tiling a 'standalone' strip of wood?

message from Jon Nicoll on 19 May 2004

Hi All
for various reasons I am thinking of tiling a strip of wood,
around 1200mm by 50mm in size. This is to form a decorative filler
'panel' as part of the new bathroom.

I would like to be able to remove this panel in case I need access to
the underlying area. I am concerned about the tiles breaking off due
to flexing on such a narrow strip of wood, which ideally would be
quite thin (6mm ply or similar), when the panel is 'off the wall'.

Is this likely to be a problem, and can I get round it be using
special flexible adhesive for instance, or would I need to use backing
timber of such thickness that it wouldn't flex when not in place?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Jon N

Andy Hall replied to Jon Nicoll on 19 May 2004

I would suggest using either a thicker piece of material like 18mm
ply, or glue a piece of timber onto the back to make a T shape and
strengthen the whole assembly.

After you've done that, it certainly makes sense to use a flexible
adhesive. You might also use that adhesive anyway for the rest of
the tiling rather than wasting it.

Depending on how frequently removable the panel needs to be and what
you like to see or not, one way of fixing is to use screws with
chromed domes. Another is to use magnetic catches to support the
piece in place (perhaps), but then to use silicone sealer instead of
grout around the edges. THat means having to dig out the silicone
for removal so it does depend on what you want to achieve/

.andy

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