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Tiling

Preparing the wall before tiling

Anonymous user 15/06/2026 - 4.01 PM

I’m so lost with what to do here. We’ve recently gutted out our avocado bathroom suite and the wall on the left had tiles slowly coming away from the wall with one tile popping off completely and this is the condition of the wall. We’ve discovered a section that sits just above the bath is grey and crumbled a little. There was water damage that affected the floorboards that we discovered after moving in. We’ve now had our new bath put back in and was advised to just pva over the walls and put new tiles on the wall from the bath upwards. Is this really all that needs to be done or am I right in having doubt? I actually wanted to sort the wall out before the bath went back in. I’ve seen tile backer insulated board and wondered if we can use that or can we seal the walls before tiling? The left wall is plasterboard and the top end of bath is cement/plaster wall. Appreciate any advice!

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Brighouse
I wouldn't just PVA over that and tile straight onto it without checking how sound the wall is first. Any loose, blown, crumbling plaster should be removed back to a solid surface. If the plasterboard has suffered water damage and is soft, swollen or deteriorated, it should be replaced rather than tiled over. In a bath/shower area, tile backer board is a much better option than standard plasterboard. Once the wall is sound, I'd fit a cement/tile backer board where needed, tape the joints, apply a waterproof tanking system around the bath/shower area, and then tile. This gives a far more reliable and long-lasting result. PVA is generally not recommended as a waterproofing solution behind tiles in wet areas. The main priority is identifying whether the damage is historic and fully dry, or whether there is still a source of moisture before covering everything up
Answered15 June 2026
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