DIY Related: Tiling on painted plaster

[DIYPeteski]

I'm looking to rip out an old bathroom suite shortly and re-tile from floor to ceiling. I'm now unsure on how to proceed with the tiling because the existing walls are old plaster which was painted with some kind of silk or possibly even gloss paint. The bath area also has 2-3 layers of tiles but I plan to remove these and make good any damage caused.

As I understand it tile adhesive won't stick to the paint so my options are:

1. Remove the paintwork - possibly more hassle than it's worth as I don't know the condition of the plaster at this point and I'm also not convinced the walls are as true as I'd like.

2. Use some kind of tile backer - but won't the adhesive for the boards also have the same problem sticking to the old paintwork?

Any help or comments greatly appreciated

[whitebeam]

Hi and welcome..

How old is your property, determines what plaster you may have on your walls and what tiles will you be fixing.

[Mike]

the tiles will stick to the paint. problem is the paint will come off the wall along with the tiles. you could mechanically fix (screw) the backerboards to the wall to give you a good substrate to tile on

[Phil Hobson]

I have a job coming up with the same problem, I think I will spend a day FOC, stripping the paint, rather than risk a failure. Better safe than sorry imo

[Sean Kelly]

Test a few areas of paintwork by sticking duct tape to the wall. Rub the tape in with your fingers so that the glue really sticks to the wall. Leave the strips of tape on the wall for 20-30 mins, then rip them off. If the paint comes away with the tape then you will have to remove the paint prior to tiling. If the paint stays attached to the wall then there is a very good chance that it will be ok to tile onto the wall. Sometimes the paint is so old that it bonds to the plaster. You could also test the paint with a wet sponge. Hold the wet sponge against the paint for a minute or two. Then rub the sponge on the wall. If the paint comes away with the sponge, then you have to remove all the paint from the wall. In both cases the paint must be removed by mechanical means, (sand paper or sander) do not use a paint removal liquid. Another factor will be the size of your tiles. If they are large format & heavy then I would not tile onto paint. If they are light and ceramic then that's ok. Old walls do have a habit of crumbling away when they are disturbed, so be careful. This advice is given to you without seeing your walls. Good luck. Sean

[Scott]

You could steam it off with a wallpaper steamer, leave it on the room with the windows and door shut for about 20 minutes and then should be enough to use a decent bladed scraper to remove it. This method gets old tubbed tile adhesive off too.

[DIYPeteski]

Morning all and many thanks for the hints and tips.

I think the property is 50's or 60's ex-council terrace and the paint was put on about 11 years ago. I'll be putting up the larger format tiles so weight could be a concern.

To be honest I think I'd rather get the paint stripped anyway than have the added expense of the backer boards so will head over tonight to test all the above options and will let you know what I find.

Thanks again.

[widler]

be just as easy knocking off plaster and boarding,than wasteing your time with stripping paint,take a touch longer,and a bit more expence,but
not only will the walls be stronger than the old plaster,but will be a hell of a lot straighter

[DIYPeteski]

Good point Wilder. The trouble is I have the steam stripper and the skills to use it :-)... Plastering is another matter. Plus the added time for prep and drying etc.

[widler]

dry lining aint really plastering and is a peice of hhmmmmhmmmm
drying out time is no problem,don't skim it,a board takes more weight bare than when its skimmed.
as for added time,if your walls are that uneven,it will take longer to tile,than if its bob on.
just my opinion mate
hope it go's well

[DIYPeteski]

Morning all. Just a quick update for you. It turns out the paint was a tin of Dulux high gloss base and mixer so I tried the gaffer tape on the wall... not too much came off with that check so I left the steamer running for 20 minutes. Woohoo! the paint turned rubbery and started coming off really easily.. I was so relieved and my job tonight is to get the entire room stripped now.

The walls also seem to be pretty straight so hopefully no dry lining required.

Would it be an idea to give the walls a wash down with sugar soap or something similar before tiling?

[waterfd]

Used a steamer yesterday after spending some time scraping the walls this worked great, took less time than expected. Rock on the steamer. I now have to remove loose plaster to get a good surface on sand/cement render then prime with Primer G.