HardiBacker, any oppinions?

Discussion in 'Builders' Talk' started by Shadow, Mar 23, 2005.

  1. Shadow

    Shadow New Member

    After doing some homework for preping the bathroom partition walls for tiling, I looked at Aqua pannel, Pyrok or pyrock, and also HardiBoard.
    So far, the Hardi stuff seems like the stuff I need. Aqua panel I could only find in B&Q and it seemed a little flimsy and £11 for 2'x4' aprox seemed stupid. The pyrok board semmed better. More dence good sound proofing but the Spotty Chav shop assistant who was trying to blag his job didnt fill me with confidence. £20 + VAT 8x4'.

    Went to A large tile warehouse where they ponted me towards the Hardiboard, £16.50 8x4' sounded ok to me (Sure u traders out ther can get it cheaper)but I only need 4 boards.

    So has anyone had any experience or any tips as to the hardi stuff or should I have listened to the youngun about the Pyrok?

    Thanx in advance, ;)
     
  2. bathstyle

    bathstyle Active Member

    I fitted a few sheets of aquapanel this week £11.00 ish for 1200mm x 900mm from wickes

    I've seen the Hardibacker at Topps tiles but it worked out expensive compared to the aqua and it was 1/2mm smaller than standard size p/board so theres a slight difference when matching up which can be a pain when you're using thin bed tile adhesives.

    Where did you see the Pyrok?
     
  3. Shadow

    Shadow New Member

    Saw the Pyrok at a guilders merchant near Gillette corner in Isleworth, S/W London. Is this stuff better?
    Matching up is no prob for me cos I ripped off all the P/B.
     
  4. bathstyle

    bathstyle Active Member

    I cant comment on the other systems apart from another type called Wedi board, this is the nicest to work with and the best stuff on the market but v. expensive. I'm happy with aquapanel though, I was tiling onto it today, it bonds very well especially to the cement based adhesives.

    Let us know what you decide and how you get on.
     
  5. Shadow

    Shadow New Member

    Think I'll flip a coin in the mornin,

    What ever I go for, should I line the floor all the way under the bath or just up the vertical side and floor?
     
  6. Cornish Crofter

    Cornish Crofter Active Member

    I've used hardibacker and anquapanel.

    IMO they're both OK for what they are sold for.

    They're dead easy to tile onto, fix etc. The only problem is cutting. The aquapanel especially is dusty if cut by saw. Use a mask if you're doing this.

    To get around this a chap at Travis Perkins pointed me in the direction of a Hardibacker knife that you score down a straight edge, a bit like a glass/tile cutter, then break the board over another straight edge.

    CC
     
  7. bathstyle

    bathstyle Active Member

    The aquapanel cuts in exactly the same way as a sheet of plasterboard, just score and snap then trim underside. I have never used a handsaw on aquapanel ????
     
  8. bathstyle

    bathstyle Active Member

    By the way, I have always used a standard Stanley knife
     
  9. They are all much of a muchness, use whichever you feel more comfortable with.

    Remember to brace them correctly and also remember that none of these products (with the exception of Lux and Wedi Board)are a waterproof barrier.

    Their structure is unaffected by moisture or complete submersion but they require tanking if being used in a shower.
     
  10. Dave H

    Dave H New Member

    I used hardibacker in my ensuite. I found Sheffield Insulations (www.sheffins.co.uk) the cheapest place for it. I think it was about £8 or £9 a sheet, but they are either 1500x900 or 1200x800 - they changed the board sizes recently.

    I tried everywhere for a proper knife to score it with but couldn't find one, so I ended up making loads of dust and using my circular saw to cut it to size. I used aquapanel screws to fix it and found they went in flush a lot easier if I used a countersink bit to drill a pilot hole. It took a while to get everything in place but it's VERY sturdy now.

    Hope that helps.
     
  11. gazza2

    gazza2 New Member

    I have just built an ensuite utilising 24 of these at 1200 X 800, these are exactly what you need, being stronger than aquapanel. They can be cut with a knife and snapped or cut with a saw, a hand saw lasts longer, as the high speed of an electric saw causes the teeth to wear at a phenominal rate - if you have to use electric ( as i did ) is a slow speed to prolong the blade life, either a jigsaw or sabre saw - utilising cheap blades to keep the cost down !
     
  12. dewaltdisney

    dewaltdisney New Member

    Hi Shadow,

    I found when I cut Aquapanel that it did snap like plasterboard but you have to get through the plastic mesh just below the surface so you need a good knife.

    I had to cut a circular hole for the shower valve and I used my jigsaw with an old blade. Cut really well.

    Just a point on the drywall screws putting it up think about where you might be screwing in the shower panels and other accessories as you do not want to hit a screw head under the tile. I drew a map of my screw layout to avoid this.

    Hope this is useful

    DWD
     
  13. bathstyle

    bathstyle Active Member

    Anyone know where you can buy reasanably priced 2400 x 1200 sheets of tile board? I'm sick of using the tiny sheets.
     
  14. Knauf stopped producing Aquapanel in this size, I used to use a huge amount of it. I actually bought the last two entire pallets of it stocked by Nicobond.

    The problem is it weighs so much and tends to break under it's own weight whilst being handled.

    Shame, I used to use it to reinforce floors that had underfloor heating, plywood and the such acts as a thermal insulator, Aquapanel used to act like a storage heater.

    Wedi and lux board costs more than the damn stone I'm laying on it, ridiculous of you ask me.

    Hardibacker is new one on me, an american product that seems to have taken off now they've decided to produce it the same thickness as plasterboard. Not sure what size sheets it comes in although I'm pretty sure I saw an 8x4 in a builders yard during the week.

    Trouble is, you need two people to handle it. Usual problem again.

    Thats why they're all 4x3 and 8x2 sizes.
     
  15. bathstyle

    bathstyle Active Member

    So do you think overboarding a standard 18mm floorboard with aquapanel before adding underfloor heating is a good idea?

    I see what you mean about the weight thing, the 1200 x 900 sheets are fairly heavy as it is.
     
  16. Where a floor has had the water type under floor heating fitted under the floorboards, if you overplay this, you insulate it even more and the heating is basically useless.

    I've tended to use Aquapanel where I fit stone, I glue and screw it to the floors using rapidset flexible and screwing each board down into the wet cement as I go.

    It gives a more solid substrate than fitting 25mm ply straight to the joists.

    As a side effect it seems to substantilly increase sound insulation also.

    With electric underfloor heating it's not as important, I still use ply, but I use the aquapanel on jobs where the cost is less important.
     
  17. bathstyle

    bathstyle Active Member

    12mm ply it is then! cheers
     
  18. Shadow

    Shadow New Member

    Lovely. Loads of info. :)

    I went out and got the boards for the walls, but I got stumped on the 6mm flooring.
    There was a little confusion about how to fix them. I'm planing to remove the T&G flooring in the bathroom as its started to deform around where the w/c was and replace with 18mm Ply. I thought you could just lay the 6mm H/B boards down and screw them down. But this is where the confusion lay, Some said I need to lay it onto flex tile adhesive and some say screwing will be ok. So having to bed it down will double the cost, and resort me to using a Bal sealer on the ply. Not what I realy want to do as I duno how little it will flex without the board. So my final question on this matter is if I lay the Ply and its nice and flat, will screwing the boards down be acceptable in your professional eyes?

    Huge respect to you guys who do this for a living. Each job must have its potential can for worms to open!

    Oh, good call on mapping out the screws to avoid embarasing holes in tiles!!! top tip
     
  19. bathstyle

    bathstyle Active Member

    If you are laying ply onto bare joists you need 25mm ply, 18mm ply moves too much especially at the joins.
     
  20. Shadow

    Shadow New Member

    Doh, Doh .....Fkn DOH! :( already got 18mm.

    When will these worms stop coming out the can? :(

    that means there will be a big step from the T&G to the ply. I can only cut the T&G to the inside line of the door frame as the Partition walls are mounted over the whole floor. So there will be a 8mm step at the first 2 inches of the bathroom. What do I do about that?

    Sorry about all the questions...
     

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