Board

[martyn94]

By way of afterthought, my tiled worktop will need some sort of board to lay the tiles on. In UK and France I have used mdf or marine ply, which is not ideally waterproof and stable in the long term but should see me out if need be. In Australia, I used (on recommendation) a sort of fibre-reinforced cement board, which was expensive and heavy and a sod to work, but very rigid and stable.

I can't find that any equivalent exists round here. Any thoughts?

[Ariègeoise]

There's a specific agglomerate sold as a base for a tiled worktop - usually found with the worktops. It looks like chipboard but it's green, as it's moisture resistant. Look or ask for a 'plan à carreler' - it comes in various thicknesses. I've used it in an outside kitchen., but it is heavy.

If I were doing it again, I'd consider using Wedi board, which sounds like the kind of thing you're talking about. I've used it before to create a tiled shower base and create the cubicle - it's easy to cut and work with and very much lighter. There are various thicknesses. There are various other makes of the same thing - I think Leroy Merlin have their own - usually in the bathroom section, but I've only used Wedi so can't comment on those.

[martyn94]

There's a specific agglomerate sold as a base for a tiled worktop - usually found with the worktops. It looks like chipboard but it's green, as it's moisture resistant. Look or ask for a 'plan à carreler' - it comes in various thicknesses. I've used it in an outside kitchen., but it is heavy.

If I were doing it again, I'd consider using Wedi board, which sounds like the kind of thing you're talking about. I've used it before to create a tiled shower base and create the cubicle - it's easy to cut and work with and very much lighter. There are various thicknesses. There are various other makes of the same thing - I think Leroy Merlin have their own - usually in the bathroom section, but I've only used Wedi so can't comment on those.

Thanks for reminding me about the lighter-weight Wedi board. (It's not what I was writing about, which was fibre-reinforced cement, and brutally heavy). It sounds like the stuff in my sister's kitchen in Paris, which seems to have held up pretty well. I tried to find it when I was planning the project, but didn't know the trade name.

I would like to avoid the "plan à carreler" stuff, largely because I plan to use 60 by 60 tiles: any movement at all would wreck it.