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would it be possible to?

rolandfix's picture

would it be possible to? (post #185946)

rolandfix on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 15:54
in

Has anyone ever tried to apply ceramic tile over glassblock? Have a bathroom with a glass block window in the tub and don"t want to be on public display, if catch my drift. Wondering if it would work to clean glass, rough it up, clean again and PL premium 1/4" durock or similiar and then tile over that. Window is set back in the frame so tile would not protrude.

thanks in advance

-A +A

That sounds fairly unlikely (post #185946, reply #1 of 11)

by davidmeiland in reply to rolandfix [original] on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 17:52

That sounds fairly unlikely to succeed long-term. I just can't see the bond to the glass lasting. If there is cement/sand mortar in the joints, you might try carefully drilling some holes, epoxying in some chunks of stainless all-thread, and then having a piece of sandblasted, tempered glass made that you can mount on the studs using spacers and cap nuts. There is nice hardware available for stuff like this.

I know, you're an engineer at (post #185946, reply #3 of 11)

by barmil in reply to davidmeiland [original] on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 21:09

I know, you're an engineer at NASA, aren't you?

Who, me? We just did a (post #185946, reply #4 of 11)

by davidmeiland in reply to barmil [original] on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 22:58

Who, me? We just did a project that involved mounting a bunch of tempered obscure glass and it worked out really well. I'd do that before I'd try to glue backerboard to glass block and then tile it, especially in a wet area.

I would think you could get a (post #185946, reply #2 of 11)

by DanH in reply to rolandfix [original] on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 19:25

I would think you could get a decent bond with the right adhesive.  Not sure PL Preminum is the one, but there are a number of adhesives that do well on glass.  Just don't use a hard adhesive like unmodified cyanoacrylate (Super/Krazy Glue) -- the glue needs to be flexible as it will be subjected to significant thermal stresses.


We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using Nature's inexhaustible sources of energy -- sun, wind and tide. ... I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. --Thomas Edison

Uh, yeah, PL Premium would be (post #185946, reply #5 of 11)

by davidmeiland in reply to DanH [original] on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 23:01

Uh, yeah, PL Premium would be a disaster as it foamed up and dripped out and pushed the backerboard off the wall. Enough cyanoacrylate to do even a small area would cost a fortune, spreading it and getting the board into place would be a nightmare, and you'd probably choke on the fumes. Is there a specific adhesive you'd recommend?

I was thinking that tile (post #185946, reply #7 of 11)

by DanH in reply to davidmeiland [original] on Thu, 03/11/2010 - 05:23

I was thinking that tile mastic would do a pretty good job.  But there are several varieties, and some would do better than others.


We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using Nature's inexhaustible sources of energy -- sun, wind and tide. ... I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. --Thomas Edison

I would use this urethane (post #185946, reply #6 of 11)

by MarkH in reply to rolandfix [original] on Thu, 03/11/2010 - 04:26

I would use this urethane adhesive designed to adhere to unprimered auto glass to mount the backerboard, if I was going that route.  But I would just hang a curtain over it myself.

I worked with auto glass in my past, and despised the tenacity of urethane adhesives when trying to remove them.

 

C.R. LAURENCE PP302MV CRL POWR 302MV Series Primerless-to-Glass Medium Viscosity Urethane

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002CXL...

You can directly apply any (post #185946, reply #8 of 11)

by Frankie in reply to rolandfix [original] on Thu, 03/11/2010 - 07:01

You can directly apply any masonry backer board (Durock, Hardibacker, Wonderboard) to the glass block using  SCS2000 SilPruf, made by GE.

 

You can find the specs for this at their website:

 

http://momentive.com/Internet/Sealants/I...

 


Flay your Suffolk bought-this-morning sole with organic hand-cracked pepper and blasted salt. Thrill each side for four minutes at torchmark haut. Interrogate a lemon. Embarrass any tough roots from the samphire. Then bamboozle till it's al dente with that certain je ne sais quoi.

Arabella Weir as Minty Marchmont - Posh Nosh


 There are adhesives (post #185946, reply #9 of 11)

by sapwood in reply to rolandfix [original] on Thu, 03/11/2010 - 08:58

 There are adhesives specifically made to adhere to glass. Parson is one company that supplies these:  http://www.parsonadhesives.com  I've used one of their UV cured adhesives and it is truly remarkable stuff.

That said, I think this is a really bad idea. Better to take out the glass block and replace it with some that's more obscure or fill it in altogether. 

 

glass block (post #185946, reply #10 of 11)

by k1c in reply to rolandfix [original] on Fri, 03/12/2010 - 15:00

I can understand that you want to get rid of the window there and have a nice clean tile wall.  But patched tile wall will give you problems with cracking grout and glue and underlayment showing from outside.  Condensation may become problem too.  I put plastic curtain over the window over my tub.  If you can't find the right curtain, try using shower curtains cut to size.  You also may regret losing the sun.  Hope it helps.

Another option (post #185946, reply #11 of 11)

by Homewright in reply to k1c [original] on Fri, 03/19/2010 - 19:52

If it were me, I'd try getting some etching paste and maybe do a design with  a template of self adhesive material.  Tile out the window  as usual but make the window a decorative yet private element in the room.