Travertine Wall Tiles

[mini17]

Never used one of these sites before so not really sure what to say but here goes. We decided to buy some lovely travertine wall tiles for our bathroom. As we don't have particularly good walls we will be plasterboarding or putting up marine plywood to give the flat surface to take the tiles. I have seen somewhere that we shouldn't use plywood is that correct? do we need to ensure that the plasterboard etc. is fully sealed first before putting up travertine tiles. Bit of a novice but we were advised that they are easy to lay even as a d.i.y.er Can anyone give me a site where we can find full advice on these tiles? Many thanks

 

[grumpygrouter]

Hi Welcome to the forums. This is THE place if you want tiling information.

Ply is not my favourite substrate for a bathroom environment, it is too thermally unstable. To put stone tiles onto a wall, you need to make sure the wall is storng enough to support it. Even plasterboard is approaching the limits for natural stone. You would be better putting up a cement based backer board like Hardiebacker 500. This is ample strong enough to support your tiles and is also resistant to moisture as well.

Not sure that Travertine is "easy" for a novice, certainly a DIY novice. They all need to be cut on a wet cutter, they will also need sealing and you will need to work very clean. You will also need to use a powdered adhesive NOT bucket stuff. What are the dimensions of your tiles?

 

[wetdec]

If we knew what size then we would have an idea of the weight it is the tile dimentions that gouvern the substrate as thats where the weight can be worked from ??

 

[Gracer]

Never used one of these sites before so not really sure what to say but here goes. We decided to buy some lovely travertine wall tiles for our bathroom. As we don't have particularly good walls we will be plasterboarding or putting up marine plywood to give the flat surface to take the tiles. I have seen somewhere that we shouldn't use plywood is that correct? do we need to ensure that the plasterboard etc. is fully sealed first before putting up travertine tiles. Bit of a novice but we were advised that they are easy to lay even as a d.i.y.er Can anyone give me a site where we can find full advice on these tiles? Many thanks

Sorry to tell you this, but travertine aint easy to lay,it doesn't cost nearly double to lay as ceramics for nothing! I would seriously consider paying a professional to do it.
Unless you are exceptionally handy and or a very quick learner. But these tiles don't come cheap, so how much experimenting can you afford?

 

[mini17]

In answer to the question about tile size, they are 305 x 305 x 10mm. Is this too heavy for the wall?

 

[Gracer]

In answer to the question about tile size, they are 305 x 305 x 10mm. Is this too heavy for the wall?

No. Not at all.

 

[grumpygrouter]

In answer to the question about tile size, they are 305 x 305 x 10mm. Is this too heavy for the wall?

In my opinion yes, unless you fix to backerboard.

 

[beanz]

In my opinion yes, unless you fix to backerboard.

What would you expect 10mm Trav to weigh in at Grumpy? I was under the impression that up to 9mm of anything should be ok for skimmed, so i'm a bit surprised that the extra 1mm would be a problem for un-skimmed. Obviously the up to 9mm rule is a bit sketchy, so maybe i should be using a better method. Preferably something that doesn't require bringing scales along hehe!

 

[Gracer]

In my opinion yes, unless you fix to backerboard.

I don't fully understand some of the terms & proceedures you guys use over there.
I have laid up to 600 x600 travertine on walls here without an issue. As long as the walls are built properly they should take any weight you can throw at them. Our walls are built with either aluminium or pine studs and cement sheeting, usually. With the occasional brick & or rendered walls, in domestic situations.
I would like to point out that the building of the walls over here are the builder/chippys responsiblity. Reading some of these threads it seems some of you guys build your own?

 

[grumpygrouter]

What would you expect 10mm Trav to weigh in at Grumpy? I was under the impression that up to 9mm of anything should be ok for skimmed, so i'm a bit surprised that the extra 1mm would be a problem for un-skimmed. Obviously the up to 9mm rule is a bit sketchy, so maybe i should be using a better method. Preferably something that doesn't require bringing scales along hehe!

If you check out this link Beanz, you will get an indication of what I am thinking.

Tiles and Adhesive Weight Per Square Metre - THE TILE SOURCE

Stone is much denser than ceramic so I tend to err on the side of caution when giving advice on here. Obviously the fixer has to make the call and the end decision is up to him/her if they want to work so close to the limits.