Tiling on to plywood sheet and attaching to a wall

A strange question - but is it possible to do the following.

Old victorian house has an outside porch area. Lots of houses in the area have these victorian style tiles on the wall by the front door. Anyone know if it's possible to tile on a sheet of plywood and then attach that plywood sheet to the wall using screw and raw plugs etc?

You can tile on plywood floors if you use a flexible additive in the tile cement, although it's not really ideal, but tiling on plywood walls using traditional methods is a definite no no, ply secretes oils, expands and contracts, the grout will crack and the tiles won't stay on there for too long. You can use cement boards, tile backer boards, which are more suitable. I used to do display boards in a tile showroom years ago and the only thing that stuck the tiles well enough to ply wall displays was hot glue.

A strange question - but is it possible to do the following.

Old victorian house has an outside porch area. Lots of houses in the area have these victorian style tiles on the wall by the front door. Anyone know if it's possible to tile on a sheet of plywood and then attach that plywood sheet to the wall using screw and raw plugs etc?

Easier, and probably cheaper option, would be to have these areas rendered, then tile on top.
I'm assuming these areas are quite small.

Ok thanks mate - that makes sense - I think then I'll tile direct onto the wall (I think it's bath stone or lime render). Just thought it would be easier to tile the board horizontally and then screw it to the wall rather than tile direct. Ive done a bit of tiling in the past but this is just a weekend project for me - and want to take the easiest possible route

You can tile on plywood floors if you use a flexible additive in the tile cement, although it's not really ideal, but tiling on plywood walls using traditional methods is a definite no no, ply secretes oils, expands and contracts, the grout will crack and the tiles won't stay on there for too long. You can use cement boards, tile backer boards, which are more suitable. I used to do display boards in a tile showroom years ago and the only thing that stuck the tiles well enough to ply wall displays was hot glue.

All spot on, however if the ply was coated with blue grit the tiles would stick. Don't get why you'd tile ply then screw to wall, unless access is needed.

My thought process was this - I would measure the space and then cut the ply to shape. The lay the ply on the floor and play with the layout a bit , then fix the tiles to the ply. Before this I would drill a couple of holes through the ply and into the stone work. Cement the tiles on to the ply (in a horizontal position). When all set and grouted I would fix the ply to the wall and then screw through the play into the wall - and hey presto it's done

If I tiled direct on to the wall - I dont trust myself to get it in a straight line and would end up with wonky tiles etc

My thought process was this - I would measure the space and then cut the ply to shape. The lay the ply on the floor and play with the layout a bit , then fix the tiles to the ply. Before this I would drill a couple of holes through the ply and into the stone work. Cement the tiles on to the ply (in a horizontal position). When all set and grouted I would fix the ply to the wall and then screw through the play into the wall - and hey presto it's done

If I tiled direct on to the wall - I dont trust myself to get it in a straight line and would end up with wonky tiles etc

Pay a tiler mate

My thought process was this - I would measure the space and then cut the ply to shape. The lay the ply on the floor and play with the layout a bit , then fix the tiles to the ply. Before this I would drill a couple of holes through the ply and into the stone work. Cement the tiles on to the ply (in a horizontal position). When all set and grouted I would fix the ply to the wall and then screw through the play into the wall - and hey presto it's done

If I tiled direct on to the wall - I dont trust myself to get it in a straight line and would end up with wonky tiles etc

If you're unsure then take Jock's advice and get a tiler to do it. If you have a go yourself at tiling the wall just get some planed timber and a spirit level, mark a straight line with the level and then fix the timber to the line with masonry nails and you've got a level surface to work from.

Instead if plywood you can use something called cement board. Much better adhesion.

Pay a tiler - I could do that - but I want to do this myself. If it's crap - I'll hack it off and start again (which is why I thought of using a ply wood sheet first and then screw it on.

Thanks re cement board - I'll use that instead then