No Tile Shower Walls
|No Tile Shower Walls – When most people enter their tile shower they rarely look at the behind the scenes method that went into making that shower work correctly. Unfortunately some contractors make use of this with their benefits of go cheap and save a few bucks. I have to say most contractors are trying to do an adequate job, however some of these never learned the proper procedure and why these processes are crucial. The best method to find the best tile contractor is always to keep these things explain the theory. If they can inform you how it works behind the scenes, it is more probably you will definately get a good job. If your mates refer somebody for your requirements it is OK to ask these questions, in the end so what can your mates truly know about the foundation of a tiled shower? They may have discovered a contractor that is nice and an easy task to use and their brand-new shower looks great, but if you won’t want to fight mildew in a few months as well as the next two decades you’ll ask a few of questions.
So let’s start at the beginning and explain common language and theory of your tile shower. First you have what is called a shower pan. This is a completely waterproof section that covers the shower floor and up the walls about 10″. This is either a hot mop, (the industry variety of layers of tar paper, hot tar, tar paper, hot tar and so on) or it’s really a PVC membrane that is folded into the corners and over the dam. The most important part of this for you personally the homeowner to find out is needless to say it’s totally waterproof and also that it has what is called a sub-pitch. A proper sub-pitch is simply a float of cement or similar product beneath the pan that produces a flow towards the drain on top of the shower pan. This is important because, say as an example your shower pan is flat (no sub-pitch) water will cross your grout and make its way towards the pan while showering. If this water forms a puddle beneath your tile floor instead of flowing for the drain it might be stagnant and soon can become mildew within your grout. With a sub-pitch water that makes its way towards the pan continue to circulate for the drain always being replaced with freshwater. It is much like the difference between a pond along with a creek.
Next there is a vapor barrier that is applied towards the walls directly towards the wood studs. This is normally a paper that features a tar held in the guts. This paper keeps moisture from the 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 will get moist. Moisture will move from substrate toward the within wall, out through 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 little bit of water”. The reason is when you’re getting a drop of water within your wall each and every time your shower is utilized, those drops mount up when 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 since they never have to travel back towards the ground to get a drink, they can just keep eating. It would be as you and I never having to go towards the food store. Think of how productive we could be if that were the case.
Well that’s the theory of waterproofing behind your shower walls. When you stick to the following tips your shower has the best possibility of looking great for many years, without extreme maintenance.
So to summarize, I hope it’s been an informative as well as understandable explanation of why a correctly waterproofed shower makes a difference. As a Contractor I welcome customers which will ask me these questions, it tells me they understand the value of your job done well.