I have a bathroom with 3 rows of tiles around the bath.
I want to tile up to the ceiling to take a show unit over the bath.
The walls are plasterboard and above the existing tiles is wallpaper that has been emulsioned Is it best to try and take off the existing wallpaper - need steam stripper, etc. or just tile over the emulsioned wallpaper?
Colin
Take the wallpaper off. Sorry :-(
Mr Pounder
Do you think that the paper is in good enough condition to carry the weight? I suspect not. For the small amount of effort saved compared to the cost and effort if it all falls off I know what I would do.
and expect the wallpaper paste to hold the tiles as well. I wouldn't
Mike
My last house had tiles which had been applied over emulsion.
One day we heard a bang. We found a tile embedded in the bottom of the bath - it had landed on a corner, and punched clean through the plastic bath.
I'm glad no-one was underneath.
I'm also glad that as a fairly new house the builder replaced the bath and re-tiled it.
And that I realised the new tiles were coming of too - in time to remove them in a controlled fashion, remove the paint, cut a key into the wall, and replace them.
Take the paper off. BTDTGTTS.
Andy
Colin,
My advice would be to remove both the wallpaper and the emulsion and tile onto the skimming on the plasterboard (or the board directly if there is no skim) after first giving this a coat of PVA, and applying the tile cement just as starts to get 'tacky' [1 and 2] - and follow any instructions on the box about soaking the tiles before fixing them (if applicable to the tile).
Remember that all that's holding the paper on the emulsion is the wallpaper paste, and this will certainly start to break down when you apply the wet tile cement and tiles - with the obvious results.
With regards to the emulsion, the 'grip' on that will not be enough to support the weight of the adhesive and the tiles will eventually pull off the wall.
[1] Cover an area that you can comfortably do before the PVA dries completely. [2] I did three complete walls in shower cubicle with 330 x 250mm tiles using this method over twelve years ago - and they are still there now.Cash
I have lived in a couple of houses that were a couple of years old, the tiles came off the bathroom walls in both of them. I think it was because the tiles were really tight up against each other and over the next couple of years the walls dried out and the tiles 'burst' off the wall. So no surprises then that your tiles came off as well.
Once the top row was off you could see that rather than cut-in the paint at the edge of the tiles they'd sploshed onto the wall, then tiled afterwards. As only the top row came loose I blame the paint.
Andy
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