Advice on the best wall tile adhesive and grout!

[Cardiff Gal]

Hi,

We have decided to tile the walls in our bathroom ourselves (which we hope we don't end up regretting!). Need some advice in regards to the best adhesive and grout to use. We have already bought the tiles - ceramic 200 x 250. We looked at Unibond adhesive and grout but after reading some reviews on the net, it has kind of put us off! However we are now confused with regards to which one would be the best to use! Any suggestions?

Also the walls are currently painted (with what i am guessing is bathroom emulsion) - would we need to prepare the walls? If so, what would be the best way to do to?

Thanks.

 

[andy-p]

Is there a Tile Giant retailer in your area? they will give you the right materials you need , dont go to diy stores like B&Q . as for the emulsion paint criss cross the whole area with a stanley knife then scrape off any loose , then prime walls with an acylic primer.

 

[diamondtiling]

Slashing the boards with a knife is not really advisable to be honest. Rub it down as much as you can or better still re board the walls and start again.

 

[andy-p]

The best option is to reboard but lets face it a bigger task for a DIYer and not entirely neccessary, so the best option is to LIGHTLY key the wall not slash!! to give the adhesive something to grip onto...

 

[White Room]

Give the emulsion a spray with warm water, that can soften it up sometimes

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

Slashing the boards with a knife is not really advisable to be honest. Rub it down as much as you can or better still re board the walls and start again.

I would spend the time and effort sanding off the emulsion, by scoring you will only achieve a very small percentage of bond to solid wall imo

 

[david campbell]

yeah i would attack it with a sander to remove as much as possible,prime it then use keraflex or keraquick white and mapei ultracolour grout

 

[Ken Bruty]

Or another good way to deal with it is steam it with a wallpaper steamer and scrape it off, it comes off very easily.

 

[aph257]

Or another good way to deal with it is steam it with a wallpaper steamer and scrape it off, it comes off very easily.

thats also the way i now do it.:hurray:

 

[Unregistered]

Thanks everyone for your help! Will get sanding away!
Are Bal products any good? I hear they are quite pricey though!

 

[Dan]

BAL is okay, Mapei is the preference for most of the professionals on this forum. And you're right, BAL is often the one that people complain about price-wise. There was a period they went through not so long ago that people reported that their advice lines were always too busy to be practical advice lines. Never tried to call myself though.

Mapei grout quality and range is the best in the world! And ALL their silicones match their grout colours EXACTLY! BAL's doesn't, even white is questionable when using the BAL superflex grout.

 

[Unregistered]

Thanks Dan for the advice ... appreciate it.

 

[Unregistered]

Does the size of the tile have any influence on what adhesive to use?