I’ve employed someone to renovate my bathroom but I have doubts, and I’d like some professional or at least competent advice. The tradesperson is installing new plasterboard to a wall and has no option but to install 9.5mm as previous due to width of bath enclosure. It’s that tight! As in the attached photo, the wall spans 1.8m, it has a timber frame at 0.9m cc and is 2.4m high. It has some patresses for the kitchen units next door and these are the same thickness as timber frame. The tiler is coming tomorrow and I’m concerned the 9.5mm isn’t up to the task to hold the tiles. Above the bath level and below the patress there is flex when you push the plasterboard. Is the above sound? Should I ask the tradesperson to install horizontal timbers (patress won’t make vertical possible)? Should i ask he cut the plasterboard above the bath and use 10mm cement board and add horizontal timbers? Yoir help is greatly appreciated.
Proper tile backer board of 9.5mm or thereabouts would provide a much better backer for a bathroom than plasterboard. The fact that your tiler hasn't suggested that would lead to the more important question of whether he's the right choice of tiler? Any good tiler would know this.
Agreed - and a tip: if you're cutting the tile backer board I suggest buying some of the really cheap hand saws from the big bin in B&Q - the stuff knocks the edge of saw teeth in no time! Rob
I use snap off blades in my DIY knife to score the board with a deep groove and then snap the board along the line ... in exactly the same way as with plasterboard. I can usually get about 3 scribes per piece of snap-off blade before it's too blunt to do any more scoring.
Cheers guys. Anyone ever used STS Professional Backing Board? Thinking about using that. Nothing on STS website. Can that be fixed to studs and tiles applied? Cheers
Seen it used for floors, but not used it myself - I would still go for the solid tile board (I bought it from Topps Tiles, IIRC the 12mm) https://www.toppstiles.co.uk/preparation/hardiebacker-board Rob
Hello Roger, I’ve got a query on a chimney breast that is being removed from the 1st floor. But please excuse the unorthodox approach, I had posted a couple of queries without reply of the community so I’m resorting to directly messaging someone who has provided me with sound information on a few occasions. My question is, for the retained section on the GF, do I need to vent it at the bottom, if the 1st floor section will be removed? If not, what do the builders need to do to the top section of the retained gf chinney to ensure best practice, ie filling and capping. Cheers
I wouldn't bother ventilating just the bottom ground floor bit. I'm assuming you're only keeping it there for aesthetics or because its removal would be too disruptive. It's not going to be getting much moisture going into it so shouldn't need any venting. Venting it will just cause it to get cold, making the whole structure a potential condensation surface in your living space. Good luck with your project. By the way I assume you used a good set of gallow brackets to support the top part of the chimney breast in the loft.