ceramic tile on sheet rock question

[TM]

Do you use thin set mortar to afix ceramic tiles to regular dry wall or something else?

Thanks,

TM

[mike korenchuk]

Recommend visiting Hardibacker.com MK

[Stoic]

If it's going to be a wet-area application, like a shower, I wouldn't recommend it. If it's a counter backsplash in a kitchen, regular tile adhesive is the way to go. You can't use thin set on sheet rock.

[user]

Absolutely. However in some applications ceramic tile should be installed over a water-resistant substrate. Your call.

[user]

Look folks! Another 'expert'..

[Stoic]

Yep, my expertise? Done it and it worked.

[user]

You're clueless.. Wet areas such as showers require a water-resistant substrate. Be it mortar or tile backer. Drywall is NOT an acceptable substrate in those applications.

Also, thinset has been used as a setting agent for installing tile on drywall since it's inception.

[Darrell]

Thinset and tile has been installed on sheetrock since it's inception, very common throughout the 70's. Grout when properly applied and sealed has 3-5% penetration so water will never reach the masonry backing or sheetrock. I like miracle sealants products

Just remember to reapply annually or bi-annually. For what it is worth I would use a masonry substrate if it were my shower/tub.

There comes a time in the affairs of man when he must take the bull by the tail and face the situation. -- WCF

[Stoic]

To clarify, in wet areas DO NOT install ceramic tiles over drywall, use cement board as a substrate.

"If it's going to be a wet-area application, like a shower, I wouldn't recommend it" - I wouldn't recommend installing tile over drywall.

In a kitchen backsplash, installing tile over drywall using a mastic adhesive is o.k.

I evidently didn't make that clear enough.

[PJ]

You made it perfectly clear to anyone above 3rd grade reading level and an IQ above 50.

PJ

[Michael Baugh]

All that's been said, often in a very belligerent fashion, is well understood. So I'll tell the other side of it. Where I say I do it, and have done it for years. With an I.Q. over 50. Water should never get behind the tile. Ever. So the first part of the tiling process is to eliminate the main reason for it happening. At the beginning, I use Styrofoam to fully insulate the wall. No point in having it chilled from outside and serving as a condensate site. With different thicknesses, and cuts made to cause it to be a snug fit, I arrange the insulation so that there are no air spaces in common. For any small spaces that are not practical to fill, I use Great Stuff foam insulation, cutting any extra with a hacksaw blade. The Styrofoam comes to the exact edge of the stud, with no difference. Then I put Greenboard in place. It's moisture resistant, but there should be no water exposure, at all. An important element to that is a well-leveled and secure tub or shower unit. I accomplish that by bedding it into thinset. When a person takes a shower, the flooring of the shower should be rock-solid, as should the sides. First tile is most important. I run a fairly generous bead of pure, white unpaintable silicone along the edge of the unit where the tile will go.Then I run a bead along the mating edge of the tile, and a denerous squiggle of it on the back. I put that tile onto the Greenboard about a half inch from its final spot, then firmly push it into place, and any extra silicone quickly removed by finger and put on the back of the next tile. And so on. I select a tile that will match the silicone. Often, I will use a style called Arctic Ice. I make the joints small, the silicone transitions are minimal. I usually use 12" tiles.

I've been doing it this way for over 20 years, and have never had any mildew problems, no wetness problems. Far as I'm concerned, the main problem with tile is not the tile, but the grout. In these days, I see no use for it. In the first tile job I did this way, I used a yellow tile and a siliconed space of about an eighth inch, and after ten years it was still looking beautiful.

Just wanted to give the other side of the story.

PJ wrote in message news: [e-mail]...

[PJ]

12 inch?

I've never seen a bathroom tile wall with 12 inch tile, but if you say so....

Also, I am somewhat concerned about mold in your walls. Many of the mold pictures I've seen show mold growing on the styrofoam insulation.

PJ

[Charles Spitzer]

it's becoming common. i've been seeing this in model homes around here. here's one i did:

regards, charlie cave creek, az

[PJx]

Thanks for taking the time to post the picture.

I'd consider 6 inch tile, maybe, but prefer 4 inch. 12 inch just looks to economical.

PJ