adhesive for wall tile in a shower

If you're putting tile on drywall in a shower, it doesn't matter what adhesive you use since it won't last long anyway.

Drywall is cheap, tile work isn't. From your post it's clear you know you should replace the drywall - so do it. It won't take that much time or that much money.

If you insist on throwing good money after bad, use a trowel on waterproofing over everything, such as Redgard, before you put up the tile. The use the standard latex/acrylic modified thinset to set the tile. Redgard is not cheap, but it will allow you to proceed without tearing anything out.

R
Reply to
RicodJour
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I'm hanging 3 x 6 x 1/4" tile in a half shower. I've got durock on the bottom foot and treated sheetrock on everything above.

So I can tile the bottom of it conventionally, and would expect to use what they recommend at lowe's: the tile mortar with polymer.

q1) There's two of them, one for $18 and another for $24. What should I look for? By no means do I adhere to the Law of It's better because It Costs More.

I wish I hadn't hung treated, but I did. I know I can make tiles stick with all-purpose construction adhesive. But I'm in the market for something that bridges that gap between the two.

"Mastic" doesn't really exist anymore, at least at the place where I'm constrained to buy things that I can. That said, to find the right adhesives or additives, I will seek out any bona fide recommendation.

Things are good in my hood,

Reply to
Uno

All very good advise. Also you cannot use thinset on the bottom and adhesive on the top. The tiles will never be flat with each other, thinset is used much thicker than adhesive.

Reply to
EXT

Some special reason you didn't use backer board to above the splash line? (say 6 feet or so, or however high the tile will go.) That 'treated' sheetrock is not for showers, it is for above showers and the other bathroom walls. I know greenboard and whatever replaced it were SOP for several decades after mudbeds died out, but we know better now.

Ya wanna fix it now, or in 7-10 years when it fails? Saw out the fancy sheetrock, replace it to proper height with backer board, and use the same adhesive all the way up.

Reply to
aemeijers

Yep. Do it right the first time or you will learn a very costly and painful lesson. I did mine with hardiboard, covered that in redguard, and used Flexbond thinset to stick the tiles on. Considering the amount of labor it took to do, it is nice knowing that it will probably outlive me.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Danniken

Thanks all for replies. I've read them summarily and again thank contributors to criticisms of details.

As I proceeded with design, I imagined that I would use an appropriate adhesive for any given region, with the durock at the bottom, so that I know things aren't going to F* up from the start.

I'm looking for some Klebbig stoff, and prefer to mix it myself.

Reply to
Uno

Rico,

Thx for your comment. I'll look for Redgard.

Know that I value your opinion. If I were to speak to ameliorating circumstances, it would be that I live in a desert.

Please take that into consideration. Cheers,

Reply to
Uno

That's motivates the reason for more of a goopstick, if you follow my vernacular.

Cheers,

Reply to
Uno

Where do you live?

Reply to
Uno

You could use plain old thinset for both cement board and drywall. Of course, as others told you, the drywall will shortly fail (because it is drywall, not because of the thinset).

People are perfectly free to use $18 or $24 modified thinset if they wish; I prefer the $0.10 cent a pound type.

Reply to
dadiOH

Oregon, USA. It's raining today.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Danniken

That's probably true, but the fault of the installer, not the drywall.

The idea that drywall isn't worth shit as a shower substrate is due to poor tile work.

Real tilesetters became scarce in the '60s with the advent of the one- piece fiberglass enclosure (or I'd probably still be setting tile. I liked it, and it beat the hell out of farming).

Homeowners do not understand that a competent tile job on "3 walls over the tub" make those walls a "unit". You can see them still standing (and still serviceable) after a house has burned to a pile of ashes.

One of the main tricks in unitizing those wall is in the grouting. You have to dampen the joints before grouting if you want good adhesion (that may no longer be true, I don't know *anything* about the "new" grouts), and you have to *fill* the joints.

If your tile job leaks, it doesn't matter what's behind it. Sure, drywall will absorb the water and ruin your tile job, but with rock it will immediately run down and affect another part of the house as well.

It should be, considering what passes for tile work these days.

That depends on how much money you got. I've been in a position where $5 was like $500. -----

- gpsman

Reply to
gpsman

The best installer wouldn't start with an inferior material, particularly when the better material would add only a small amount to the overall job cost.

I have to disagree with you on that. It's not worth the minor cost saving to use drywall. It's false economy, and the downsides of drywall in a shower far outweigh the minor benefits in cost savings and labor. It's not even a close call in a typical shower.

I guess that's dependent on where you are and how much somebody is willing to pay. But I agree that true craftsmen are scarce - and probably always have been.

That doesn't mean that the walls won't move in relation to each other a miniscule amount when in normal use. That miniscule movement is enough to crack a grout/tile bond and create a potential leak.

The best grouting job in the world won't deal with differential movement between walls meeting in a corner. Any time there's an inside corner it should be caulked. And before you say it - caulking is also a lost art!

I'm not sure I follow you on this one. It almost sounds like you're suggesting using drywall as a sponge to catch the water getting past the tile. The best thing that can happen with any leak is to catch it quickly. That little leak will turn into a big problem if it's not caught quickly. It's not just a question of what the tile is set on, but also mold and ruined framing.

Well, hopefully you've also been in a position where $500 seemed like $5...or at the very least, $500 seemed like $500. ;)

R
Reply to
RicodJour

More importantly, what type of construction is backing the shower and what's below it? If your house is concrete block on a slab, then you're looking at a tile job that won't last as long as it could and should. Your money, your labor, you get to tell yourself, "I told you so." when/if you redo it.

If the house is wood-framed and the bathroom is upstairs, the downside is considerably greater.

R
Reply to
RicodJour

Not the point.

I knew lots of them, once upon a time.

A competent tile job will remain a unit and move the drywall.

Neither will rock.

First, it should be grouted.

And I've lost it, too...

Right. Do you want a tile repair, or a ceiling drywall.

I think leaks become apparent before that.

I got lots of $500, but $5 is still $5. I had lots then, too, but at the time that money was put away to care for my parents, so I missed some meals. -----

- gpsman

Reply to
gpsman

Oregon is as different from Albuquerque as one can imagine. It takes about a half hour for a shower to get back to 20% humidity here-- without a window being open or the fan on.

Water will never seep into a crack and freeze in the interior of a house. I've never seen moldy sheetrock around here.

Reply to
Uno

How, precisely, does everyone think this drywall will fail? Will the paper tear off? Will the bond between the adhesive and the paper fail? Mold? Mildew? Torsion forces as the house sway?

Reply to
Uno

Water will get to it

It will get mushy

The bond of the tile to it will fail

If you let it continue,... You may/will get mold Mold includes those that rot wood The framing may/will turn to mush

Reply to
dadiOH

The drywall will fail because it will get wet. Wet drywall turns to mush.

You can be flippant now about the failure mechanism, but I've never seen anyone flippant when the wall gets opened up. They seem to be more...what's the phrase I'm looking for? - right, pissed off.

A hint about the failure mechanism - when things flex, what fails first? To get you started - houses move with temperature, humidity and load. Show all your work. You have one hour.

R
Reply to
RicodJour

I would remove all the existing wallboard and install concrete board, then mortar the joints.

if the OP proceeds with his current plans at least in a few years when the tile fails he will be experienced making it easier to begin all over again

Reply to
bob haller

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