Hardibacker Board

Before you place down tiles anywhere in your home, your might want to consider using a good underlay to protect them from moisture and potential shifting – and hardibacker board is just the thing that can do this. It’s easy to cut and install, and can even be used on walls – it sticks hard to your desired surface, ensuing that you don’t have to worry about the flooring or wall tiles moving around.

Before You Get Started

1) Before installing hardibacker board, check to make sure that your walls are straight or that your floor is level. The board will not fix uneven studs, and your maximum deviation should be 3mm in 4m.

2) Plan your sheet layout, and decide if you’re going to place them in a horizontal or vertical brickwork grid. This will avoid making mistakes and having to correct once you’re partway through the project.

3) If you are installing hardibacker board behind showers, make sure that you are also using a PVC membrane to help prevent water seepage. Flash the corners with hypalon PVC, as these areas are quite prone to water ingress.

Preparing the Hardibacker Board

4) When you place the boards down, they should be at least 6mm above the finished floor surface, so that any settling or movement of the structural frame is compensated for. There needs to be a 6mm gap between the face of each sheet from the adjacent walls, and from the floor level, to compensate for natural expansion.

5) Since you’ve already planned out where the boards will go, you can now cut the hardibacker board. It will cut easily with a score and snap knife – score the area you want to cut three times, making a groove in the board of about 1.5 to 2mm. You will then be able to snap the board upward along this line.

6) If you have a lot of boards to cut, you may want to carefully use a circular saw. Check the manufacturer’s directions in order to determine exactly which kind of blade should be used for this material.

Hardibacker Installation

7) Nail each sheets at the studs, placing them at 200mm centers. Place fixings somewhere between 12 and 20mm from the edges, and ensure that they’re 50mm from the sheet corners.

8) When the boards are up on the wall, wipe them off with a damp sponge or cloth. This will get rid of any clinging dust that resulted from snapping boards or cutting during installation.

9) The joints of the boards will need to be joined and then reinforced, since this will create a far more consistent underlying surface for your wall or flooring. Using tile adhesive and a spatula, place this across all the joints before embedding 50mm alkaline tape directly into it.

Finishing the Hardibacker Board

10) When the first amount of tile adhesive has almost set, feather out another layer from the joint. Caulk the joints between the walls and the floors, and then you’re ready to begin tiling!