Panels For Shower Walls
|Panels For Shower Walls – When many people enter their tile shower they rarely consider the behind the scenes process that went into making that shower be effective. Unfortunately some contractors will use this to their advantage to scrimp and save one or two bucks. I have to say most contractors are attempting to do a passable job, however some of which never learned the proper procedure and why these processes are essential. The best strategy to find a very good tile contractor is usually to you can keep them explain the thought. If they are able to show you the ins and outs behind the scenes, higher you will definately get a fantastic job. If friends and family refer somebody to you personally it is OK to question these questions, in fact exactly what do friends and family truly know about the reasons for a tiled shower? They may have realized a contractor who is nice and all to easy to work with and their completely new shower looks great, but if you won’t want to fight mildew in 6 months as well as the next twenty years you are going to ask one or two of questions.
So let’s move on in the beginning and explain common language and theory of your tile shower. First you have what is known as a shower pan. This is a completely waterproof section that covers the shower floor and up the walls about 10″. This is whether hot mop, (the amount of layers of tar paper, hot tar, tar paper, hot tar and so on) or it could be a PVC membrane that is certainly folded in the corners well as over the dam. The most important point about this to suit your needs the homeowner to know is of course it’s absolutely waterproof but also who’s has what is known as a sub-pitch. A proper sub-pitch is simply float of cement or similar product under the pan that creates a flow to the drain along with the shower pan. This is important because, say for instance your shower pan is flat (no sub-pitch) water will traverse your grout to make its way to the pan while showering. If this water forms a puddle through your tile floor instead of flowing for the drain it becomes stagnant and very quickly will become mildew within your grout. With a sub-pitch the river that produces its way to the pan continues to circulate for the drain always being substituted with freshwater. It is just like the difference between a pond plus a creek.
Next you’ve got a vapor barrier that is certainly applied to the walls directly to the wood studs. This is ordinarily a paper which has a tar held in the center. This paper keeps moisture out of your walls. Why is this important? Not a lot of water penetrates the shower walls, however the substrate (the substrate is whatever surface your tile is stuck to, backer board, cement float, etc.) this surface can get moist. Moisture will move from substrate toward the lining wall, out from the grout and down for the pan, without vapor barrier paper you will definately get small amounts of water in your wall cavity. So you say “why should I bother about such a tiny amount of water”. The reason is when you are getting a drop of water with your wall each and every time your shower is utilized, those drops add up when your wall does not have any ventilation for evaporation, so eventually the wood is always moist. Do you know what loves moist wood? Termites, they love these conditions simply because they never have to travel back to the ground to acquire a drink, they are able to just keep eating. It would be as you and I never having to go to the market. Think of how productive we might be in the event it were the situation.
Well that’s the thought of waterproofing behind your shower walls. When you stay with these guidelines your shower contains the best possibility of looking great for several years, without extreme maintenance.
So in conclusion, I hope it’s been an enlightening in addition to understandable explanation of why a properly waterproofed shower makes a difference. As a Contractor I welcome customers who’ll ask me these questions, it tells me they comprehend the value of your job well done.