Skimming a bathroom

TopTec

Hi All.

Just finished boarding a bathroom, partly with 100mm insulation boards fixed to the outside walls and partly dot n dab boards on the internal walls. The shower will be floor to ceiling tiled but the rest of the room will be tiled to about chest height, and then from there to the ceiling skimmed for a paint finish. The boards are not suitable for a dry lined finish due to the mushroom fixings.

My question is this:

Is it possible to tile first and then plaster skim the top section or should I have the whole bathroom skimmed before tiling.... which seems a waste of time and money TBH.

Thanks Pepes

TT

Tom Joad

Personally wouldn't bother skimming the whole lot - why waste the money. If it was me I would mark out the height you want to tile to and skim above this line, then put your tiles on below the line - would be less mess to clean off the tiles.

Joey the lips

You do not need to skim a bathroom wall if you are going to tile it....

An awful waste of time and money imo.

paddy147

+1 to the above.


Complete and utter waste of time and money to skim out bathroom walls when they are being tiled over.

TopTec

Thank you for the reponses. I agree it is pointless to skim if tiling, but the question is;

Is it possible, mess aside, to tile up to a point then get a fella in to skim the top half that will be painted?

Bearing in mind the difference in thickness between skim and tile.

TT

Davy

TopTec wrote: »

Is it possible, mess aside, to tile up to a point then get a fella in to skim the top half that will be painted?

Bearing in mind the difference in thickness between skim and tile.

TT

Yes, ofcourse its possible. You can tile first or plaster first, doesnt make much odds. It would be better to plaster first to save damage to the new tiles.

My 2 cents on it, would be tile floor to ceiling, especially if your getting someone in to do the tiling and plastering. If you tile floor to ceiling you never have to repaint, it looks a better job, and you dont have to pay a plasterer for a day. Downside it will cost a little depending on the size of the bathroom, but ask for a better price per sq yard cause your buying more.

Tom Joad

Davy wrote: »

Yes, ofcourse its possible. You can tile first or plaster first, doesnt make much odds. It would be better to plaster first to save damage to the new tiles.

My 2 cents on it, would be tile floor to ceiling, especially if your getting someone in to do the tiling and plastering. If you tile floor to ceiling you never have to repaint, it looks a better job, and you dont have to pay a plasterer for a day. Downside it will cost a little depending on the size of the bathroom, but ask for a better price per sq yard cause your buying more.

+1 on this - if you have the budget to stretch for it go for floor to ceiling tiles

DoneDL

Skim it, then tile the wet areas. Your Tiler will have a better surface to work of and if you want to change things in the future its easier to repaint walls and update fittings.

Master and commander

You should never skim the area that will be tiled, the tile adhesive will not get a good key or grip on the skimmed area. Mark out the tiled area, and skim outside this only.
Always tile after the skimming is done, otherwise you'll end up with a right mess and believe me i've seen a few.

One more thing, did you use moisture resistant plasterboard (green boards) on the shower area and extending at least 600mm beyond it. If not, your in for serious troulbe in about 2 years time when it all begins to melt.

My advice, if you don't know what you are doing, don't go near it. This work is best left to the pros.

TopTec

Thank you all for the responses.

I do have quite a bit of experience tiling, but always on older walls and floors never new bare boards.

I have tanked the areas around the shower, bath and sink, overlapping and sealing the corners and bases where necessary. The wall tiles are a mixture of plain white and an iridescent mosaic which cost a tidy sum so I am keen not to damage them.

I am waiting on a call for a plasterer so hopefully will get him to come soon and skim down to the tile line.

Thanks again

TT

650gs

Plaster slabs are not waterproof unless you get the green ones that can take a little water and the smallest leak at all will ruin them completely you need to skim the slabs never tile onto bare boards.
Give Gypsum a call they make the slabs and will tell you

Spread

Yes, more advice. Mark the wall and get your plasterer to skim to a couple of inches below the tile. For a stronger wall ............ the plasterer can first, firstcoat the lot ......... then use a sponge float to scour all. Then trowel up from a few inches below the tile line. Unless it's a very big bathroom that shouldn't cost much more.

TopTec

650gs wrote: »

Plaster slabs are not waterproof unless you get the green ones that can take a little water and the smallest leak at all will ruin them completely you need to skim the slabs never tile onto bare boards.

Interesting responses, with some directly opposite views. 650gs maintains you should never tile onto bare-boards whilst Master and Commander's response is that you should never skim an area to be tiled due to keying problems. Roughly 50-50 split from all the replies.

Personally, I have tiled onto bare boards in the past with no issues save for tile removal problems in the future. The tiles tend to rip off the board surface when you strip them off. Having said that I have also tiled onto patched plaster with no problems. I have always used BAL products to tile and their instructions do suggest that either bare of skimmed boards are fine.

If I did not have access to a Tanking kit then I would of used Aqua Boards (moisture resistence boards). The tanking waterproofs the plaster boards and all internal and external corners, as well as providing a excellent key for tiling.

I was having problems getting hold of someone to skim hence my original question.

Will post a result when I finish

Thanks again

TT

Joey the lips

Prime the plaster board with tile primer and it will be fine. It seals and gives grip for the tiles.

1chippy

tried both ways. inclined to go with what spread says. dont try to plaster down to the top of the tiles skim first only sponging the area where the tiles are going. at least it leaves aflat area to work tiles on.

whizbang

Hi TT, can i ask you what you mean by

The boards are not suitable for a dry lined finish due to the mushroom fixings.

Im about to do the same job myself. Do the mushrooms stick out from the wall ?

TopTec

The heads of the fixings are about the size of an eggcup with a centre hole. As 2 of my walls are stone, I had quite few misses and the heads are scattered everywhere. Also some of the heads are not square, (they twist as they enter the stone), It would be impossible to cover these with any sort of compound to achieve a smooth finish.

Skimming is the only option for me.

TT

stephendevlin

The adhesive company we get supplies from state that you can put a heavier tile directly onto bare plasterboard (once sealed with primer as the plasterboard can dry out the adhesive too quick) rather than skimmed walls as the tile is being held up by the skim and the skim is being held up by the plasterboard.

harry21

First off, I used green boards when I did my shower. I then put two coats of diluted polybond on them and let it to dry for a day or two.

Then I used waterproof tile adhesive and put the tiles directly onto that... no skim.

P.S. make sure you use waterproof grout too.

TopTec

Harry.

No such thing as waterproof grout or adhesive. It is all "water resistant". Water can and frequently does leech through to the wall surface. There is no need to tank or waterproof moisture resistant or Aqua board. that is completely unecessary.

TT