How Do You Secure Concrete Boards To A Concrete Wall?

How Do You Secure Concrete Boards To A Concrete Wall?

Although concrete is one of the most durable and stable surfaces for tile, brick veneer, and many other materials, uneven concrete can result in an uneven finished wall.

Because a concrete-leveling compound is designed for horizontal surfaces such as floors, it cannot succeed even out of a concrete wall. Concrete boards can be useful.

Although concrete boards are often put in to strengthen a wood structure and prepare it for tile, brick, or stone, they can also be installed over concrete to provide a level, even surface.

Step 1.

Fill a bucket halfway with dried thinset mortar and water. When covering a huge wall with concrete boards, mix thinset in several batches rather than one large batch.

Thinset hardens within 30 minutes, and adding water neither stops nor extends the working period.

Step 2.

Depending on the size of the batch, combine the thinset and water with a paint stir stick or a paint mixing paddle linked to a power drill.

A paint mixing paddle on a power drill mixes the substance faster and with less effort in big batches. A paint stir stick is more convenient and less messy for small amounts.

Step 3.

Wet the concrete wall with a spray bottle of water.

Step 4.

Using the flat edge of a notched trowel, spread wet thinset on the wall, covering an area large enough to attach one sheet of concrete board.

The thickness of this thinset layer is irrelevant because it just makes a connection with the concrete wall.

Step 5.

Using the square-notched edge of the trowel, apply another layer of thinset over the first before it begins to set. The trowel’s notches generate a consistent, notched layer of material on the wall.

Step 6.

Wet the backside of the first concrete board and press it on the wet thinset.

Step 7.

Use 2-inch concrete screws and a hammer-action power drill to secure the board to the wall. Before pushing the screws through the board and into the wall, use the hammer function on the drill.

Typically, this is done by flicking a toggle or switch or turning a dial. Screws should be spaced 6 to 8 inches apart throughout the board but no closer than 3/4 inch in from the edges.

Step 8.

Using the same flat and notched trowelling techniques, apply additional thinset to the wall where the next board will go.

Step 9.

Mist the back of the board and push it on the thinset, leaving a 1/4-inch gap at the seam between the two boards.

To the wall with concrete screws, continue to fasten the board until the entire wall or space is covered.

Sep 10.

Use the shorter, flat-edged end of the trowel or a 3-inch putty knife to spread thinset over the gaps between concrete board sheets.

Step 11.

Insert alkali-resistant fiberglass mesh seam tape along the seam, covering the gap between concrete boards, and cut the end of the tape with a tool knife.

To seat the mesh tape into the thinset, drag the trowel or putty knife along the top of the tape.

Step 12.

Apply a thinset skim coat to screw holes or depressions in the boards.

Step 13.

After the taped seams and screw depressions have dried, apply another coat of thinset. Smooth and feather the thinset with a trowel or putty knife before adding tile, stone, stucco, or other material to the concrete board.