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Showing posts with label mildew. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mildew. Show all posts

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














Monday, January 24, 2011

durock vs hardyboard? for best wet area tile installations

For hundreds mabye thousands of years tile was installed on concrete and concrete only. Here in New England we still have a lot of homes where the tile is laid upon concrete with wire nailed right to the wood studs,I tear them out all the time.In the 80's maybe earlier Durock(durable nailable concrete board reinforced with fiberglass for strength)  came out and the job became much easier and more precise.You just nail or screw your durock to your floor or wall and boom Lay tile right down, a wondrous thing  I used for about 15 years.But one time while in the tile store in Atlanta , I saw a new product Hardy board.

Now durock is great , but has one big weakness water gets through it its not a WATER BARRIER .Durock is not effected by water but it doesn't stop it either. Hardy board on the other hand is a actual barrier that stops ANY water penetration when properly sealed upon installation.Silicone II 50 year calk used to seal the hardy board joints will insure a waterproof installation and total protection of the wood wall studs underneath.Given the choice because both products cost the same I prefer to use hardy board in all my tile and marble installations, and most definitely  in all wet areas.

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