Levelling a wall - any help please! [pics]

[Kasheen]

Hello folks,

I'm wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction with levelling a wall that I'm about to tile.

I've completed the first wall which was fine, nice and level for the most part (or nothing that building up a small bit of adhesive wouldn't solve). However when I placed my wooden batten across my second wall I noticed that it bows into the middle.

It appears that most of the problem is from the very sides (left and right) of the wall where it slopes up quite sharply, while the middle might be a bit more flat with the odd lump or bump.

Here is the wall:

With the batten placed across the entire wall it is raised off of the wall:

With my spirit level placed in the middle of the wall the gap is much reduced so I think the sides are causing the batten to raise (1cm would be an extreme max for the gap, I think it's around 0.5):

A single tile produces hardly any gap:

So I'm not sure how I should go about solving this? Is it actually an issue, i.e. should I just be raising and lowering the tiles with adhesive so they match up but still have the wall overall bowed?

Or should I attempt to plaster the wall to level it off (my plan was to flatten the plaster up using my batten to make it level, it's behind tiles so I imagine it doesn't have to be too neat). Could someone help me with the method for doing this? (I'm plastering ONTO finishing plaster (urg) so how would I key it, what plaster should I use to build up the 2cm gap in the middle etc). I don't think I could use plasterboard because it would make the tiles jut out from the wall quite alot. Obviously I'm mostly concerned about the weight of the tiles pulling the new layer of plaster off of the wall.

Much appreciated for any advice, thanks will be added (and possibly pics of progress ).

 

[Scott]

You could skim it with adhesive, depending on the type of adhesive you are using. If its a cement based adhesive you can skim over the dipped areas and/or use a deeper notched trowel to over come the dips.

Or you could plaster it. Wouldnt be too hard either way as you are filling in dips as opposed to removing a high spot

 

[Ceramico tiling]

I would plaster it in the middle with rapidsett but no thicker than 12mm,(use a batton as a fether edge)then when its dry level as I go with the tiles if it still needs it,,But there might be better ways(materials)etc which these guys might know.

 

[Kasheen]

Thanks so far guys!

Ok so options seem to be skimming with adhesive (I'm currently using a 2 in 1 grout and adhesive tub by Unibond, I've been reading these forums and I'm guessing that this prolly isn't suitable to skim a wall and I'd need to buy some kind of bagged product) or skimming just a bit with rapidset plaster and then working the rest out with my tiles and adhesive as I go.

Is there any way that I should prepare the current finishing plaster for the extra skim? Should I sand it, or scratch lines into it with a stanley knife to make a key? Perhaps if I'm taking the plaster route then using PVA to seal the wall? (I know this is a hot topic for tiling, I've personally not used it with my tiling adhesive).

 

[Deleted member 9966]

If you're putting tiles on top of it, DON'T USE PVA

 

[Diamond Pool Finishers]

yes skim with addy ,and use your wood as a rule to take off excess

 

[mikethetile]

plasterers use pva to seal the wall before skimming over existing plaster

its probably your best bet but you will need to allow to dry out for a few days before priming and tiling

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

I would bin the Unibond, and use a good cement based adhesive. Prime with SBR, and follow the above advice. Good luck

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

Sorry about my print, I must have clicked italics by mistake

 

[kent tiler]

use pads of plasterboard cut say 4ins square dab them on with tile addy top and bottom say 14ins apart se a lond level too plum it up let the pads set then pva the wall then lay on some bonding rule off livel with the pads trowel it in let it pall in then devil float dry then tile sorted same as F&S gatting the wall plum :smilewinkgrin:

 

[White Room]

It's not recommended to tile directly onto thistle bonding

 

[Scott]

use pads of plasterboard cut say 4ins square dab them on with tile addy top and bottom say 14ins apart se a lond level too plum it up let the pads set then pva the wall then lay on some bonding rule off livel with the pads trowel it in let it pall in then devil float dry then tile sorted same as F&S gatting the wall plum :smilewinkgrin:

As previously mentioned bonding is not suitable to tile on

Read page 4 of the data sheet
broken link removed

 

[Scott]

Beat me to it Whitebeam

 

[Fred]

Get a good plasterer in and sort it out.

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

It's not recommended to tile directly onto thistle bonding

Not enough strength in it:yikes: Btw. thanks for sorting my print Dave, Dan, Mods? whoever did it. Very impressive