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I am replacing a bathroom wall after a pipe leak. It was a typical knock-down texture over drywall, and I want to go with a different look.
Has anyone used these light or fake stone panels or individual stones to complete an accent wall?
Did you replace the drywall with concrete board or do you even need to?
A textured wall surface appeals to me after so many years with the same old style...
Thanks in advance!
I?ve done similar work. Not sure if it?s totally necessary but I?ve always cut the sheet rock out and installed concrete board. In my mind, if you?re going to be sticking tile or stone to something it just seems like I?d rather stick it to concrete. I did this in one of our bathrooms probably ten years ago and it?s still holding up fine today. It was even used by the wife and two teenagers on a daily basis most of those years.
I'm at the point now where I tacked new sheet rock up but, I have not finished it at all.
Did you just use mortar/adhesive to attach them to the board?
Yes. I just used regular mortar the first time and I did some work in a second bathroom and used some fancy, pre mixed, polymer based mortar of some sort. No problem with either install after many years.
Definitely better looking and fancier and more durable than regular sheet rock if you ask me. Heck, I?d rather do stone or tile work and grout and what not than deal with sheet rock and texturing and paint anyways.
Also, as with anything these days, if you haven?t done this type of thing before then YouTube is your friend. There are a crap ton of videos. Maybe watch some of the work that the professionals do and not so much average Joe.
Indoors: I'd use concrete board if attaching stone veneers of any kind. Make sure you put a plastic barrier behind the concrete board, e.g. attached to the studs as a vapor barrier.
Indoors use a fortified thin-set mortar and mix some polymer additive in it. Mortar is a pretty weak bond in of itself, especially for a thin-rock lay and usually requires a bunch of steps.
If you're just doing short runs of wall tile (not more than say 3 feet high) then you can just attach it to sheet rock and use regular thinset. Let your first row set up completely in either case, and spread it out over a few days so you don't have lower wall runs wet-attached supporting a lot of weight from higher runs.
This will be a first-time with this particular product but, I'm usually pretty handy with most of the homeowners craft...electrical, plumbing, etc...
Youtube will probably be my friend.
This particular wall is actually pretty small, 66" x 84". It may be a good one to experiment on as it is in a lower-level powder room that gets zero-use.
Sounds like a good candidate to learn on if you ask me.
Good luck. I bet it will turn out awesome.
I would consult the manufacturer of whatever product you choose on what the proper attachment method would be. They may also recommend a proper backer board as well.
Shockingly, the manufacturers are all over the "board" on this.
It's probably a sales technique as both are "safe" to use.
To be safe, I'll probably just pull the drywall and replace it with a concrete board.
Thanks for the help and ideas!