Can I tile over painted drywall is the most common and confusing question. Before starting the answer, it is very important to know about drywall, so let’s begin with what is drywall.
Drywall
Drywall is made up of gypsum material. Gypsum has relatively low thermal conductivity. The material whose thermal conductivity is low means the material has a low heat transfer coefficient.
It has high strength so you can hang heavy articles, home decor, pictures, mirrors, and TV very easily. If you want to know how to hang these articles over drywall then read this post How to hang heavy pictures on drywall.
1 | Gyptool Drywall Lift Panel |  | ||
2 | Idealchoice Drywall Lift |  | ||
3 | Telpro Drywall Lift Panel |  |
Drywall is normally available in different sizes that are 1/2″ (12.7mm) thickness as well as 5/8″ (15.9mm) thickness with 4′ width (1220mm) and 8′ length.
Can I Tile Over Painted Drywall?
Yes, you can tile over painted drywall very easily. Actually, it happens when you want to renovate your home or want to make your home more beautiful than earlier and believe me for that you do not need to remove existing drywall.
Now here you got the answer to your question Can I tile over painted drywall? But always remember you have to be careful when you tile over painted drywall and for that you need to follow the below steps.
By following few easiest steps you can tile over painted drywall,
- Instruments required
- Determine the placement of the tiles
- Determine how much material quantity do you require
- Cover up all home equipment
- Always wear safety
- Wall Sanding/Scraping
- Inspection
- Fitting of tiles
- Grouting of tiles
- Cleaning of tiles
Now we will see the above steps one by one
Step 1. Instruments required 🔧
For tiling over drywall, we required some tools which are as follows,
1 | Grout Float |  | ||
2 | Roller With Paint Brush |  | ||
3 | Pencil |  | ||
4 | Measurement Tape |  | ||
5 | Trowel |  | ||
6 | Level Gauge |  | ||
7 | Mud Mixer |  | ||
8 | Tile Cutter |  | ||
9 | Sponge |  | ||
10 | Microfiber Cloth |  | ||
11 | Drop Cloth |  | ||
12 | Drywall Hand Sander |  | ||
13 | Drywall Mop |  |
Step 2. Determine the placement of the tiles
Here you have to determine the location of the tiles. Hope You must have set the location. If you did not decide the location then decide the location first where you have to tile.
Step 3. Determine how much material quantity do you require
Figure out how much area you have to be tiled. Take a measurement of that area with the help of a measurement tape and calculate how many tiles do you required for that particular area.
But before that first decide the size of tiles which size of tiles do you want and according to the size of tiles, you have to calculate how much tiles do you require. According to the tile color, you have to select a grout powder for tile grouting.
For example, if you selected grey color tiles then the grout powder color should also be grey because it matches the tiles and gives a better look. Now figure out how many bags of grout powder do you require.
The following materials will require during work,
1 | All Purpose Joint Compound (OR) |  | ||
2 | Easy Sand |  | ||
3 | Primer |  | ||
4 | Sealant (if required) |  | ||
5 | Thin Set Tile Mortar |  | ||
6 | Tile Grout |  |
Step 4. Cover up all home equipment
Now cover up all the home equipment in the area where you want to place the tiles, it is necessary because when you will start sanding the wall, then the dust will fly around the area and dust may damage your home equipment.
Step 5. Always wear safety
Always wear a safety apron, safety goggles, safety shoes, dust masks, hand gloves, and a hair headcover net before starting work and protect yourself from any hazard. There are some safety devices that you must wear during work,
1 | Respirator (OR) |  | ||
2 | Dust Mask |  | ||
3 | Safety Goggle |  | ||
4 | Safety Hand Gloves |  | ||
5 | Safety Shoes |  | ||
6 | Safety Ladder |  |
Must Read: How to fix hairline cracks in drywall ceiling.
Step 6. Wall Sanding/Scrapping
It is a very important step because your wall is painted means it is the finished product and the finished product is always glossy.
So when you apply anything over it then it doesn’t stick well and you won’t get the expected results that’s why scraping and sanding the wall is very important.
Now scrape the wall to remove peeling paint or to remove any texture on the wall and create a flat surface. Fix any holes, cracks, and any damage on the wall with the drywall joint compound.
Sand the entire surface with 80 to 120 grit sandpaper on an orbital sander’s pad. Continue sanding the area until the paint is no longer shiny.
Wipe the sanded wall down with a damp mop and let the wall dry. If you want to know more about how to clean dust over the drywall then visit this post best way to clean up drywall dust.
After cleaning of drywall must apply the best primer for new drywall, but your drywall has minor imperfections then always use a high build primer. If you want the full details about primer then you must read this post do I need to prime drywall before tiling.
Step 7. Inspection
Inspect the drywall as follows,
👉 Check the uneven surface on the drywall. You can check it with the help of a level gauge if any uneven surface is available then apply mud over there and fix it.
👉 Check all scraping is done properly.
👉 No peeling paint is available
👉 Check the substrate is free of grease, loose particles, dust, etc.
👉 Check there are no seams open. If anyone seams found open or crack then fix it first with the help of drywall tape and mud. Want to know how to fix drywall seams then must read this post How to fix drywall seams after painting.
👉 Check there is no movement in the drywall. If any movement is available then check the cause behind it and fix it on priority.
👉 Check the availability of the material
Even you have to check the availability of the materials also. Is the required quantity of materials is available to you? If yes then go ahead.
Step 8. Tiles fitting
Now tiles fitting is a very very important step. Actually, some peoples start their work by putting tiles randomly or some people start their work by putting tiles in the bottom corner of the left-hand side of the specified area.
And some people start their work from the right on the counter and if you also do the same then you may finish your work as soon as possible. But I assure you, you won’t get the consistency as well as the equality/pattern in tiles and it won’t look good.
If you want the equality/pattern in tiles in your specified area then you must start work from the center of your specified area, which is as shown in the below image.
Take out the center of your particular area
Now the question is how to take out the center of your particular/specified area where you want to tile. For that, you need to divide the length of the wall of your specified area by 2.
And make a verticle line with a pencil, then divide the wall height of a specified area by 2 and make a horizontal line. Where these two lines are meet that is the center of your specified area.
Now here you will get the four boxes. Name the box, the box which is at the bottom of the left-hand side is 1. And a box which is just above this box is 2nd.
And the box which is at the top of the right-hand side is 3. And a box which is just below this box is 4th. It is as shown in the below image.
Once you got the boxes and the center of your specified area. Now here we tell you one of the simple methods that most painters are used.
And for that, you have to mark the center on the height of the tiles at one of the ends of the tile and now put a tile in such a way that its mark matches the center of your specified area which is as shown in the below image.
Here we consider we have tiles of 3inch * 6inch and premix thin-set mortar. 3inch is the height or verticle distance of the tile and 6inch is the length or horizontal distance of the tile.
Now take a thin set of premix mortar on your large notch trowel and apply on to the wall on the bottom corner of the left-hand side and moves your trowel 45-degree angle in the upward direction.
In this way, you have to apply enough mortar over the wall so that the tiles stick really well. Do you know how to tile over drywall in the shower, if you want to know then read this post can you tile over drywall in shower.
The first row of tiles
After applying premix mortar over the wall now the time is to put the tile in such a way that its mark matches the center of your specified area which is as shown in the below image and press it gently.
Now take another tile and put this tile just beside the previous tile as same as you put earlier and remember to put spacers in between the tiles so that you will get a beautiful perfect grout line. In this way, you can complete the first row of tiles.
If the space on the left-hand side corner and right-hand side corner of the first row is not enough for tile then you need to take the measurement of that spaces and according to these measurements,
You have to cut the tiles but remember one thing you must deduct the spacer distance from your measurements and cut the tiles accordingly then and then you can put the tiles there. Here you completed the first row of tiles as shown below image.
The second row of tiles
Take a tile, and make a mark in between the length of this tile. Now you have to put this tile in such a way that the mark on this tile will be matched where the first and second tile in the first row meets which is shown below image.
It helps you to make a brick pattern of tiles. Press the tile gently and lift it down for putting the spacers in between the tiles. In this way, you can complete the 2nd row of tiles.
If the space on the left-hand side corner and right-hand side corner of the second row is not enough for tile, then you need to take the measurement of that spaces and according to these measurements,
You have to cut the tiles but remember one thing you must deduct the spacer distance from your measurements and cut the tiles accordingly then and then you can put the tiles there. Here you completed the second row of tiles.
Now this second row of tiles which you just finished, will be repeated as it is, just above the first row of tiles which is as shown in the below image.
The third row of tiles
Here the 1st row of tiles will be repeated and the same row will also be repeated just above the replica of the second row.
As you observed the first row will be repeated in every odd number of rows of tiles like the 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th row of tiles. In this way, you can complete all the odd number of rows of tiles.
The fourth row of tiles
Here the 2nd row of tiles will be repeated and the same row will also be repeated just above the replica of the third row.
As you observed the second row will be repeated in every even number of rows of tiles like the 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th row of tiles. In this way, you can complete all the even number of rows of tiles.
Last row of tiles
Generally, one of the rows will be repeated here. If the space on the bottom of the last row is not enough for tiles then you need to take the measurement of that spaces and according to these measurements,
You have to cut the tiles but remember one thing you must deduct the spacer distance from your measurements and cut the tiles accordingly then and then you can put the tiles there. Here you completed the last row of tiles.
And the same row of tiles will be repeated on the top as a replica of the bottom row.
Now as you see you will get the brick pattern here with equality/pattern of tiles around the area and it looks good. And in this way, you can finish the brick pattern of tiles by using spacers throughout the entire project.
Now you have to wait at least 24 hours to make sure that this was really well dried before we go ahead.
Step 9. Grouting of tiles
Now you remove all the spacers. Here we have a premix mortar bag. If you have a cement bag then read the instructions over the bag and mix the grout accordingly.
Hope you are done mixing. Now load up your grout float a little at a time and just apply it with a little pressure to get it in between every joint.
Then take the grout float and hold it at a 45-degree angle and drag it across the entire surface and repeat the process again making sure that sweated a grout in every single joint and making sure that everything is nicely covered.
Now you have to wait for 10 to 20 minutes and the grout is dry just slightly.
Step 10. Cleaning of tiles
Take a grout sponge that has a rough side to it and a smooth side to it if you flip it over.
You damp the sponge enough and rub the tiles properly so that the excess grouting should be out.
After cleaning all excess grout with the sponge wait one hour then after wiped down it with a dry microfiber cloth. It is a good cloth that really holds all dust and does not spread it everywhere.
Here we finished the work now just wait for 24 hours before you can use the water in the sink.
Conclusion
Now here you got the answer to your question Can I tile over painted drywall? The answer is, Yes you can tile over the painted drywall as well as how to put tiles and which precautions should you take while putting the tiles over the painted drywall.
Now you can make your drywall more beautiful than earlier. If you want to know the effects of painted drywall without primer then read this post painting drywall without primer.
We hope you understand well and may this article “Can I tile over painted drywall” will help you to make your home more decorative.
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