Tiling my bath walls without cement backerboards?

Question

I am currently remodeling my bathroom myself. The last piece is to tile the surrounding walls in the bathtub. There use to be an acrylic bath walls around the bathtub, I stripped it off only to find drywall and plaster surrounding my bathtub. I went to Home Depot and asked them if I needed to remove the drywall/plaster and put up cement backerboards (Which i really don't want to do). He told me its recommended but not necessary. He told me I can just use RedGard, a Waterproofing and Crack Prevention Membrane. He told me I can just apply this membrane on the drywall/plaster then just tile over top of it. Is this method OK? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Yes, you got good advice from the store guy.  You can go with the membrane, but it is not recomended.  You will eventually run into problems down the road .  you really don't need to worry about uneven tiles because when you put the thinset on the walls it will be thick enough to adjust the tiles to lay flat.

Answer 2

Does this membrane actually fill in the divets that are left from the plaster on top of the drywall?  If it doesn't I wouldn't.

Better to be safe than sorry.  Go with the backer boards.   You're less likely to have wavy tile walls...very unattractive!

Answer 3

this is a do-over unless you selling the house.

Answer 4

You can use GREEN BOARD instead of backer board.It's easier to work withIt's a little bit heavier than sheet rock.After installing the Green Board you can then use the membrane they told you about.Then you can tile.

Answer 5

If your plaster is sound and not flakey then ensure you seal it well and use a bonding agent.  The problem with putting the tiles onto old plaster is whether the plaster can take the weight of the adhesive plus tiles.  If your plaster is not in good condition put up aqua board ( waterproof ply etc not sure in the US what it would be called ) and tank it/bond it (acrylic) ...which will save you having to have it re plastered ...you can then tile directly onto this nice and easily.

Answer 6

this method is ok.