Wetroom questions

[Seb101]

I'm currently redoing an en-suite, planning to turn it into a wetroom. I'm getting confused about the myriad of different 'systems' and 'kits' available.

The room is freshly prepped, bare plasterboard and bare floorboards (chip-board tongue-and-groove type) around the entire area to be 'waterproofed'.

I know I need a deck, I'm going to get a structural one, cut out the floor boards and fit it so it is flush with the floor. That's the obvious bit, fitting the drain is easy as it's going where there was an existing surface mount shower tray.

From there I'm a little lost, there's membranes and tanking solutions, and taping and tile-backer-boards and systems and kits and they range from 60 quid for a tub of brush-on tanking liquid to 1000s for a membrane based system.

Does someone know a link to a good step-by-step guide for doing a first-floor wet room?

My main questions are:

1. Brush on tanking liquid vs membrane - which is better?
2. If you have to tape joints for the tanking, what is a good tape to use?
3. Is there any pre-prep, underlay or primer required on either the plasterboard or floorboards before applying tanking solution?
4. Can you tile directly onto the tanking solution once it is dry?
5. If using membrane, how does it stick to the walls and what takes the weight of the tiles?

Thanks!

 

[jeds]

Will there be a screen around the shower? If so I'd fit a standard formed shower tray, tiled in with mosaic tiles. We always use Marmox Showerlay board - reasonably priced, all sizes and never had a problem with them. Tape corners with Mapei shower kit from Screwfix before tiling. The walls can be standard waterproof tiling. Nothing special. The Mapei kit comes with waterproofing solution that you can paint on the walls of the shower area before tiling. On the other hand, these days I tend to specify shower panels rather than tiling. Very sharp and modern and easy to use. Clients absolutely love them. (tiling a bit passé these days) The floor area outside the shower screen can be tiled to match but you don't have to worry too much about the waterproofing.