Hi All, So I stripped out my old bathroom with all good intentions of trying a DIY bathroom refurb. i managed to chase in the new shower pipes and alter the plumbing for the new bath , which I have sighted see photos. Now i think my walls are slightly out which has put me in a dilemma for the tiling. The left side (I think) will be okay once i’ve applied adhesive and eventually sealed that there isnt a gap between the bath and the tiles and it kind of ‘sits’ however the right side appears more of an issue. Whats the best way before tiling to try and sort this gap and wall to allow me to tile without there being issues? Cheers!
Ah yeah I see, your seal trim should cover that? And build out with powder adhesive. Not ready mixed!
I think left side of the bath would, but not all of right side. So just put a thicker layer where needed under the tile? Just not ready mixed
Yeah that will be fine to build out the tiles. Just make sure your seal is sitting on enough of the bath to stop water getting in. You could board the wall out first also but that might be a bit much for such a small gap.
Your widest gap is 15mm, tile thickness should be around 10mm or slightly more depending on adhesive, so a 5mm silicone bead should be fine.
There's a shower. I hadn't seen the pictures. Makes my chopping out the plaster comment look pointless....
No contribution to the thread - but I took your advice and I'm still here. Thanks for your kind and encouraging words.
What’s the plan for wall prep prior to tiling ? Looks like bonding plaster patching up the walls ? Not recommended to tile over (but I may be wrong on my assumption here) As mentioned above, paint needs to come off (what’s not already peeling off), walls levelled and/or skimmed ? If your diy tiling- even more reason to start with near perfect wall surface, especially if going with large format tiles ? Once wall surface is sorted, pump in silicon between bath edge and wall to fully create a silicone barrier prior to tiling This prevents any water getting behind bath should the tiles/grout/silicone bead/ fail at any time in the future Looks like a great project - crack on eh !
I didnt plan on skimming the walls tbh, given i’m tiling over but hoping once flaky paint etc is scraped off i’ll be okay! In terms of additional prep, please let me know? It is bonding plaster where i have chased the walls.. Wall tiles before Floor tiles, correct? I’m quite happy with general tiling , but really not sure on the best starting point given the window and potential cuts/trims!
I’m doing my own bathroom and had to consider how to prep the bath/shower walls. It was tiles all round which I took off but the adhesive also pulled off some of the plaster. Eventually I hacked it all off on the larger wall, PVA’d the block work and skimmed it with a couple of coats of multi surface plaster. It does depend on how the plaster feels and if bonded on well. Some patches were popping when tapped and generally, plaster was in bad condition. My walls aren’t absolutely flat but I may go with PVC cladding instead of tiling. The panels are 8mm thick and will cover the bath edge gap nicely.
Scrape walls to get off any loose Paint etc, as previous poster said it's a good idea to tank in a shower area (I incorrectly stated it wasn't required) Don't skim the walls it's not recommended for tiling, if you want it nice and flat you could use a tile backerboard but don't worry about bits of plaster missing it won't be a gaping hole just a few mill which the adhesive will take up no problem. Set out your tiles then so for instance if you have a window etc the tiles will be symmetrical. I like to start in the centre and work out which should leave you with even cuts at the corners, if it doesn't just move the first tile so it's centre matches that of the wall. Sorry I struggle a bit to explain things via text, but play around with the layout (dry of course) until you're happy with how it will look. I tile the walls first minus the bottom row (by attaching a baton which I tile up from, then the floor and finally remove the baton, tile the bottom row on the wall and then seal with silicone.
Centre lines on walls, either full tile either side or tile centred. Not always possible. Equal cuts each side of windows, if possible. Full tile off bath is often a good starting point, but you want a nearly full tile at floor ideally. Try and avoid less than a 1/3 of a tile at ceiling if possible. Often a compromise, but just try and avoid small rips of tiles and this may mean ‘breaking the rules’