Tiling Over Old Plaster Walls

Layer newspaper on the floor across the bottom of the tiled wall.

Tiling over old plaster walls.

Add a diverter and shower line in the wall. You may tile over existing tile painted or unpainted drywall plaster and textured walls. If you re tiling the wall doesn t need to be super smooth it just needs to be smooth enough that it won t interfere with the tiles as you site them on into the adhesive. If plaster is any way compromised you should tear out to studs and start over.

Bring plumbing to code. Firstly check the condition of the plaster skim it should be fully dried out and a light pink colour. If you re not sure if you have lead paint test kits are available. Tiling over damp plaster causes the wall to fail because the plaster won t become strong if it can t dry out.

Bear in mind that raw brick blockwork and cement are mostly uneven. Concrete plywood drywall or painted surfaces tiling requires appropriate preparation. Mix degreasing cleaner with water in a bucket using a dilution recommended by the cleaner manufacturer. Follow manufacturer instructions to a tee.

I took a tile scraper the. Scrub the wall tiles with diluted degreasing cleaner and a nylon scrub brush. If you have a tiling job to do in your bathroom and the walls have been skimmed with plaster you have to follow a few guidelines when installing tile to make sure you do not have a failure resulting in all the tiles coming off the wall. Or flatten walls with a latex modified skim coat product.

Then rinse the wall with a water dampened. Cover with cement board tape off. Holes or cracked plaster requires patching. Fresh plaster whether applied as a patch or to the entire wall must dry completely before tile is applied.

The adhesive and tile will block moisture from evaporating. However tiling over tile can add quite a bit of thickness so make sure your wall can handle the weight.