Wall or floor, ceramic / porcelain / natural......

[Nickfromwales]

This section is dedicated to all aspects of tiling. Whether it be wall, or floor, bathroom or kitchen, whole of floor, or other, you'll find all you need to know here. From which adhesives to use and why, through to how to grout, finish and seal ready for use. 

Just post a new thread here and we'll advise you to the best of our knowledge and help you get the job done right, first time.   

 

From this

 

To this 

[sphannaby]

Nick,

 

I'm looking at starting tiling my bathrooms. I'm just having standard shower trays but the ones that SWMBO don't come with integrated upstands.

What are the general thoughts on best way to tile a standard try, would it to be use a supplementary upstand device, something like this:

 

https://www.bellabathrooms.co.uk/classi-seal-shower-tray-and-bath-sealant.html

 

Or is it just a case of using a specific double sealing method?

[Nickfromwales]

Have a read of this and see if that will suffice

cone back with questions, no worries. 

 

[sphannaby]

Thanks Nick that was a good read.

My shower tray will differ from the one you shower fitted as it won't be sunken to floor level and will be sat on a riser plinth.  Presume that the sikaflex method would still be the same for sealing/securing the tray?

[Nickfromwales]

Yup.

Don't use the add-on upstands as they're useless without sealant anyway. Plus they come between the side of the tray and the wall, so stop you getting a good fix ( as your then relying on the double sided sticky tape to hold both bonded surfaces together where the upstand goes ). 

Dry fit the shower tray and set the height and level to suit. Draw around the upper edge with a pencil, and if you can reach do the same at the underside. Fit a batten around the 2 / 3 sides stopping 50mm short of each outer corner ( to allow fitting of the skirt / plinth  ). A better option is to cut strips of 18mm ply and fit that like skirting board, so it sits on the floor and supports the underside of the tray in one solid section. Bond that to the walls with the Sikaflex ( SF ) and fix with a few screws going through into the studs, or rawlplug into the masonry. 

Set the battens 2-3mm shy of the pencil line and put a 12mm bead of SF atop for the tray to be offered down into / onto. Once you've got to that stage, draw the tray 15-20mm or so away, re-goop the top of the ply / batten, and then run two parallel lines of SF around the wall, one at half tray depth and another just shy of the top pencil line. Push the tray home against the SF and move it around a bit of possible to ensure the goop has taken well. 

DONT FORGET TO MAKE SURE THE PLASTIC FILM HAS BEEN REMOVED FIRST, ( if the tray has it fitted, some don't ). CHECK AND DOUBLE CHECK AS ITS SOMETIMES HARD TO SEE IT . 

Then follow the method described, in the thread I linked, re forming the SF upstand whilst the SF is all still wet / masking etc. 

Simples

Edited July 1, 2016 by Nickfromwales
2-3mm for 3mm

[Nickfromwales]

FYI @sphannaby

In addition to the above..,..

Remember that the 2- 3mm gap between the top of the batten / ply and the underside of the tray is to allow the bead of SF to create a cushion so the tray can flex slightly rather than sit on the timber directly. That's to allow for movement whilst your in the shower, singing and scrubbing. 

If your tray has a centre leg or more than one centre leg, leave these wound up and just set the tray by the outer ones. Leave the SF to cure ( 24 hours ) and THEN wind the other legs out to hand tight only.

 

[sphannaby]

Cheers Nick much appreciated.

Just to clarify the battens are only needed on the 2 sides of the tray that will touch the wall?

[sphannaby]

Nick,

Thanks for those links and advice.

Shower tray got set in last week and I'm very happy with the result.  My tiler was also happy and stated it was a lot better than some of the work he'd seen done by a lot of plumbers (I just told him I had a good teacher )

Must say I'm really impressed with the Sikaflex.  Do you also use this as a bathroom sealant for normal applications or just when needing an adhesive?

[Nickfromwales]

Never use it where it's on show basically. It's a foundation, so you'll still need a coloured silicone / other to finish off. The good thing about that discipline is that the bead do silicone can easily be removed and redone when it gets tatty.