Dot and Dab Plasterboard Repair Around Shower Ask your questions and find answers on many subjects relating to plastering and dry lining

[G23ArR3j]

Hi all,

I'm refitting my bathroom and have just taken off the old tiles from around the old shower. The plasterboard behind the tiles was in poor condition in some areas, leaving a few decent holes in the wall. I've removed the loose as much as I can and removed all adhesive. The plasterboard is attached to the breeze blocks behind, with a gap of roughly 1cm between them.

I'd really like to know the right way to fix these holes, in preparation for tiling. From everything I've learnt so far, I think I need to:

a) Apply SBR to the breeze blocks and plasterboard edges for each hole.
b) Once dry, apply bonding plaster.
c) When the plaster is dry, apply SBR again to the whole wall around the shower area, before tiling over the top once dry.

The devil's in the detail though, so I have a few questions:

1) Does the SBR on breeze blocks need to dry completely before applying bonding plaster? I've read that some people apply the plaster when the SBR is sticky, but does it matter if it's completely dry?

2) Can I fill each entire hole in one layer? As I'll be tiling over the top, the finish isn't a top priority, but with the overall depth being around 3cm, is that too deep for one single layer?

As an eager-to-learn DIY enthusiast, I'm hoping someone will be able to guide me onto the right road. Any help would be really appreciated.

Regards,
Alex.

[collectors]

1) Does the SBR on breeze blocks need to dry completely before applying bonding plaster? I've read that some people apply the plaster when the SBR is sticky, but does it matter if it's completely dry?
As long as its started to go off IE tacky, it will be fine

2) Can I fill each entire hole in one layer? As I'll be tiling over the top, the finish isn't a top priority, but with the overall depth being around 3cm, is that too deep for one single layer?
Should be fine with 3cm. Just don't mix it to sloppy & add some SBR to the mix.

[G23ArR3j]

Thanks for replying :-)

Once the plaster is dry, would you recommend using SBR around the entire shower area, and even on all the other to-be-tiled walls?

Adding a pic to show what I'm on about in my 1st post...

[G23ArR3j]

A couple more questions...

1) Where the two plasterboard walls meet at a right angle, there's a 2 or 3mm gap between them. Attached a pic showing this. Given this join will be right next the shower, are there any special precautions I can take? Or do I treat it the same as the other holes in the wall, ie. SBR, plaster, SBR?

2) When applying SBR before the plaster to the holes, do I avoid the existing plasterboard, covering just the breeze blocks?

Any advice would be great - I genuinely want to do this right, but details like these aren't easily found online or in books.