Shower Cubicle

Discussion in 'Builders' Talk' started by Paul Lancs, Dec 10, 2003.

  1. Paul Lancs

    Paul Lancs New Member

    I have just re-sized my bathroom by moving a stud wall in order to create enough room for a shower cubicle.

    The stud wall has been re-covered in plasterboard and then skimmed over.

    I am now ready to tile on to the stud wall but I am worried about water seeping through the grout and damaging the plasterboard.

    Should I cover the skimmed plasterboard with anything before I tile to it?
     

    Attached Files:

  2. eyetry

    eyetry New Member

    Ensure the skim coat is fully dry then prime the area with a PVA adesive and plaster sealer.

    Use waterproof tile adesive and allow 3 days minimum for the grout to cure before using the shower.

    Don't forget to silicone seal the cubicle and the base of the tiles and maybe up any tile to tile corners.

    Hope this helps.
     
  3. golp01

    golp01 New Member

    Hi,

    All of eyetrys' comments are fine, but I have to add that plasterboard and shower cubicles are a really bad combination, as indeed is plastered walls, (as opposed to rendered). You have to be meticulous with a capital 'M' if you are not going to have even one area subject to wetting that has some small gap. I.e. if the house setles, the timber studs shrink, a grout line cracks, the silicone parts company with the surface somewhere, etc, etc... I personally simply refuse to do it. It's not fair on my customers. Having said that, I can't remember the last time it has come up as an issue.

    In any event, there is an answer. Take a quick trip to a professional tile shop. They will stock a waterproof board, which is a composite fibreglass type material which you can overlay on the plasterboard following the instructions, and then safely tile on top of that.

    If it's your own house, or you have a conscience, you'll do it. Btw, you can easily edge bead the difference in levels once you are out of the shower area, so you don't have to cover areas not subject to frequent wetting.

    Good luck,

    pete
     
  4. eyetry

    eyetry New Member

    I do agree golp01 - I did originally start my post by saying he should have used aqua panel or similar but deleted it and tried to give a solution.

    I guess he put the boarding in himself.

    Lets see what he does........
     
  5. Paul Lancs

    Paul Lancs New Member

    Thanks for the replies, I was thinking that I might have to use aquaboard (or some kind of waterproof board).

    I used plasterboard because I wanted a nice even finish. (The ceilings are 3m high and the shower is going in the corner of two long stud walls)

    I have a 800 x 800 tray and a 1800 high door and side panel. How high and wide should I go with the aquaboard?
     
  6. Paul Lancs

    Paul Lancs New Member

    ....and can I tile directly onto the Aquaboard?

    Does it need a PVA coat first?
     
  7. golp01

    golp01 New Member

    Hi,

    You only need to use unibond when you are floor tiling onto ply. You use it then as a pre coat. A product like Wickes waterproof tile cement will stick like the proverbial s* to a blanket onto waterproof board. That should do you. In any case, if in doubt, read the instructions when you buy the sheets.

    good luck,

    pete
     
  8. eyetry

    eyetry New Member

    Paul,

    I'm trying to understand your installation so forgive me if solutions do not suit.

    Would I be right in saying you have plumbed in the tray and this either butts up to the walls or the lips on two of the edges are slightly recessed..?

    Check your cubicle tolerances as you may need to look at moving the tray if you add aqua panelling as your cubicle may not fit the tray after the panelling retro fit.

    Aqua panelling is designed to be 100% water resistant so you would not have to seal it. I would however, still use waterproof grout / adesive for the tiles.

    I'd also go full height with the panelling and maybe 100mm past the cubicle. After taking the time to re-size the room to create your perfect shower-room, you really want to get this bit right whichever option you go for as the brown staining on the ceiling in the room below will really bug you.
     
  9. nigel

    nigel Guest

    I used shower panel [laminated ply] no grout to discolour and the wife said its great to clean.
     
  10. woodsmith

    woodsmith New Member

    When I've had to tile a shower and not been able to fit Aquapanel I've given the wall (just behind the tiles) 3 coats of ruberised waterproof ( the same sort that can be used for damp proof courses)

    Follow the instructions on the tin and it seems to work fine.
     
  11. eyetry

    eyetry New Member

  12. eyetry

    eyetry New Member

    Paul, as you haven't come back to us yet, I feel I can quickly slip this question in.

    Did you work out the weight of the tiles & grout and strengthen the plasterboard walls with ply?

    You may consider this as you have high walls.
     
  13. jmcbuilders

    jmcbuilders New Member

    You do not need to strengthen walls with ply! Just to carry the weight of the tiles . If you are going to give out info don't give out bad info. Ply would only be used if you want to fix something heavy to the walls.
     
  14. eyetry

    eyetry New Member

    JMC

    "If you are going to give out info don't give out bad info"

    Do you know what he is fixing to the walls? How do you know the size of his tiles? How do you know he doesn't want to fix stone instead? How do you know if he has single or double boarded? How do you know he doesn't want to put up a shelf or a bathroom cabinet? How do you know his sink and toilet are "floating"?

    You don't, we all don't.

    I've seen from some of your other posts that you like to ruffle the odd feather - Great advertising for your company, well done.

    If you have nothing constructive to add, let people that want to help, respond to the information given.
     
  15. To answer your question directly, yes you can coat the plastered surface with a product made by BAL called WP1, it's a tanking system specifically designed for that application, find a tile distributor in the yellow pages and phone around to find one who stocks BAL products.
    I'm in Surrey and can point you in the right direction locally.

    Having read many of the replies on here I'm going to reply with some specs for tiling.

    Most of these specs are available from building regulations, but I often find the adhesive manufacturers far more helpful (as they will also provide copies of the building regs to back up there product advice).

    As you can probably tell, I'm a tiling contractor and it's in my interest to know this stuff inside and out. You'd be astonished by the number of specifiers (architects and such that have little or no specification knowledge of tiling products and preparations).

    1. NEVER coat any surface with PVA before you tile it, it actually stops any cement based adhesive bonding to the substrate. (yes I know most tiling additives are PVA based, but they also have other chemicals included which stop the PVA going live on moisture contact.

    2. 12mm Plasterboard will hold more weight than a normal plastered wall as long as it's braced correctly (minimum 300mm centres. It will happily hold up to 50kg/sqm whereas plaster will hold up to 35KG/sqm.

    3. Aquapanel is one of the best products available for constructing showers. It it NOT a waterproof barrier, it is completely water resistant but still requires tanking in the same way plasterboard does for shower applications.
    Also you need to use flexible adhesives and grouts when using aquapanel. For non shower applications such as strengthening floors, you can tile directly to it.

    4. Don't build showers out of plywood, Marine Ply, WBP ply or any other type of ply, wood is wood, it expands and contracts and tiles (and flexible adhesives) don't like it. There are plenty of alternative products available such as Aquapanle, Wedi Board, Lux board that all fall under the generic heading of Tile Backer Board.

    5. If you have constructed a room using plasterboard and are tiling it, don't plaster it. Tile directly onto the plasterboard itself. It will hold far more weight and is less likely to fail in the long term.
     
  16. kesh

    kesh New Member

    Nice one mudster, we need a real tiler's input around here!
     
  17. jmcbuilders

    jmcbuilders New Member

    Mudster Good info mate.
     
  18. jmcbuilders

    jmcbuilders New Member

    eyetry I hope your wall don't fall down with them paving slabs on it. I don't need to advertise because i am good at what i do. and i don't give out bad advice i rest my case. If you left tiles to set for three days Before grouting pros LIKE me wouldn't get any work done.
     
  19. eyetry

    eyetry New Member

    LOL JMC....

    Another quality response to prove my point - case reopened.

    Who said anything about "If you left tiles to set for three days Before grouting"

    If you actually bothered to look at my post correctly you'd see I wrote "3 days minimum for the grout to cure <u>before using the shower</u>"

    What else have you missed in your time as a "pro"? Lord help the people you have installed for if you just gloss over Specs and Plans.

    Case Closed.
     
  20. jmcbuilders

    jmcbuilders New Member

    I did not read it properly so what but you have no wright to make out i am a cowboy. DIYER dick. This is not a spec or a plan.
     

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