Tiling Over Old Plaster Walls

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

Tiling over old plaster walls.

You may tile over existing tile painted or unpainted drywall plaster and textured walls. Follow manufacturer instructions to a tee. Mix degreasing cleaner with water in a bucket using a dilution recommended by the cleaner manufacturer. Holes or cracked plaster requires patching.

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. Concrete plywood drywall or painted surfaces tiling requires appropriate preparation. Tiling over damp plaster causes the wall to fail because the plaster won t become strong if it can t dry out. Cover with cement board tape off.

Bring plumbing to code. 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. Fresh plaster whether applied as a patch or to the entire wall must dry completely before tile is applied. Don t try to use the tile setting adhesive or drywall joint compound to patch plaster walls.

Bear in mind that raw brick blockwork and cement are mostly uneven. I took a tile scraper the. If you re not sure if you have lead paint test kits are available. You should not tile over wallpaper glossy surfaces lead paint or plywood.

If plaster is any way compromised you should tear out to studs and start over. Add a diverter and shower line in the wall. Fresh plaster takes up to 30 days to dry and wooden surfaces can use a layer of polyurethane paint. Then rinse the wall with a water dampened.

Firstly check the condition of the plaster skim it should be fully dried out and a light pink colour. Scrub the wall tiles with diluted degreasing cleaner and a nylon scrub brush.