I am about to re-tile my shower cubicle and had to remove old ceramic tiles. With the tiles removed some of the old plaster has came away exposing the inner cement wall. The old plaster was nothing more than a scim of amout 2 to 4 mm deep. I want to fill up the voids where the cement wall is exposed so that I have a smooth wall to work with, before applying the tile adhesive for the new tiles. What would be best way to do this? I am considering:
Re-plaster scim.
Fill the voids with Polyfilla or such like.
Fill the voids with tile grout and level & smooth off.
I would go for removing all the old plaster if the walls underneath are truly solid concrete. After fitting the new shower tray and all the associated bits and pieces I'd then use the technique of sticking plasterboard to the wall with dabs of bonding plaster, not to thick a mix, just enough that it sticks to the wall and can be compressed between the plasterboard and the wall to hold the boards securely.
This will make the wall hang over the shower tray so that any water will run off directly into the tray better. It will give you nice smooth walls that will take the tiles with a thinner layer of adhesive and so make a saving on the amount you need to buy. And it will make the whole job just that bit easier to do. The 10mm thin plasterboard is enough to stick the tiles to, and if you decide to change everything in years to come, then all you need do is pull the whole lot off the wall and use the same method to change to the new scheme you pick.
Patching the walls and trying to stick tiles over it, especially when you don't know if the rest of the surrounding plaster still has a perfect grip on the wall, is a real nightmare, believe me I've been there. So my advice is to spend a little more on getting some bonding plaster and some sheets of
10mm plasterboard, and make a great job rather then just a good one.
Good luck with it, and have a good new year in your new shower as well.
I agree with that. Providing that the tile is held to the wall securely by an average depth of no more than 1-3mm it'll be fine. The tile adhesive can suffice as a filler for small areas which aren't greater than about 3mm depth.
PoP
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