Re-tiling bathroom tips needed

[glenfield2]

Is tiling over the existing wall tiles as dubious a practice as I think it is? The existing tiles seem pretty well stuck to the mainly solid (not p-board) walls.
Which leads to second question: if I have to get them off is there anything more scientific than hammer and old chisel?

 

[Gordon Tarling]

Tile on tile seems to be fairly widely accepted - taking the old tiles off can be a real pain. Just make sure that you use the correct tile cement.

G.

 

[John Brown]

We did tile on tile around our stove alcove, I was a bit dubious at first, but it seems to be a good job. Life's too short for chiseling tiles off, unless they're on plasterboard, which you're prepared to replace.

 

[Doug B]

Tiling over tiles is fine I’ve done it many times over the years if you do have any worries you can always prime the old tiles with something like Tilemaster Prime + Grip Multi-Purpose Bond Enhancing Primer 1kg Tub

 

[Spectric]

Just sounds wrong to me, what is the problem with just removing the old tiles and starting with a good surface, if the backing is not good then even more reason to sort it first. Putting tiles over tiles means you are relying on the original tile adhesive to hold on twice the weight it originally had to and then what about edging two layers of tiles, can you now get extra thick tile bead.

 

[Bingy man]

I’ve re-tiled several bathrooms where this has been done -yes each to their own if this is your approach but it’s not for me . You are indeed relying on the original adhesive to now hold up at least double the weight of tiles and adhesive as per spectric above post. The worst one I ever did was proof of this as water had penetrated the original adhesive and then blown the plaster from the wall- spent 2 days removing the lot - tiles, plaster and the bathroom suite. Over a week for everything to dry out , another week for the walls to be re plastered and dry out before I could re- tile and fit new suite. Imvho it’s a complete falsehood that may come back and bite you .

 

[Stuart Moffat]

If you’ve ever been bequeathed tiles on tiles and needed to remove them, you wouldn’t wish it on someone else….

 

[Bingy man]

Is tiling over the existing wall tiles as dubious a practice as I think it is? The existing tiles seem pretty well stuck to the mainly solid (not p-board) walls.
Which leads to second question: if I have to get them off is there anything more scientific than hammer and old chisel?

Short answer is no. I find power tools can do more damage than the hammer and chisel approach. Some will fall off while others will hang on like limpets to a rock but this method will allow you to inspect the walls for any hidden cracks , or issues with damp and mould which can stay hidden for many years. Just be prepared to get a plasterer involved to at the very least skim over the walls . You could also consider using backing boards ( designed for tiling onto ) as for tiling onto existing tiles -see my other post. Due to the overall costs of tiling a bathroom it’s far better to start from scratch and remove the old tiles and see what you have .

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Tiling on existing tiles is a bit Barry Bucknell.

 

[Pedronicus]

Lets hope the OP isn't planning to tile-on-tile around a bath or shower enclosure as the result may well cause problems with sealing and tap/shower control clearances.

 

[Doug B]

If you’ve ever been bequeathed tiles on tiles and needed to remove them, you wouldn’t wish it on someone else….

But there in lies the truth that tiles stick very well to other tiles, don’t get me wrong I’ve chopped off plenty of bathrooms with tiles on tiles & it’s hard graft especially when the original tiles were stuck directly into cement render but it also proves how well tiling on tiles can work.
Obviously you have to verify the original tiles are well adhered & that the extra thickness isn’t going to cause issues but tiles are a perfectly suitable substrate to tile on.

 

[Richard_C]

Depending on the tiles you use, you will likely be adding 10mm or more to the total depth. Maybe get something about that thickness and wander round the bathroom offering it up. Will it work, will it look odd where tiles meet other things. Door frames, gap behind taps, can you still fit the soap dish on the sink, will your toy submarine still sit nicely on the bath edge? You should probably plan tile size and cutting to avoid joint-on-joint if you can, maybe doesn't matter but intuitively best avoided.

 

[jcassidy]

This seems a big no-no to me but when we got our bathrooms done, they did exactly that for 2.5 walls, and ripped out the fourth wall (exterior) back to the studwork, to redo and seal for the shower. So it very much depends. The last half wall they built up for services