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Just getting our bathroom refitted and the bathroom fitter has removed the old tiles from the walls. I mentioned if he would be tanking the area around where the shower is? Not sure if I asked the question correctly? But he didn't seem to indicate he would be, he seemed to indicate he would be just tiling and grouting. Just wondered if it should be tanked? I guess it wasn't tanked 20 years ago when initially done but should it be now, and should the shower enclosure be tanked also?
We are just having a few doubts over what the work is and just want to make sure he is doing it ok, if not, we may have to try and get someone else in if that makes sense. Just do not want to have problems in the future and deal with any issues now. Any help would be much appreciated.
I just tiled onto plasterboard for our bath with a shower over it. Been like that for over 10 years with no leaks and being used by a household of 5 people.
I’ve tiled and grouted straight on to plaster board too. Mine was still sound after 15+ years.
There’s a lot of companies out there that will sell you a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist.
Tanking is just a waterproof layer
Waterproof adhesive, ceramic tiles and a waterproof grout will do the same or more
I too have plasterboarded and tiled without issue on 4 different bathrooms, one of which is now 20 years old and still used by the friends we sold the house to.
I would likely these days use a tilebacker/waterproof plasterboard and look to have upstand on a shower.
I wouldn't do the stooopid round mosaic effect tiles in a shower again...
If it was fine for the previous 20 years why would it not be fine now?
As said your tiles are the waterproof layer, stop flinging about a phrase you heard in Grand Designs..
I didn't tank ours when I re-tiled it and there's been no problem for 4 years or so.
Tanking is to stop outside water coming in. Useful in a basement but no need above ground on in a shower area.
On a shower cubicle with a high pressure shower I would but not on a shower over bath
any decent tiler will recomend tanking all wet areas in a bathroom or a waterproof backerboard with joints sealed, vertually all my customers will agree to it, doesn't add much to the overall cost.
Waterproof adhesive, ceramic tiles and a waterproof grout will do the same or more
adhesive and grout are not waterproof
it's all very well saying mine's been ok for 10 years, i've ripped out older bathrooms and the've been fine but also seen plenty that have suffered a lot of water damage, cracked/missing bits of grout and then the bare plasterboard behind disintegates is the most common along with failed silicone.
Yes it should.
No need. Folk have been using showers over baths for decades with tiled walls being sufficient.
When I had my bathroom re-done I mentioned it to the plumber & tiler (as recommendation from here was to tank it), they both said it wasn't needed (they only tank shower cubicles) and that the grout had water-proofing stuff in it + the tiles weren't porous. But I said I'd still like it done (it was like £30 extra and I couldn't really see a downside, at worst it was just a waste of a bit of money) so they begrudgingly agreed.
I'm not sure I'll ever know if it's actually serving a useful purpose but I do notice the grout itself seems to stay damp in places for a while after showering so I can see some water being able to seep through. Main benefit really has been peace of mind - if I hadn't had it tanked and had noticed the damp grout I'd probably be stressing the tiles would end up blowing out or something.
Tanking is to stop outside water coming in. Useful in a basement but no need above ground on in a shower area.
Eh? No.
Now the thing I don't get with tanking a wall before tiling, is that you're effectively adding a waterproof later between the existing wall and the tiles.
I understand that grout isn't completely waterproof but if it's as porus as some people would have you believe, then all that would happen is the water would go through the grout and become be trapped between the tanking, or waterproof later, and the tiles. Which would surely result in your tiles falling off anyway.
Or an I missing something?
adhesive and grout are not waterproof
In the context of the use of a domestic shower then they are with a 3mm solid bed of adhesive. In the context of a swimming pool, no, they're not.
If you either over-step infrequent wetting and condensation or you think that you might then it makes sense to tank
For shower cubicles I’d definitely be looking at tanking. Had some work done a few years back which involved lifting a shower tray - otherwise fine looking grout had developed hairline cracks, over the years that had let enough water through to start rotting joists (though not enough to show on the ceiling below). Our house is old though, moves a fair bit over summer/winter.
Probably less of a worry for shower over bath.
Same here - tiled onto plasterboard, no leaks.
then all that would happen is the water would go through the grout and become be trapped between the tanking, or waterproof later, and the tiles. Which would surely result in your tiles falling off anyway.
Or an I missing something?
I think the main issue is if water gets into the plasterboard and causes it to blow out and that movement pushes the tiles out and breaks the adhesive, tanking prevents that. Possibly there are issues just from water getting behind the tiles (but not into the plasterboard) but I'd have thought it would need to be a lot of it to start causing any issues
I thought this thread was a weather report.
Nice one choppersquad 🙂