How do you tile over laminated pasteboard?

Question

I've got laminated pasteboard, like that faux wood panelling, all different kinds as the walls of my bathroom. It's all water proof, I was wondering if it was like greenboard and if I could just tile over the top. Would I have to get a primer so that the tile adhesive has something to stick to? Would the weight of the tiles be too much? Should I just tear it all down and replace it with greenboard?

Answer 1

probably your best bet would be to tear it alll down and replace with new durarock or Hardi-backer, both are excellent tile backers and completely impervious to water. If you are only tiling part of the wall (like chairrail height or something like that) then you hang your backer up to about an inch or two below the top of the tile so that the top row of tile covers the joint between the materials.