Plaster coming off with tiles- Can I tile directly onto concrete wall?

[Ciel]

Hi,

I hope you can help me out please.

I've just made a start on my bathroom. I've stated to take the tiles off but the plaster underneath is just crumbling, revealing the concrete wall underneath.
I need to get this job done a quickly as possible as it's our only bathroom so don't really want to wait four week for plaster to dry (or pay for the plastering to be done). Can I tile directly onto the concrete wall?

Thank you very much for your help.

Caitlin.

 

[AliGage]

Yes you can.

remove all tiles, adhesive and scrap away any loose plaster or unwanted material from the wall with a blade scrapper.

Prime wall with BAL primer SBR (Or an equivilent)

Allow to dry and tile as normal.

In your prep you must make sure any loose, displaced or broken plaster is removed to make the surface as flat as possible, and to ensure you are fixing your tiles to a good, flat, and solid surface.

 

[Sanke]

If you are tiling above a bath you need to consider how to seal around it. I would presume that the plaster & tiles came on top of the bath giving a good seal. If you have removed the tiles & plaster you need to ensure that your new tiles are well over the edge of your bath. Perhaps considering plasterboard or arid backer to get some depth but not slw down your progress

 

[AliGage]

It's only a plaster skim over the render isn't it? Your not talking anymore then 2-3mm.

 

[Dan]

Get the lot off, and then fix plasterboard or tile backer board to the wall, then tile that. No waiting for anything then, and you get a flat wall to tile to.

 

[AliGage]

If it's a brick construction, render and then skimmed wall then just taking it back to the cement render will be ample IMO. Have a tap around the render and make sure none of it has blown.

Dan are you suggesting removing the render as well back to the brick?

 

[Deleted member 9966]

Ali, I'd also be suggesting taking the whole lot back to brick. We're reliant on Caitlin telling us what's under the plaster. It might be render. She might be referring to concrete, but she might actually mean concrete blocks.

Caitlin, are you definitely sure it's a concrete fabricated wall or are they concrete blocks arranged in a brick bond style? If you know the approximate age of your property, this may help us in deciding what your substrate is and then we can advise whether tiling to it is a good idea or not.

 

[AliGage]

Agreed, i'm making a presumption that the concrete is a render skim over a general red building brick wall.

 

[kilty55]

dot and dab it and then tile

 

[Ciel]

Thanks everyone.

It does appear to be render with a thin layer of plaster over the top. I'm not sure what's underneath. It's quite an old block of flats and I was told that the ceiling was made from concrete when we had a leak from the flat upstairs.

 

[AliGage]

Most purpose built flats/apartments will have a concrete floor on each level. Not as noisey as floorboards 😉