You can lay tiles on drywall: practical tips
The question of whether it is possible to lay tiles on drywall causes a lot of controversy. Finishing such a surface with tiles, indeed, has some features and requires compliance with the recommendations of the masters. But if you understand all the nuances of installation and choose the right adhesive, you can get a high-quality and durable wall covering.
Features of laying tiles on drywall
You can cover gypsum boards with ceramic tiles in any room, including bathrooms, where the humidity level is quite high. An important condition for obtaining a good result is the correct choice of finishing materials.
Base requirements
The industry offers customers several types of drywall sheets. They differ not only in external characteristics, but also in properties and qualities:
- GCR - a material with poor resistance to moisture. It can be used only in dry rooms;
- GVL - sheets that can be used in rooms with a moderate level of humidity (kitchens, pantries);
- GVLV - sheets impregnated with a special composition that increases moisture resistance, are intended for decoration of bathrooms, showers, terraces. The peculiarity of the material is green color;
- GKLO is a pink refractory material.
Surface preparation
The material must not only be selected correctly, but also prepared for laying the tiles. The difficulty of the finish is the risk of warping the sheets with improper processing. To get a high-quality tile, walls are processed as follows:
- The joints are reinforced with reinforcing materials: painting paper or sickle.
- Align with putty, paying special attention to the seams and corners.
- Apply several layers of primer with drying each from 1 to 24 hours. When choosing a primer, compatibility with drywall and tile adhesive is taken into account.
Important! Many craftsmen advise installing drywall on metal profiles for tiling. To stiffen the base, the distance between the uprights is reduced to 40 mm and cross bars are added.
The choice of adhesive
The quality of the finish depends on the correct selection of the composition with which the tile will be glued to drywall. It has the following requirements:
- cement compositions - used for the installation of lightweight decorative panels. However, for wet rooms they are not suitable;
- elastic glue - includes special additives that give the composition moisture resistance. Such material can be used for gluing tiles in the bathroom and toilet;
- liquid nails are a universal material with high adhesion rates. It can be used for decoration of any premises.
The optimal tile size for gluing on gypsum board is with a side length of not more than 33 cm. This option provides uniform load distribution on the substrate and reliable material fastening.
High-quality finish of drywall with tiles is possible only if all of the above conditions are met. Any violations will lead to a negative result, and the work will need to be repeated.
