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Showing posts with label caulk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label caulk. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Rubber Membrane Shower Pan Installation

Rubber Membrane Liner Do's and Don'ts


In the past we've written  about copper pan vs rubber pan liner. This article focuses exclusively on the rubber pan installation itself. With step by step pictures of the rubber pan going in including the drain attachment you will see and understand the do's and don'ts associated with the correct install so you never have to worry about a leaky shower.
   
Always use a single solid membrane for your shower pan. It needs to be 2 feet wider and longer than your actual shower floor area. Example  if your shower is 3 ft by 5 ft  then you need a 5 ft by 7 ft solid rubber membrane. Your rubber membrane needs to go 1 ft up the wall nailed to your wall studs. NEVER nail below 8 inches from the floor. TO CLARIFY KEEP ALL NAILS 8 INCHES ABOVE FINISH FLOOR. Wrap rubber liner over curb and nail Only on outside of curb. NEVER NAIL ON INSIDE OF CURB . Fold corners inside studs when possible. The drain is a 3 piece set, The adjustable screw in drain attaches to the bolt down plate which creates the actual seal against the rubber membrane. The solid one piece membrane goes right over the bottom drain plate and is cut only with a small slit for the 4 mount bolts. The actual drain hole is not cut until the seal plate is bolted\screwed down. The pictures below clarify this process. 

After the membrane is installed  the Hardi board can be installed on the wall AGAIN  NO NAILS BELOW THE 8 INCH MARK ALL NAILS NEED TO BE 8 INCHES ABOVE FINISH FLOOR  as not to create a leak in the membrane. Hardi board can be nailed on top of the curb with generous amounts of caulk used under the Hardiboard to insure top of curb sealHardiboard on inside of curb is NEVER nailed  and will be held in place by the concrete packed on shower floor to create slant to drain.

Rubber membranes installed correctly can always be counted on for decades of leak free shower use. They are by far the most dependable as well as the most economical options for shower floor dry installation. The highest quality option and the most affordable; can't do better than that!! 

Follow the photos below for the step by step walk-through. Ask any questions below. 

regards   Chris 

Rubber membrane nailed 1 ft up bare wall studs

Notice rubber membrane tucked into wall stud  and nailed 12 inches up wall stud

Rubber membrane wraps over curb then nailed on outside of curb and

  Hardi board on top with caulk under to seal

A closer look of membrane nailed up wall studs notice nails 12 inches high 

Rubber membrane ready for top plate to screw down to create 

watertight seal between drain plate and membrane

Top plate screws down in equal sequence to create watertight seal

Final tightening of seal plate om rubber membrane

Finish adjustable screw in drain  ready for concrete slant to be packed

Another view of membrane wrapping over shower curb

Hardi board nailed on wall after membrane installation NEVER 

nail below 8 inches from finish floor

Tops of curbs finished with Hardi board sealed underneath with caulk and nailed

Finished Hardi board installed after membrane installed.  Notice Hardi board caulked

 in corner to seal board

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Economical shower waterproofing for ceramic tile, marble,slate.and all natural stone materials

In my 30 year career I've repaired and seen hundreds of showers that had water damage both inside the shower and inside the wall. Many times the mildew had eaten away at the wood studs in the wall and caused the grout to turn black from the inside out causing costly repairs and complete tear outs to redo the wood studs.In severe cases mildew can be dangerous to the health of the elderly and the very young. The following "how to" will explain the most economical "ultimate shower waterproofing " technique to insure a "never leak shower" and insure a "no mildew" tile installation. There are other options out there but this is by far the most economical sure fire way to know you will never allow water to penetrate your shower walls.

I am currently working on this job in Byfield mass. and all the walls and floors will be slate and marble finished.The contractor on the job was responsible for installing all the backer board and The contractor used durock on all the inside shower walls not Hardy board as I would have preferred. ( see my blog "hardy board vs Durock) When the home buyer called me to get a estimate he voiced great concern about waterproofing his shower walls so as not to have mildew or water damage in his shower walls ever. Since durock was already installed in all the showers and not hardy board it was required to completely seal every sq inch of the shower walls as well as seal all joints to insure no water ever got to the wood studs in the wall.  

The first step was to use "silicone II"  to seal every seam of the durock including all corners being careful to smooth out all caulk to insure a clean glob free seal. Step 2 all the joints were taped with anti crack fiberglass backer board tape and skimmed with superflex thinset to insure no cracks form over the years.

The third and final step was 2 coats of "Redgard"anti crack paint on waterproofer one coat rolled on horizontally and one coat vertically .All corners are painted with a brush to insure proper sealing.There were as well inset soap boxes framed into the wall that were also caulked and then painted with the regard to complete the sealing process. The tile can now be installed in the showers with no worry of leakage or wood rotting for a lifetime of leak free showering !

All products used to completely seal up these 3 showers in Byfield mass are all available at Home Depot and can insure you never have any water damage in your home from shower leakage.Have your tile installer follow this process or do it yourself for total piece of mind when creating your new shower in your house . For a full list of other options and great advice on the many waterproofing options go here and check it out. www.floorelf.com/preparing-a-shower-wall-for-tile

Pictures below are as follows left to right in order. 1-Silicone II caulk product, ,2- Redgard waterproofing crack supression paint on sealer product,3- Marble and granite modified thin set product, 4-Durock taped and thin setted, 5-Durock sealed with Redgard6-,Inset soap box caulked and Redgard sealed, 7-Floor Durock redgard sealed 3 ft out from wet area














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