Bathroom Wall & Floor - BAL product advice please!!

[zx10r]

Hi guys

Firstly, been reading your forum for a few days now and it's fantastic. I'm an experienced DIY'er and currently renovating my bathroom.

I thought I had all my primer, adhesives and grout sorted, just about to get them and then found out (rightly or wrongly) that the BAL superflex wall grout doesn't come in Grey!

Here is my scenario:-

Bathroom I want to tile in 600mm x 300mm porcelain Q-Rock tiles from Topps, floor AND wall in portrait and landscape with a staggered brick pattern.

Raised flooring is very solid P5 chipboard (no ply tho!), so I am intending to use BAL Bond SBR as primer, then BAL Fastflex (grey) and BAL wide joint (grey) grout (I think 4mm joints will look about right here) with GT1 admix 1:1 ratio.

Now the walls - just been trying to get off the (30yr+) emulsion and it's a bugger to come off (any tips?), to get back to the bare plaster. I was then intending to use BAL Bond SBR to prime, BAL White star to fix and then BAL superflex grout---BUT they don't have it in grey!!!

So can anyone advise on an alternative grout for the walls as I understand the WJG is a bugger to put on the wall (chefs piping bag anyone?)
I was looking at BAL product selector and it looks like Microcolour might do the job.

Oh, I was intending to keep the 4mm joint on the wall too. Full height tiling the walls around the bath and half height around the rest of the room.

Also, trims and stair nosings...seen some lovely Schluter stainless profiles, anyone know a local (Dorset) stockist?

All the best.....

 

[DHTiling]

If your substrate is flat , you will not need more than a standard modified adhesive bed of no more than 6mm....

 

[zx10r]

There's a good chance it maybe sand/cement which can take about 40kg, the finishing plaster would have been siripite which is no longer is used. This maybe an option for you, see if you can scrape the finish off and apply a coat of bal bond (sbr) onto the sand/cement but thin it down to 3-1, if that works out for you it will be ok. Just tap the backing to make sure there are no hollow areas and backing is solid.

You don't mention where your from.

Hi and thanks for the reply Whitebeam

I'll check it out in more detail tomorrow morning. BUT....I'm pretty sure now it is (about an inch thick) plaster on a sand/cement render on brick.

Would I need to take off the entire inch of plaster all over the area to be tiled?...gulp!

I'm in Bournemouth, Dorset.

 

[zx10r]

For that size tile your looking at the thicker bed unless your walls are perfectly flat

I'll get the level on it tomorrow and let you know....seemed pretty good by eye, but it is an older building and we all know what that means!

 

[zx10r]

If your substrate is flat , you will not need more than a standard modified adhesive bed of no more than 6mm....

Nice! Thats a bit of good news...I was beginning to become a bit glum.

So I'll check the flatness of the walls tomorrow n see where we go from there.....

Thanks again Dave

 

[zx10r]

Nice! Thats a bit of good news...I was beginning to become a bit glum.
So I'll check the flatness of the walls tomorrow n see where we go from there.....
Thanks again Dave

The flatness of the walls seems pretty good, about 2-3mm variance across the walls I intend to tile. I think I might be alright.....

 

[DHTiling]

Use a 10mm trowel then and this will bed down to around 3mm to 4m bed...

2mm to 3mm tolerance in the substrate is within bs standards...

 

[zx10r]

When using Q rock I would advise that you use Tile Protector prior to grouting. It will prevent grout staining the tiles and make the wash down easier. Q rock has quite a rough texture and I have found this product to be a good help.
BAL Adhesives - Products - protective sealer

Hi Yomper

Well I've had a lot of other work on, so only just completed the walls !

I used the protective sealer properly, first coat, wait 15 mins, second coat, wait minimum an hour before use.

All seemed good or so I thought.... I've now washed down three times and there seems to still be a lot of surface "dust". Its the dark grey/black porcelain QRock we went for with the grey BAL WJ grout and Admix GT1. So now I'm thinking of Lithofin. So I guess I have to ask :-

1. why the (not cheap) temp sealer didn't work properly. Did I do something wrong?
2. Would you recommend Lithfin cement remover or some other product for grout dust / haze?

Cheers guys