Grout Shower Walls

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Grout Shower Walls – When most people enter their tile shower they rarely think about the behind the scenes procedure that went into making that shower work correctly. Unfortunately some contractors will use this to their benefit to go cheap and save one or two bucks. I have to say most contractors are attempting to do a passable job, although some people might of these never learned the best procedure and why these processes are essential. The best strategy to look for a tile contractor is always to ask them to explain the theory. If they can show you how it operates behind the scenes, it is more likely you will get a fantastic job. If your friends refer somebody for you will still be OK to question these questions, after all so what can your friends actually know in regards to the reasons for a tiled shower? They may have found a contractor that is nice and simple to help as well as their brand-new shower looks great, however, if you don’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 begin at the beginning and explain common language and theory of an tile shower. First you have what is known a shower pan. This is a completely waterproof section that covers the shower floor and up the walls about 10″. This is sometimes a hot mop, (which is a quantity of layers of tar paper, hot tar, tar paper, hot tar and so on) or it can be a PVC membrane which is folded to the corners well as over the dam. The most important thing about this in your case the homeowner to learn is obviously it’s totally waterproof but additionally it has what is known a sub-pitch. A proper sub-pitch is simply a float of cement or similar product beneath the pan that can cause a flow for the drain along with the shower pan. This is important because, say for instance your shower pan is flat (no sub-pitch) water will cross your grout to make its way for the pan while showering. If this water forms a puddle below your tile floor instead of flowing for the drain it might be stagnant and shortly will end up mildew inside your grout. With a sub-pitch the lake which makes its way for the pan continues to circulate for the drain always being substituted for freshwater. It is similar to the difference between a pond and a creek.

Next you’ve got a vapor barrier which is applied for the walls directly for the wood studs. This is usually a paper that features a tar trapped in the middle. 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 can 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 get small amounts of water in your wall cavity. So you say “why should I worry about this kind of tiny amount of water”. The reason is when you invest in a drop of water inside your wall each time your shower is used, those drops mount up when your wall doesn’t have ventilation for evaporation, so eventually the wood is obviously moist. Do you know what loves moist wood? Termites, they love these conditions because they never have to travel back for the ground to secure a drink, they can just keep eating. It would be as if you and I never having to go for the food store. Think of how productive we might be if it were the situation.

Well that’s the theory of waterproofing behind your shower walls. When you stick to these tips a new shower contains the best probability of looking wonderful for many years, without extreme maintenance.

So in closing, I hope it has been an instructive along with understandable explanation of why an adequately waterproofed shower makes a difference. As a Contractor I welcome customers who’ll ask me these questions, it tells me they see the value of an job well done.