obviously depends on what is on the wall right now. you could also bond the wall out andnthen skim over the top personally I'd go with dot and dab plasterboard, also if it's in a wet area you will want to tank the plasterboard once fixed. Therebare plenty of choices for tanking out there.

As far as addy choice this is a preference and although some are better than other most comply with bs standards make sure you use a single part flexible adhesive what ever brand of addy you go for unless the walls are solid ie brick/block work then a standard ctf will be ok with the ceramics.

[Ceramico tiling]

Mappei is just as good and allot cheaper.I would probarbly take the wall down and build it up on the other side inorder to make it flush with the window.But pictures would be nice.
Adhessive can b used to build up wall surfaces,I plaster it first and let it dry,rapidset is best for this.

[johnryan]

if it was me, i'd take the plaster back to brick around the window, and set the angle bead in properly, so i have a flat surface and 90% angles for the reaveals. it's a lot of trouble i know, but it's a critical place to get right, as it's a focal point. i think badly done windows look really bad, so it's worth going to the trouble to get them right.

[geordie13]

Thanks for the replies. It is a stud wall and I am going to have to study it carefully as it seems to be all over the place and finding where to start is the problem. As Johnryan says, probably sorting the window out and reboarding the worst section in line with it is probably the way to go

[Dave]

Hi there,

I'm a DIYer tiling my bathroom and find that the window is jutting proud of the rest of the wall. To the left and top & bottom centres it is 3 - 4 mm out, but to the right and rh bottom, it is 10 - 12 mm out.

My first thought was to take the angle iron off the window and cut the plaster back to the line of the wall. Messy, time consuming and I would only be going back 3 - 4 mm.

Looking at the floor adhesive, it can be laid in beds up to 20mm. Could I but a thick bed on the wall and fill the gaps when tiling? If I do this would it be better to fill the hole with adhesive first to give a reasonably flat surface for tiling?

Also, would it be better fitting a row of tiles at a time and allowing the adhesive to set before fitting the next row?

The tiles are ceramic 60 * 30 cm.

The local supplier stocks Ultra Profix would this do the job.

I see from the forums that Bal is the adhesive of choice. Why? Is it easier to work, does it grip the tile better. I live in the sticks and the nearest stockist is some 45miles away, so using the Ultra would be easier, but would the Bal be advisable?

Thank you, Ed

Just to say Tats, Stone fix adhesives do 20mm in one bite.... but not that i condone this on walls.. ffs..

[Tats]

If you don't condone this why bother mentioning it. 20mm on the wall my ass. Show me the technical data file showing it!

[Dave]

I mention it because there adhesives will do it..?? Simple as that..

An adhesive that does 20mm is wall or floor.. isn't it..? So yes i mention it coz it does it.. and not pin pointing one adhesive from them ,coz they all do 20mm..

[steve187]

As others have said, sort out the window first, if it is out then you will have loads of problems getting it to look good, i would suggest taking down the beadings.

if the beading are out have you checked the reveals for plumb and level, just a thought

all the best

[Barry bp]

A stud wall with a window?

[Mike]

A stud wall with a window?

that's what i thought barry???

[Stewart]

that's what i thought barry???

It could be a kit house with timber stud Walls and a brick skin.....

[aph257]

there's a saying with all the words begining with a P.

[geordie13]

Thanks again guys, not been too good the past 2 days, a touch of the runs; England getting tanked in Ireland and the Toon at Stoke.

Yes Stewart, the house is a kit build with a brick skin. Everywhere else seems to be sound except for this window. By taking the angle irons off and levelling the front of the window to the wall I can get 4 - 5mm which will sort about 2 thirds of the wall. One side of the window drops away about 1cm in 10cms, so I am still going to left with an 8 - 10mm gap. Looks like I am going to have to reboard this section.

Thanks, Ed

[Tats]

I mention it because there adhesives will do it..?? Simple as that..

An adhesive that does 20mm is wall or floor.. isn't it..? So yes i mention it coz it does it.. and not pin pointing one adhesive from them ,coz they all do 20mm..

Have checked with stone fix today and 20mm for the floor only as I thought they do not recommend using their products at this thickness on a wall just in case anybody reading this thought they could do it.

[Dave]

I don't recommend it either, like i said above but my point was that it will do 20mm depth.. as in it is capable of that bed depth..

[Tats]

I don't recommend it either, like i said above but my point was that it will do 20mm depth.. as in it is capable of that bed depth..

yes it will do 20mm depth but as the topic at the time was about bedding out a wall and it was a diyer that asked he may very well of not reaslised what you were saying.

[Colour Republic]

To be honest the OP said he only need to sort out a 10-12mm difference and I kinder thought he was talking about leveling the wall out with adhesive waiting for it set them carry on tiling as normal, but I could be wrong.

By the way OP, you say you noticed the floor adhesive could go to 20mm which would of course suggest it is a cement based adhesive as it should be, but that kinda implies the wall tile adhesive is not and that means it may be a ready mixed tub adhesive. You then go on to say the wall tiles are 60x30, If you wall tile adhesive is ready mixed then i'm afraid it is not suitable for those sized tiles

[geordie13]

CR If i take the window angle irons off and level the window front to the bulk of the wall, I am probably going to be left with a 6 - 10 mm hollow in the worst corner. Did wonder about using the floor adhesive to build it up, before applying the tile with a 2nd layer of adhesive.

You are right in that the wall adhesive supplied with the tiles is a tub adhesive. I wondered about this and asked the guy who supplied it and he assured me that it was ok, He seemed to know quite a bit about tiling, but I.m no expert. The adhesive he supplied was Profix for ceramic wall tiles. Is this definitely unsuitable or is it personnel preference?

[Colour Republic]

You are right in that the wall adhesive supplied with the tiles is a tub adhesive. I wondered about this and asked the guy who supplied it and he assured me that it was ok, He seemed to know quite a bit about tiling, but I.m no expert. The adhesive he supplied was Profix for ceramic wall tiles. Is this definitely unsuitable or is it personnel preference?

unsuitable without a doubt.

maximum with tubbed adhesive is 300x300 and even then most on here wouldn't go that big with tubbed, in fact most wouldn't go with a tubbed ahesive in a bathroom but that bit is personal preference.

Take the adhesive back, poke the guy in the eye and smash a tile on his head then maybe next time he will remember not to give out duff information

[geordie13]

CR Not the answer I wanted, but its best to get it right before you fix the tiles. Back to my tile supplier.

Many thanks.

[Colour Republic]

No problem.

You say the wall is stud work so I would advise you go for a flexible cement based adhesive.

Just one more thing how thick are these tiles and what substrate are you fixing to? is it plaster skim? there are weight issues to be taken in to account with certain heavy tiles

It would be helpful if you could weigh a tile

Sorry to throw something else in to the mix but it's best that these tiles stay on the wall i'm sure you'll agree

[geordie13]

The substrate is plasterboard, not skimmed. I am doing two rooms, in one the tiles are 450 * 300 and the others are 600 * 300. The pack of the first tile weighs 28 kgs and holds 12 tiles, so they should be 2.33 kg each. The larger tiles are 26kgs for 8 tiles, 3.25 kg each.

The tiles came from different suppliers and both are adamant that the tub is OK. As you say, its bad enough fixing them, so we certainly want them to stay on the wall.

[whitebeam]

Tub gear for those tiles

[GaryS]

is it the internals round the window that is out or the wall ? if its just the internals rip off the old plasterboard and replace with new strips using wedges behind plasterboard to make sure it is level when you replace, or if you have space you can just put strips of new plasterboard over the old and either dot and dab or use the wedges to get it level before you start to tile.