Getting Ready to Tile [was Removing Tiles]

[Des]

Ok, I managed to get my tiles off* (all 600 of them) now I need to get ready to put the new ones on.

The walls consist of 1 external wall plus three internal stud walls (i.e. plasterboard). I'm left with a load of tile adhesive on the walls plus some exposed coarse plaster and flaky fine plaster on the external wall. Can anyone advise me on the following :-

I think I can quickly take all the fine grade (pink) plaster off the external wall. Is the coarse/grey plaster/screed suitable for taking tiles directly or does it need re-plastering?

Looking back through previous posts, I see there are a number of approaches to removing tile adhesive from plasterboard. I was going to use a cheap belt sander - would anyone advise against this?

Any other general tips for tiling preparation?

Many thanks Des

*For those interested I used a cold chisel (thin plus bolster type) and a lump hammer. I found that if you strike the edge of the tile sharply enough and follow through then they practically jump off the wall. Sometimes you come up against an awkward bugger, but even they have a weak point somewhere.

[chris French]

In message , Des writes

As long as it is level and not uneven etc. then it's fine, in fact it makes a good substrate.

How much adhesive is there to remove. It's hard stuff and could be hard work to sand off. TBH, I'd consider just replacing the plasterboard if it wouldn't be disruptive in other ways and there was lots to do.

>

[John]

----- Original Message ----- From: "Des" Newsgroups: uk.d-i-y Sent: Sunday, February 29, 2004 9:17 PM Subject: Getting Ready to Tile [was Removing Tiles]

This will create a LOT of dust, best method I have found is a Steam Stripper for wallpaper. I am assuming the old tiles were not straight onto plasterboard, if so using this method may damage the paper layer of the boards.

HTH

John

[John]

----- Original Message ----- From: "Des" Newsgroups: uk.d-i-y Sent: Sunday, February 29, 2004 9:17 PM Subject: Getting Ready to Tile [was Removing Tiles]

This will create a LOT of dust, best method I have found is a Steam Stripper for wallpaper. I am assuming the old tiles were not straight onto plasterboard, if so using this method may damage the paper layer of the boards.

HTH

John

[PoP]

Yes it's fine - but you do need to paint it over with watered down PVA adhesive. The recommended solution is 1 part PVA to 5 parts water. Wait for this to dry and you've got your surface ready to take tiles.

I certainly would! A few years ago before I became better educated I used a belt sander to remove tile adhesive - ended up with a house full of very fine talcum powder dust.

A cheap steam stripper with a scraper is your friend for this job. Trust me, it's so damned easy you'll be back here thanking us for this advice before you know it :)

Make sure you place the first row of tiles on a batten - and leave the batten in place until the adhesive sets (next day usually).

PoP

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