Flooring Tile - Tiling over new plastered wall

I am installing 8x12 wall tiles in a new bathroom. The walls are plastered. Do the walls need to be painted or primed prior to the installation? What size notch should the trowel have for this installation? Also, the flooring is the tongue and grove subfloor - is it necessary to add an additional subfloor prior to tiling?

Thanks!!!!

Hi Princess,

Plastered walls are a rarity is this day and age. Have they been finished, or is the 'brown' coat still exposed? If this is the case, you can go right over it with thin set.

Use a 3/16 in. "V" notch trowel, and use wall-type thin set (white).

On the flooring, yes, you should add a cement backer board. If you search around on this forum a bit, I think you'll find some posts on that subject.

Otherwise, come back and post more questions.

Regards,

John

http://www.johnbridge.com

Hi John,

Methinks I used the wrong terminology - the 'plaster' is actually skimcoat plaster over sheetrock. Does that make a difference? The tiles are pretty heavy - will the V notch trowel provide enough thinset to hold it?

Thanks.

Okay, so we're talking about tile over sheetrock, which is okay if it's not in a wet area like a shower.

Run a damp (not wet) rag or sponge over the surface of the drywall to remove any dust. Rinse the sponge or rag out frequently. In other words, don't just spread the dust around. At the same time, don't get the wall too wet.

Then you can use any type of adhesive you like. Adanac will advise mastic, and it'll work fine.

Don't worry about the weight. It's vertical. No problemo.

John

http://www.johnbridge.com