Tile on Tile...

[Mulberry View]

Firstly, before you flame me, I know this is not ideal but hear me out...

I'm trying to put a bathroom together for a relatively low cost, it needs to do 1 year, maybe 2 (at which point the place will either be flattened or sold as a renovation project). It seems a little wasteful as it is, so I'm really trying to keep the costs down and can't contemplate getting a plasterer involved with the current restrictions.

I've tried chipping the existing wall tiles off, they are SO SO hard and aren't keen to come off at all. It's against my morals, but I'd like to just go tile-on-tile for this one. I plan to key the surface up with a grinder to give the best chance.

What adhesive would be best for this? Not sure if I'll be using Porcelain or Ceramic yet...

[Jeremy Harris]

Many years ago, I tried this, because I didn't want the hassle of getting the old tiles off, and because I knew I didn't have the skill to patch the wall up so that it would be flat enough to tile onto.  The tiles fell off within a couple of weeks, and I ended up with twice as much work and a lot more expense, to put things right.  I did learn a lesson though, and another skill.

 

It may be that running a grinder over the tile surface could improve adhesion, but I'm not at all convinced it would work.  What I know does work is bonding Multipanel shower board on to tiles that are in good condition.  I've done this on a wall where the tiles were really tough to get off.  I think this works because the adhesive used bonds well to pretty much any surface, and remains very slightly flexible.  I prefer the look and ease of cleaning that Multipanel gives over tiles, too.

[Carrerahill]

17 minutes ago, christianbeccy said:

Firstly, before you flame me, I know this is not ideal but hear me out...

I'm trying to put a bathroom together for a relatively low cost, it needs to do 1 year, maybe 2 (at which point the place will either be flattened or sold as a renovation project). It seems a little wasteful as it is, so I'm really trying to keep the costs down and can't contemplate getting a plasterer involved with the current restrictions.

I've tried chipping the existing wall tiles off, they are SO SO hard and aren't keen to come off at all. It's against my morals, but I'd like to just go tile-on-tile for this one. I plan to key the surface up with a grinder to give the best chance.

What adhesive would be best for this? Not sure if I'll be using Porcelain or Ceramic yet...

Why don't you buy some of the uPVC cladding and stick it on?

 

I did a work/sink area, just bought uPVC cladding stuff, £11 for a 4m length and it was about 300mm wide, in the situation, it looks really good, I just used plnety of battens so it felt solid.

 

In your situation, you could just stick it on with grab adhesive and it would last you a year and probably cost buttons to do with little mess and faff.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2020 by Carrerahill

[ProDave]

I too did a multipanel overlay over tiles in a previous property.

 

There are cheaper alternatives to multipanel if logevity is not your aim.

[jack]

Tile paint. We had some in our last rental and it was... okay.

[Adam2]

Depending on size of bathroom - you could overboard the existing tiles and tile on the board? In my last house we pulled the old tiles off and the wall was a mess so boarded the bathroom and tiled on that to save plastering - may not have saved money but was quick and needed limited skills/materials

[nod]

8 hours ago, christianbeccy said:

Firstly, before you flame me, I know this is not ideal but hear me out...

I'm trying to put a bathroom together for a relatively low cost, it needs to do 1 year, maybe 2 (at which point the place will either be flattened or sold as a renovation project). It seems a little wasteful as it is, so I'm really trying to keep the costs down and can't contemplate getting a plasterer involved with the current restrictions.

I've tried chipping the existing wall tiles off, they are SO SO hard and aren't keen to come off at all. It's against my morals, but I'd like to just go tile-on-tile for this one. I plan to key the surface up with a grinder to give the best chance.

What adhesive would be best for this? Not sure if I'll be using Porcelain or Ceramic yet...

Your absolutely fine tiling onto tile as long as they are solid 

You are better using a bagged adhesive for Porcelain You will need to leave it a couple of days before grouting 

[dave2878]

what is behind the exisiting tiles , you need to think  of weight , plaster takes about 16kg per m2  gyproc about 24 per m2 . double tiling  will possibly take you over that , 

dont overboard existing tiles then tile , unless you can mechanically fix hardie backer to wall . 

if you do tile over existing tiles , mapie do a primer called ecopirime grip. use that  then a powder adhesive like weber set plus or the the likes 

usually best just to strip out and board again , mostly leaves a better job. hope this helps 

[Mulberry View]

In the vein of helping someone else out in the future, we solved this using a fantastic product that I would highly recommend to anyone with the same dilemma.

 

We found a product called Eco Prim Grip by Mapei. We bought it from Toolstation. It is designed for this purpose and is a paint on product with an added grainy aggregate that dries hard leaving it ready to accept a standard tile adhesive of your choosing. No preparation to the original tiles is needed.

 

To validate its performance, I had to remove a couple of wrongly placed tiles after they had dried and I can confirm that the separation occurred between the tile and the adhesive, leaving the Prim Grip fully attached to the glossy surface of the old tiles. This stuff definitely solved our problem.

 

[joe90]

Thanks @christianbeccy, my floor tiles have not stuck to the liquid screed (not sure if it’s the tile or floor) can’t bring myself to rip the whole floor up till next year but have earmarked that stuff for when I do ?