Engineered Stone Shower Walls
|Engineered Stone Shower Walls – When most people enter their tile shower they rarely look at the behind the scenes process that went into making that shower work effectively. Unfortunately some contractors will use this to their advantage to go cheap and save one or two bucks. I have to say most contractors want to do an adequate job, even though some of which never learned the correct procedure and why these processes are very important. The best way to find a very good tile contractor is always to keep these things explain the idea. If they can show you the ins and outs behind the scenes, it is more probably you will definately get a fantastic job. If your mates refer somebody to you will still be OK to inquire about these questions, after all so what can your mates really know concerning the foundation of a tiled shower? They may have found a contractor that is nice and simple to work with as well as their brand new shower looks great, in case ensure fight mildew in a few months as well as the next 20 years you are going to ask one or two of questions.
So let’s move on from the outset and explain common language and theory of the tile shower. First you have what is known a shower pan. This is a completely waterproof section that covers the shower floor or higher the walls about 10″. This is whether hot mop, (that is a quantity of layers of tar paper, hot tar, tar paper, hot tar and so on) or it’s rather a PVC membrane that is folded into the corners and also over the dam. The most important thing about this for you personally the homeowner to know is needless to say it’s absolutely waterproof but also which it has what is known a sub-pitch. A proper sub-pitch is only a float of cement or similar product beneath the pan that induce a flow on the drain together with the shower pan. This is important because, say as an example your shower pan is flat (no sub-pitch) water will traverse your grout making its way on the pan while showering. If this water forms a puddle below your tile floor as opposed to flowing for the drain it becomes stagnant and shortly can become mildew in your grout. With a sub-pitch water that makes its way on the pan continue circulation for the drain always being replaced with fresh water. It is similar to the difference between a pond and a creek.
Next there is a vapor barrier that is applied on the walls directly on the wood studs. This is normally a paper with a tar held in the center. This paper keeps moisture from the walls. Why is this important? Not a lot of water penetrates the shower walls, though 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 within wall, out with the grout and down for the pan, without vapor barrier paper you will definately get small amounts of water into your wall cavity. So you say “why should I be worried about such a little water”. The reason is when you invest in a drop of water with your wall each and every time your shower can be used, those drops add together as 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 given that they never have to travel back on the ground to get a drink, they can just keep eating. It would be just like you and I never having to go on the food store. Think of how productive we might be if it were true.
Well that’s the idea of waterproofing behind your shower walls. When you stay with these guidelines your brand-new shower gets the best potential for looking great for many years, without extreme maintenance.
So in closing, I hope it is been an instructive along with understandable explanation of why an adequately waterproofed shower makes a difference. As a Contractor I welcome customers that will ask me these questions, it tells me they understand the value of the job congratulations.