Please can anyone tell me what they think the best board to use behind the tiles of a shower?
Obviously, regular plasterboard is cheapest, but useless if it gets wet. Can it be coated with PVA to help?
Also, can the tiles be fixed straight to the board or is it essential to plaster first? Obviously, I am wanting to do as much as I can myself and whilst the plumbing etc is not a problem for me, a lot of plastering will be.
TIA. Rob
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There is either Aqua panel from Knauf - special offer in our local Wickes at the moment, don't know if it's nationwide, 3 for 2. Normal price £11.99 a sheet 900 x 1200.
hi rob, aquaboard is the 'bees knees' no plastering tile straight on it. look on wickes web site for more info think it was £12 a sheet 1200 X900, they had an offer 2 for 1 a few months ago regards bob
hi this is it hard to find
Wedi board
No.
Yes/No
Or similar, hardibacker, and several other trade names for fibre-reinforced cement-faced foam board. Most useful property is that it is waterproof, being made of plastic, rather than just water-resistant. So with a tanking kit you can ensure that the shower is waterproof irrespective of the integrity of the grout and tile cement. Aquapanel will let the water through, it just won't disintegrate like plasterboard.
One of the deliberately made waterproof cement-and fibre-based boards for use in showers. Wickes sell "Aquapanel", I use "Versapanel" from Avon Plywood and there are others. Plywood is very expensive for a grade that's remotely likely to survive and plasterboard is terrible with this degree of water exposure.
PVA glue will also soften and creep with long moisture exposure.
Unless you specifically want tiles in the shower take a look at Mermaid shower panels. I used them for my shower, very easy to seal and they stay sealed, they look good and the whole shower can be built in a couple of hours.
Rgds
Andy R
Thanks for all the suggestions everyone.
I have used a product similar to the Mermaid panels before and they are great. Really was a case of getting the shower in within one day. However, that was just a corner shower where I was able to butt two panels together. This time I need to tile the whole bathroom in the same tiles. Lots of those panels together tend to look messy where they join unless done by 'the experts'.
I will try to get hold of some of this plastic panel stuff. Does anyone know how thick it is?
I ask because if applying tiles directly to it and the rest of the wall (ie not where the shower is) is regular foil backed plasterboard that has been skimmed, there could be a 'step' where the two board types meet.
Also, thinking of the rest of the bathroom, is it ok to apply tiles direct to foil backed plasterboard? What should I seal it with?
Thank again to all. Rob
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Thanks for all the replies.
One thing I forgot to ask - how is this Aquapanel and similar fixed to the wall?
Can it be dot and dabbed like plasterboard? Or must it be screwed to batons?
TIA. Rob
Replace 'spam' with 'org' to reply
Interesting - could you clarify the bit about a 'tanking kit'?
Thanks David
Somebody else asked this very question a few days ago - check the archives. IIRC I think the upshot was that the mfr said it must be screwed to battens (not batons - that was yet another thread!!) because it's too brittle and might crack otherwise.
BTW there are special ceramic-coated Aquapanel screws for this job - I've always used them myself but don't know whether it's an absolute must.
David
Hardibacker isn't foam based. It's fibre-reinforced cement, similar to Aquapanel. It comes in 6 and 12mm thickness and sheet size is 900x1500mm. Sheet weights are 12.5kg and 19kg, even heavier than Aquapanel.
Sorry to jump in, the link for the tanking kit is :
Can be used on plasterboard removing the need to use backing board and can be tiled onto. I have just ordered some for my en suite.
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