The problem is that the wall is uneven.
Tiling very uneven walls.
Preparing an uneven wall surface plastering.
There is also a spot near the window trim where the wall appears to be built up too much enough so that the tile could end up proud of the trim which i m pretty sure won t look so hot.
The board will create a perfect backing that will make setting tiles on thinset look like a walk in a park.
If you put a 48 straight edge up against the most sunken areas there s a gap of almost a 1 2.
One very big problem that not many people realise if the wall isn t really flat a brick joint pattern will show off every out of plane point in the wall by virtue of sticking out a half tile from the tiles above and below it.
Back buttering is a trick used for tiles of uneven thickness like ungauged slate or handmade tiles extremely large tiles or for tiles being installed on an uneven surface.
Plastering a wall can be a super straight forward task but if you have no prior plastering experience it may be worthwhile getting a professional in to help achieving a perfectly flat surface for tiling is essential and this isn t always easy on your first attempt.
If you re tiling over an uneven section of wall the corners of the tiles may stick out slightly from the rest of the tiles.
One of the best ways to ensure the surface of a wall is even is to plaster it.
Being that she s not going to be there very long that might be fine.