Installing Glass Tile over Painted MDF

[JohnfrWhipple]

What is the best way to install glass tile over painted MDF?

Primed MDF Baseboard ​

I have built two simple boxes as a semi shelf display zone to hide my homes two electrical panels. I made them out of scrap MDF baseboards and casing.

I used no glue to bond the two materials together - just a wack of #6 screws and some casing nails. I rushed the work so the two faces are close to perfect but not quite.

I thought of sanding them down. Adding a 2" edge band tape (iron on kind). prepping them. Sanding them. And then painting them. Then I put down my crack pipe and thought what about just slapping on some glass tile to cover the gap.

I thought this would tie in well with the glass block glass tile feature I'm doing in the entry.

MDF Baseboard Shelf Feature

Glass tile for the face edge​

 

[Jadnashua]

MDF can blow up like a new sponge once wetted. The paint may or may not help. The stuff tends to also bend over time with gravity so you may not retain a flat surface. Applying something to it differentially (i.e., only on one side) tends to cause it to bow as well. Long-term success is not a high percentage risk. But, if you're going to do it anyway, try something like RedGard, or HydroBan, or AquaDefense on it to ensure no moisture gets through the paint to the material. Or, you might try an epoxy thinset.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[ShowerDude]

Nothing ventured nothing gained...

Maybe try bondera!!!!! The roll and stick junk..... it will certainly introduce zero moisture ......

 

[JohnfrWhipple]

I'm adding some scrap 1"x1" tile to the face of a shelf. This is not a shower or wet environment. The shelf is painted out all ready.

Roberto suggested some Green Skin on the other discussion. Maybe I'll cut a 3/4" strip of green skin and stick it in place. Then give it a lick of Laticrete Glass Block Tile Adhesive....

That or install some Ardex 8+9 as a bridging material. Have yet to find something this stuff does not cure and bit too.

 

[Jadnashua]

I wonder what John mixes most of his thinset with...water, stuck between paint and an impervious tile no less. Once it has cured, probably okay, but like anything, the bond depends on the weakest link, and that's often paint. Then, through the seasons, guess which side of that panel will absorb moisture - the side without tile, allowing it to swell slightly, and with the tile bonded to the other side, that movement isn't good. Probably will take a while, but long-term success is not guaranteed. MDF is better than particle board, but it's still sawdust with a binder in it...not particularly great surface to put tile on.

 

[JohnfrWhipple]

RSCB - I checked out Bondera. This is the stuff your talking about right?

Looks too dark in colour. The tile I'm using are somewhat clear (a few of them) so I need a nice white back drop. Is Bondera also a water proofing material?

Can you skim coat Bondera out with thin-set?

This tub surround (above in the photo) looks like a failure in the making.... Peel-n-stick adhesive for tile and Durock. Talk about two loosing approaches to shower prep.... I can see the Bondera be using for a kitchen backsplash - but a shower...... SHUT THE FRONT DOOR.

The tile I have left over RSCB is from my Pot Filler Niche Feature I build a few years back. I'm hoping they catch some of the colour coming off of the glass blocks on the opposite wall.

You can see in the slide show above that many of the tiles are clear. Some have iridescent properties (these my favourite). And some are solid coloured.

 

[ShowerDude]

Yeah it looks like that ...to be clear ive never nor would i use it. Backsplash only IMO. Imagine having to pull off and reset a tile?????

 

[JohnfrWhipple]

I think the call here is just the Green Skin. Have you tried it RSCB? It is such a crappy product I typically use it as a bond breaker, never as a waterproofing system.

I've seen online guys actually waterproofing with it... (Scary). In my shear testing studies I have found that Green Skin fails at very low weight levels. Now I did not test this in a lab but rather in my own garage Style methods. So who knows what the official ratings are. My Whipple Style system rates Green Skin in the Crap to Total Crap range.....

I think the peel n stick Green Skin will work OK for this application. It's paper thin and I can easily rip strips with a straight edge and ruler.

My favourite wood filler​

Used Mini Wax Two part for the screw hole prep and went straight to semi gloss paint. Need one more coat of paint at least.... Just trying to get the drywall caught up.

Looks like this now.

Coat one - Semi Gloss Arcylic Latex ​

 

[JohnfrWhipple]

This is not the Green Skin I'm talking about....

Rather this is the stuff I speaking of.

I use the Green Skin mostly on my builds in the corners. I used it last year on that yacht I helped out on.​

 

[Eurob]

Much better the Green Skin than the primer/paint ......... for glass tiles , John . You can coat the GS with some white GR or similar .

 

[JohnfrWhipple]

Roberto I purchased Laticrete's Glass Tile Adhesive for this step.

It comes in white so it will be perfect. Cost me roughly $20.00 for the 20 pound bag. The 8lb cartoons where sold out and would have been more than I needed.....

Found this photo when looking for more pictures online. Finally a use for KB ! lol Looks like the user used some Ardex 8+9 and Red Guard for the important steps. If it was me I would have saved the $50.00 on KB and used some scrap drywall for that step. Or build a better dam and covered it with 8+9.....

 

[Eurob]

Probably nothing more than a foam liner on the walls , KB and some 8+9 or similar for a SLC poor .