Tiling Over Old Plaster Walls

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

Tiling over old plaster walls.

Tiling over damp plaster causes the wall to fail because the plaster won t become strong if it can t dry out. Bring plumbing to code. 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.

Cover with cement board tape off. The adhesive and tile will block moisture from evaporating. Then rinse the wall with a water dampened. 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. Fresh plaster whether applied as a patch or to the entire wall must dry completely before tile is applied. Holes or cracked plaster requires patching. Don t try to use the tile setting adhesive or drywall joint compound to patch plaster walls.

Follow manufacturer instructions to a tee. I took a tile scraper the. 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. You may tile over existing tile painted or unpainted drywall plaster and textured walls.

If you re not sure if you have lead paint test kits are available. Or flatten walls with a latex modified skim coat product. If plaster is any way compromised you should tear out to studs and start over. However tiling over tile can add quite a bit of thickness so make sure your wall can handle the weight.

You should not tile over wallpaper glossy surfaces lead paint or plywood. Mix degreasing cleaner with water in a bucket using a dilution recommended by the cleaner manufacturer.