how to make cement backer board for bathroom wall tiling?
You can buy it at Home Depot and Lowe's. Probably much easier than trying to make it.
the stuff is so cheap compared to how much work you`ll have trying to make it yourself . price lowes and home depot . either one will beat the other one by ten percent .... use the right product and your job will come out showing that you put forth the effort
the other people answering are inexperienced. forget them. leave the drywall that is already there. install the tile with an upgraded mortar like flexbond ($30 a bag) as opposed to regular mortar at $15 a bag. the tile will be going nowhere, vent fan or no vent fan. put your tiles pretty tight together to avoid the use of alot of grout. water gets in through the grout lines which makes the tiles come loose. seal the grout with a can of grout sealer every so often so moisture doesnt get behind the tiles.
the old way was using wire mesh nailed to studs and a mud (concrete type) mixture applied to the mesh. After that dries tiles can be applied. Cement board is so much easier faster and not messy compared to old way. Tile stores, hardware stores and Big box hardware stores sell the cement boards
if you really really want to make ik yourself you need a mould with a release agent to prevent it from sticking to the mould,fibreglass mats and a mixture of cement with lots of styropor in it.Next you probably have to experiment how to put the layers together and what would be the best mixture for the cement.I would start with a square foot mould to practise with.BTW there is a fast drying levelling compound that you can mix with lots of water that you can pour into a mould which would be a good place to start.a lot of the backerboards are protected by patents and trade secrets so it would be easier and cheaper to buy them than produce them.
