plywood walls

[dave l and l]

been working on a large floor for a client recently.once i am finnished to floor he is wanting me to start the bathroom, however the walls are plywood, i asked him to remove the ply or overboard. however it turns out this will not be possible due to bath and shower tray installed and pipe work is set in place so it cant be brought forward to accomodate overboarding,
i have told him its not really viable to tile on this surface especially where the shower is and the fact the whole house inc bathroom has underfloor heating installed.
however he is needing me to go ahead and tile the room as is .
so can anyone enlighten me as to what would be the best course of action regarding this, and by that i mean what would be the best .preperation , adhesive , to give this room a chance of not failing after five mins

 

[m3fitter]

listen.... a high end developer that I work for, made the mistake of using marine plywood... I have just replaced a course of 1000 x 330 porcelenosa as it shrunk, the tiles inverted, and creased ( not cracked ) take plywood off studwork and replace with Dukka, marmox, hardibacker etc.. plywood is so 90's !! wood and water ??

 

[dave l and l]

yeah i have explained this to client and told him it requires attention, however as i stated in my previous post reboarding or overboarding is out,,, this is not my choice as i have stated,, hence the reason i am asking whats the best thing i can do.. without just walking away

 

[m3fitter]

as I stated, take off ply, and fix a moisture resistant tile backer to the studwork

 

[The D]

Tank it but take no responsibility

 

[m3fitter]

yeah i have explained this to client and told him it requires attention, however as i stated in my previous post reboarding or overboarding is out,,, this is not my choice as i have stated,, hence the reason i am asking whats the best thing i can do.. without just walking away

the industry changes for a reason..... we have all tiled plywood with no consequences, but the time you do and it all goes wrong, you know why... wood is not good.. remember that.. ( we are a wet trade, water & wood ?? ) ;-)

 

[Chalker]

Got to live in the real word sometimes.

im with Deano, tank it out, tile and it will most likely be ok. As long as you have pointed to he pitfalls, your in the clear.

 

[Ian]

Get some Ardex wpc, tape all the joints before applying it, and tile to that. That tanking sticks like glue to anything and will then give you a much more suitable surface to tile to.

 

[Stef]

As Deano says tank it & tell them you are not happy doing it this way.
Think Bri is spot on use the ardex (even though I don't like applying it) it sticks like the proverbial..

 

[m3fitter]

Got to live in the real word sometimes.

im with Deano, tank it out, tile and it will most likely be ok. As long as you have pointed to he pitfalls, your in the clear.

The problem with the job I replaced was the plywood shrinking, due to moisture it took in, during the build, when it dried out, it shrunk, take the tile / adhesive with it, as a tiler, we can't allow for that

 

[m3fitter]

Get some Ardex wpc, tape all the joints before applying it, and tile to that. That tanking sticks like glue to anything and will then give you a much more suitable surface to tile to.

totally agree, but if the ply has swelled, prior to us tiling, and then shrinks, when drying out... I didn't see that coming and couldn't see that the ply had swelled.. no probs, got paid again, but its soooo boring do the same job again

 

[dave l and l]

thanks for the replies in particular the constructive ones,,
i have spoken to customer and explained in front of a witness the problems involved in tiling on plywood . wood and water and all that,
i have used the ardex and butech tanking system, one being paint on the the latter being matting. would you have any preference on tanking products, once again thanks

 

[m3fitter]

double edged sword.. lol ... I use Schluter Kerdi as a tanking system

 

[dave l and l]

as I stated, take off ply, and fix a moisture resistant tile backer to the studwork

thanks for replying, however i am looking for something a bit more constructive rather than repeating ourselves. i have told you it cant be removed.

 

[dave l and l]

double edged sword.. lol ... I use Schluter Kerdi as a tanking system

thanks i will look into that , not sure if my local c t d stock that,