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Renovating a bathroom in our 1940's house. Removed the current vanity and found this

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enter image description here I'm eventually tiling over this wall with 3x6 subway tiles. Any suggestions on how to obtain a surface I can adhere some tiles to reduce the size of the opening?

Many thanks...current status

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jerH
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I'd just remove the plaster the rest of the way in the area of interest and replace it with backerboard / cementboard.

Tile is expensive in both materials cost and labor.

Putting tile on a dubious substrate is, therefore, a poor choice. If the substrate fails, your expense in both money & time invested is lost. The slight additional money and labor to provide high quality substrate for tile is well worth it.

You could do any standard large-hole drywall patching technique if you would rather. I would not advise that, and I would not advise tiling the wall (beyond the hole) as it stands, based on these pictures. You might get away with it. You might not.

Ecnerwal
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  • Okay....so next question. If you look at the last photo, it almost looks like there is a thick layer of plaster or something on top of a sheet of drywall. I hope that's visible in the picture. I've done drywall repair using clips before, but this is too thick. Do I need to go all the way to studs on both sides to have something to attach to? – jerH Feb 26 '21 at 19:53
  • You could sister a block to the stud(s) to provide support, if the stud is beyond the area of interest. – Ecnerwal Feb 26 '21 at 19:58
  • 40s vintage and plaster/drywall screams 'button board'. But not strictly relevant, as you need to attach to something solid (stud or something attached to a stud). – Aloysius Defenestrate Feb 27 '21 at 00:46
  • Hate to be debbie downer because this answer is good advice for the tile... but the issue you should fix first is not having any joins right at the wall in your plumbing. I have no idea why there is a collar on your T coming out but no... shouldn't be there and will cause problems. Get this plumbing done right before you go forward. – DMoore Feb 27 '21 at 00:58