fitting bathroom tiles

[MontyVeda]

I'm thinking of glueing loads and loads of white square things to my bathroom wall. It's currently covered in emulsioned wood chip which was glued on, probably circa 1970, and seems very solid. Do i have to remove all the paper before fitting said tiles, or can i get away with a criss-cross of scores?

 

[rich p]

I'd take the paper off. Woodchip is rough for one thing and it may soften or peel when the wet tile cement is applied.

 

[Peteaud]

i would peel it off, you dont want a whole wall of tiles to fall off as the backing paper seperates

 

[steve52]

you must remove the paper if you want the white things to stay on the wall, a steamer makes this easy to get of,

 

[Pat "5mph"]

When you remove the paper (you must) probably half of the plaster will come away too, by my experience, so you will have to replaster before tyling, patching up won't do as it will be to uneven for tiles. Or you could fit battons and plasterboard, easy to do if you have somebody to hold the plasterboard for you.
Happy tiling!

 

[slowmotion]

You really don't want to tile over woodchip. Hire or buy a steam wallpaper stripper and use a broad stripping knife after perforating the woodchip with one of those spiky roller things. If you want friendly advice from the pros, sign up here....

http://www.tilersforums.co.uk/

I had a one-off question about laying and sealing a limestone hearth for a fireplace last year. They were really helpful. Good luck.

 

[MontyVeda]

oh bugger... ok, can i glue lino or some such to the wallpaper instead?

ps... thanks for the advice

 

[Pat "5mph"]

oh bugger... ok, can i glue lino or some such to the wallpaper instead?

ps... thanks for the advice

instead of the tiles?

 

[Crackle]

oh bugger... ok, can i glue lino or some such to the wallpaper instead?

ps... thanks for the advice

You can probably screw plasterboard to it but it'll be a real dog's dinner. Take it from someone who has virtually de-woodchipped a whole Victorian house, that it's not as bad as it sounds, especially if you hire a proper steam stripper which should get the paper off without ruining your plaster.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

You can probably screw plasterboard to it but it'll be a real dog's dinner. Take it from someone who has virtually de-woodchipped a whole Victorian house, that it's not as bad as it sounds, especially if you hire a proper steam stripper which should get the paper off without ruining your plaster.

I disagree, having de-woodchipped a large flat by myself: the plaster does come off even if you use a steam stripper.
For kitchens/bathrooms to be tiled, it is imo better to replaster of fit plasterboard -much less dust and quicker.

 

[Peteaud]

oh bugger... ok, can i glue lino or some such to the wallpaper instead?

ps... thanks for the advice

You need to leave it to the pros

 

[slowmotion]

It really depends what the plaster is like underneath the woodchip. Maybe I have been lucky. It is certainly true that one of the reasons for slapping on woodchip in the first place is to cover over dog-rough plaster. Why not try a trial area? Do use a broad stripping knife though. With a narrow one you tend to dig into the plaster at the corners of the blade. Good luck.

 

[qwiksilver]

pat is correct and do is crackle, most woodchip is put up to cover up bad walls as its like bomb proof stuff thick heavy and once its up it don't come off easy that is unless you don't want it come off in which case it will just drop off, i removed woodchip from a relatives 7 bed house in every bed room , with a steamer and believe me its a b*****d but half way through i was given a tip by a guy who had been a decorator all his life get a wire brush attachment for a cordless drill and go over all the paper removing the chips then steam it saves hours maybe days depending on the size of the job but deffinatly dont tile over it

 

[Smokin Joe]

Just draw tiles on the paper and paint them with a nice gloss finish and use matt emulsion for the grout.

Make life simple.

 

[dellzeqq]

the woodchip will rot if you tile against it. And smell. And the tiles may even fall off.

Then again, even if you do damage the wall it's not as if you have to restore it to pristine wonderfulness. The tile adhesive will take any imperfections as a key.