DIYbanter - Tile question

Hustlin' Hank wrote:
On Feb 20, 10:42ï¿½pm, DS wrote:
I am tiling our bathroom with brown ceramic tile. The shower cabinet
is already tiled with black ceramic tile. Removig it would be a messy,
major job. Is it possible to lay new tiles over the old ones in the
shower?
rps

I agree with the other posters. Rip it out and start anew. It won't
take you much longer if any. You should rip out the drywall with the
old tile, it will go faster with less mess. Shouldn't take more than a
couple hours to rip it all out. You may find rotted drywall behind it
anyway. Then install new green board, tile and your done. 3 short days
at best. It will be done correctly in the color you want and will
probably last longer than you will.

Hank

Like 50 other people will jump in here and say, don't use green board
for the tub/shower surround. Use concrete backer board. Yes, I know
greenboard was the standard practice for many years after mud-bed died
out, but it still rots and gets mushy when (not if, when) that first
pinhole in the grout or caulking develops.

Personally, I don't think wall tiling is a good DIY job. It isn't rocket
science, but experience makes a lot of difference in the final job. A
DIY can save a lot of money by doing the demo themselves, and perhaps
doing the shimming of the studs and the rough install of the backer
board (and the greenboard or other rot-resistant material OUTSIDE the
splash zone). But I'd rather have an actual expert do the mudding and
taping of the joints, and the tiling. I've seen lots of DIY tile jobs,
and only a very few were pro quality.

--
aem sends...