Best grout for tiled shower over bath

[KingBilly]

Hi,

I have just finished ceramic tiling bathroom, walls & built in bath with power shower over. The tiles were adhered straight on to Wickes Tile Panels which are fixed to timber battens which in turn are fixed to the brick walls.

What will the best grout be to use? I have looked at Epoxy grouts as I wouldn't need to seal afterwards but would a Mapei Ultracolour or similar be ok as it claims to be water repellant and used in swimming pools? Cost is not a problem but just want the best grout possible for a keen DIYer to use which will last.

Also, can I grout where the tiles meet the sloped ceiling or will this need to silicone'd? The tiles are 7mm x 150 x 150mm plain white ceramic and there is a 3-4mm gap where the tiled vertical walls meet the ceiling.

Thanks,
KB

 

[KingBilly]

Also, I have used primed (underside & edges) 18mm WBP ply on the floor. What other prep do I need to do before tiling onto this? I have some acrylic primer left over, should I use this on the tile side of the ply and tape the joints prior to tiling? Adhesive is Ultra Tile Pro Flexible Rapid RS.

Thanks

 

[Rich Midge]

A flexible grout should be fine, Tilemasters grout 3000 is an excellent product and user friendly. I personally wouldn't advise a diyer to use epoxy. Also, very few of us tile directly onto ply floors anymore. I'd consider a backerboard (marmox, hardie) or a decoupling membray (durabase, ditra). The adhesive you have is excellent but again I wouldn't be using it on a ply floor. Ultra do a range of s1 and s2 (proflex) adhesives which are better suited to your floor.

 

[KingBilly]

Thanks Rich.

I have actually managed to find some 4mm Marmox on ebay which I will be using to overboard the floor.

I may have a slight problem though as I forgot (dick head!) to prime the Wickes Tile Panel before tiling. It is a gypsum based board, do you think the cement will react with the gypsum through the fleece? It's made by Knauf, Travis also stock it as a tile board.

 

[nybor62]

there are some really good epoxy grouts on the market now , and not hard to use

ardex eg8 is the first that comes to mind ,

 

[Rich Midge]

Strictly speaking if something is gypsum based and you're using cement based adhesive you should prime. However, if you've ever tried to remove a tile fixed with cement based addy from unprimed plasterboard you'll know its an impossible task. I've no experience of the Wickes board so don't feel I can comment sorry. I agree with above tho re. epoxy but still wouldn't recommend a diyer to use it.