Marble tiles to a first floor bathroom

[Cappuccino cath]

Hi and thank you for letting me post a question!

I would like to ask anyone out there for comments/advice concerning a small project. I am in the throws of tracking down marble wall tiles that would cover a bathroom area of aprox 26 square metres (allowing for damage/breaks). The intention is to tile a bathroom floor to ceiling in a period property. The walls (below)are load bearing, and the house is in superb condition. What I would like to know is there a total weight limit to a first floor room ( the floor will not be tiled) and at 26 square metres each tile will be 305mm x457mm x 12mm. Obviously there will be the usual bathroom pieces (bath, basin and WC and shower unit). I could do with some help to determine what the weight considerations are allowing for materials etc... Thanks !!!

 

[DHTiling]

C/cath..

If you go to your email inbox that you signed up with...you will have an activation email that will confirm your email address and validate your account.
Then you can post in the main forums..

Any probs doing that then come back to this post.

 

[Cappuccino cath]

Okay Dan...did say Hello!

Oh and the walls are in great condition with one wall 50% plastered 3 years ago. This was the original bathroom, so we are putting it back in the 8ft x 8ft room. My guess is that it has never been plastered since the house was built circa 1912, but the walls are sound and am looking for advice on whether the tiles mentioned in my original post are going to be too heavy? Cheers!!!

 

[DHTiling]

Moved to stone tiling forum now cath...

 

[Cappuccino cath]

Okay Dave, very much appreciated!

 

[Colour Republic]

Hi Cath, Welcome

Are you asking if the walls themselves can take the weight or are you asking if the plaster will take the weight of the tiles?

 

[White Room]

If your in a period property the walls could be lime mortor, which can be very unstable when weight is applied.
These walls were never designed for that kind of weight

 

[Cappuccino cath]

Hiya Colour,
Good point, ermmm... I guess that would be questions to both.
The walls are in good original condition (pre modern plaster) apart from the 4th internal wall which is 40% part plastered 3 years ago where an original hot water tank and header/feeder pipes were part sunk into the wall, so we skimmed this area. There has been no sign of previous tile work as there was the tiniest mount of 1920's wall paper (when we prepared the walls for decorating some 5 years ago).
If there is a "belt and braces" approach then I welcome advice! having just weighed a sample tile at 4.4kg each ( that's about 7.15 tiles per square metre or 31.5kg square metre)and not actually shelled out for tiles yet(and I would need to take into account the grouting/fixing weight too)... perhaps I am getting a bit hung up over the total weight of these tiles hanging off 4 walls, despite the very secure and central location of the room in the house.

 

[Cappuccino cath]

Hiya whitebeam,
Okay... silly question for you...how can I identify lime plaster?

The "plaster" on the bare walls (apart from the modern gypsum plaster) show very little movement and historical cracks have been filled with what looks like fine old polyfilla. The gypsum plaster is good too with no cracks or "hollow" sounds, having unstripped the walls from prepping... hope this helps

 

[Colour Republic]

It's never good to give absolute correct advice without seeing the property in question but the room can support an extraordinary amount of weight (much more than a standard bathroom) given that it is in as you say the house is in good condition i.e. solid brick work, solid joists with no sign of rot, woodworm or stress. Unfortunately the plaster will not hold the weight of the tiles you are proposing to use (even if the plaster was new. If you do wish to go ahead i'm afraid the plaster will have to be removed

 

[Cappuccino cath]

Oh and the old plaster is dark grey and grainy texture... hope this info is of use?

 

[Colour Republic]

this thread should help you any problems come back here:smilewinkgrin:

http://www.tilersforums.com/tiling-forum/4632-weight-limits-when-tiling-wall.html

 

[White Room]

Sounds like lime mortor, give the walls a tap and see if sounds hollow.
It's a sort bounce sound on the plaster

 

[Cappuccino cath]

Hiya Colour!
Thank you for your very sound point. I could not say for 100% certainty that the current wall render would be capable of holding such a weight, and having got a correct tile sample (rather than a postage stamp effort sent in the post). I can only assume that we would have to take the render off the exterior walls and construct some type of structure enabling us to anchor tiles to the walls, again we would be compromising the "period" look and feel of the room... so back to square one....

Any suggestions on a lighter tile that does the look and feel of marble but not the weight? Thanks for your patience!

 

[Colour Republic]

Hiya Colour!
Thank you for your very sound point. I could not say for 100% certainty that the current wall render would be capable of holding such a weight, and having got a correct tile sample (rather than a postage stamp effort sent in the post). I can only assume that we would have to take the render off the exterior walls and construct some type of structure enabling us to anchor tiles to the walls, again we would be compromising the "period" look and feel of the room... so back to square one....

Any suggestions on a lighter tile that does the look and feel of marble but not the weight? Thanks for your patience!

Why would you be compromising design? I thought you were tiling floor to ceiling? With that weight you'd have to remove the plaster and fix tile backer boards to the brick work or to an existing timber frame, the architrave and any mouldings in the room do not have to be removed.

In general plaster as old as yours will have lost a lot of its strength and although can take some weight it's really hard to say how much. Have you tried drilling into the wall? Just because the plaster has not blown does not mean it is solid, again not trying to scare you or make you spend money you don't have to but it would be a good idea to get a few tilers round to advise you. It could be that your plaster is very solid and hasn’t deteriorated but better to be safe than sorry, it comes with buying an old house with character I’m afraid

 

[Cappuccino cath]

Hiya Whitebeam and Colour,
Yes...it is lime mortar and have just read your link too colour... lesson learnt... good job I haven't parted with my hard earned cash on the marble. Still ever so disappointed ....could have been worse, marble might have come off the wall and smashed the fab bath suite (would have quickly fallen out of love with said marble ;o( )... thank you both, very much... appreciated

Shall I write off the entire "natural stone" world? or are you able to point me to some lighter alternatives? Thanks again!

 

[Colour Republic]

Off the top of my head I can't think of a tile to point you in the right direction but if you stick around for a few days then somebody who fixes alot more natural stone than I do might be able to help, failing that try your local tile shops who if you explain the situation will be able to help (by the way just becuase some large household name DIY stores stock tiles doesn't mean they know anything about them!).

If you really wanted to go down the natural stone route then i'd get some prices in first before you discount it, it certainly won't be the cheapest option but then anything with any quality and style is never going to be cheap

 

[Cappuccino cath]

Hiya Colour,
Just read your note about the room, yes I agree.. I had honestly not considered stripping the walls down to stone work and the original internal walls are (lath and plaster strips with lime mortar). I have drilled into two of the walls and on those occasions the "plaster" did not break away or was porous, but I could have drilled in the next spot and there could have been a weakness... much as I love old houses (and this one has been a love project) they are a pandoras box! The ceiling (which was not going to be tiled has "curved edges" which I haven't come across before.

I will need to understand what anchor methods would be used for tiles of this size and weight if I were to strip the render/plaster down to bare stone and also what can I utilise as a bond to the original lath and plaster internal wall... Again it's a fair comment, second guessing when I should have a professional to assess the job.

 

[White Room]

The trouble with lath and plaster it can give way at any time, I've seen ceilings after there've let go in living rooms and you would'nt want to be underneath it.

 

[Colour Republic]

Take some pictures and post some up here when you get a chance and we'll see if we can help you along a bit further. Fixing the backer boards and the tiles is the easy part for a professional, the job isn't as big as you may think it is but with lath and plaster you can bet it's going to be a messy one.

Were you thinking of undertaking the works yourself or are you going to get professional help?

Any tradesman worth his salt will help you from the conception to design through to the completed job. If somebody isn't prepared to do that look elsewhere

 

[Terry Cottar]

You can buy lightweight marble sheets now with a fixing system that are only 3 & 4mm. Another thing you can do is weigh the tile you have and post back on here the weight and dimensions so we can do the calcs for you

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