Im just about to start tiling in my bathroom and was wondering what primer people recommend for the walls prior to tiling, 2 walls are sand/cement render and 2 have been plastered roughly in hardwall just to help level the wall out
Prime the walls with an acrylic primer and not, I repeat NOT.......PVA (looks the same but a differant beast entirely) You can use any brand of SBR Primer, follow instructions on container as this has numerous uses and dilution rates vary for each application Most places only have SBR in 5ltr which will be way too much. I know Wickes sell it in 1lt size - not sure how widely available this size is at other places Or use a tile specific brand such as Bal, they’re acrylic primer goes by the name of Bal Prime APD, again following instructions This will give a great surface ready to tile onto As a bathroom, top quality adhesive and grout is a must ...... not some combined all in one gloop in a 10ltr bucket Hope all goes well
I’ve got the adhesive and grout, but have always tiled on aqua panel and never straight onto sand/cement render so wasn’t sure whether the primer would be the same for that as well as the hardwall
As far as I know (I’m diy only) the render will be fine after sealing with SBR, ready to tile The hardwall I’m not so sure though. It’s an Undercoat plaster and like bonding coat, not recommended to tile onto, even after sealing first I would check with the technical department from the adhesive manufacturers first if their adhesive is suitable for a hardwall finish Also what size tiles are we talking here - large format / heavy ?
As I thought, not recommended to tile directly onto hardwall, should be skimmed first Take a look at this date sheet from British Gypsum, Thistle Hardwall - 'Page 2 Tiling' Tiling Tiles up to 20kg/m2 can be applied directly to the Thistle finish. If plastering to provide a background for tiles, avoid polishing the surface. Polished plaster surfaces should be roughened and a suitable primer used. Tiles should not be applied directly to Thistle undercoats, with the exception of Thistle Dri-Coat. Maintenance Thistle Hardwall with a final coat of 2mm Thistle Multi-Finish
Was just reading the same data sheet as you posted, tiles are 450x280x10. I’ll skim the 2 walls tomorrow so should be able to get onto tiling them early next week, thanks for pointing that out before I got tiles on them
No worries mate, better to find out now than when it’s too late I’m sure others will say they’ve tiled onto bonding and hardwall with no problems but it’s not recommended and surely British Gypsum should know a thing or two about plaster Enjoy
To be fair when I say 2 walls have been hardwalled it’s not the whole wall its been used to patch where old pipe work and cabinets were previously,coz there paramount partition walls it’s more trouble than it’s worth to knock the walls down to rebuild them and can’t overboard as it encroaches on door opening and causes the hinges to bind. The tiles are ceramic