Waterproof Tile Shower Walls
|Waterproof Tile Shower Walls – When most of the people enter their tile shower they rarely consider the behind the scenes procedure that went into making that shower work correctly. Unfortunately some contractors will use this for their benefit to go cheap and save a couple bucks. I have to say most contractors want to do a passable job, even though some of which never learned the best procedure and why these processes are important. The best way to find the best tile contractor is usually to ask them to explain the idea. If they’re able to inform you the ins and outs behind the scenes, it is more likely you will get a great job. If friends and family refer somebody for your requirements it’s still OK to inquire about these questions, after all exactly what do friends and family really know concerning the first step toward a tiled shower? They may have found a contractor that is nice and all to easy to help along with their completely new shower looks great, in case you dont want to fight mildew in a few months as well as the next 2 decades you are going to ask a couple of questions.
So let’s start from the outset and explain common language and theory of a tile shower. First you have what is known a shower pan. This is a completely waterproof section that covers the shower floor or over the walls about 10″. This is sometimes a hot mop, (that is a amount of layers of tar paper, hot tar, tar paper, hot tar and the like) or it could be a PVC membrane which is folded in the corners and over the dam. The most important much of this in your case the homeowner to understand is of course it’s totally waterproof and also it has what is known a sub-pitch. A proper sub-pitch is simply a float of cement or similar product within the pan that creates a flow on the drain on top of the shower pan. This is important because, say for instance your shower pan is flat (no sub-pitch) water will cross your grout and earn its way on the pan while showering. If this water forms a puddle through your tile floor as opposed to flowing towards drain it becomes stagnant and shortly can become mildew in your grout. With a sub-pitch the river that produces its way on the pan continues to circulate towards drain always being substituted with freshwater. It is much like the difference between a pond plus a creek.
Next there is a vapor barrier which is applied on the walls directly on the wood studs. This is ordinarily a paper with a tar trapped in the center. This paper keeps moisture out of your walls. Why is this important? Not a lot of water penetrates the shower walls, but the substrate (the substrate is whatever surface your tile is stuck to, backer board, cement float, etc.) this surface are certain to get moist. Moisture will move from substrate toward the inside wall, out over the grout and down towards pan, without vapor barrier paper you will get small amounts of water into the wall cavity. So you say “why should I worry about a real little water”. The reason is when you invest in a drop of water as part of your wall whenever your shower can be used, those drops mount up because your wall doesn’t have any ventilation for evaporation, so eventually the wood is usually moist. Do you know what loves moist wood? Termites, they love these conditions because they never have to travel back on the ground to secure a drink, they’re able to just keep eating. It would be as if you and I never having to go on the market. Think of how productive we’re able to be if that were the situation.
Well that’s the idea of waterproofing behind your shower walls. When you adhere to these tips a new shower has the best possibility of looking great for several years, without extreme maintenance.
So in conclusion, I hope this has been an informative in addition to understandable explanation of why a properly waterproofed shower makes a difference. As a Contractor I welcome customers who will ask me these questions, it tells me they view the value of a job done well.