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Hello,
I'm going to completely gut the bathroom we have downstairs, it's damp and rotten and I want to go back to scratch in the room to know it's all been done right.
The bathroom is downstairs and built into a timber framed extension the previous owner put in.
As is, I am planning on putting 12mm cement backer boards around where the bath will be and external hardwood ply everywhere else, attached directly onto the frame of the room. For the floor, I was hoping to use as thick an external ply as I can get in. We have the final floor and wall fittings. We have gone for fancy composite tiles (no grout!) and polymer laminate floor planks. Both install like standard laminate flooring and click together. Spent a small fortune on the wall and floor coverings but they were advertised as 100% waterproof and we were drawn by the easier maintenance and longevity of it. Both wall and floor coverings state once locked in they are totally watertight. It is because of the wall and floor covering we have chosen that I am re-boarding the room, as I need a totally smooth surface to put them onto.
Question time:
1) If the wall and floor coverings are totally watertight, do I need to worry that much about what is going behind them? For example, where water *shouldn't* be getting splashed onto, can I put something cheaper than plywood behind it?
2) A lot of forum posts recommend tile backer board on top of sub-floor but specifically when tiling. Can I discard this because of the type of flooring I have? Or is cement board partly to mitigate water damage? I realize I am contradicting myself slightly by suggesting I will use cement board around the bath/shower area.
3) Some forums I have read advise a very thin bead of silicone in the joints of the tiles before they go up. I'm not liking the idea of this for a couple of reasons. Surely it makes the joint more difficult to click shut, and surely it's unnecessary if they are claimed to be watertight?
4) Am I incorrectly assuming plywood for the walls is my only option? Should moisture resistant plasterboard be as effective? My initial draw to plywood was from a suggestion that this would bond better with the adhesive that you are provided with the wall covering.
I'm going to completely gut the bathroom we have downstairs, it's damp and rotten and I want to go back to scratch in the room to know it's all been done right.
The bathroom is downstairs and built into a timber framed extension the previous owner put in.
As is, I am planning on putting 12mm cement backer boards around where the bath will be and external hardwood ply everywhere else, attached directly onto the frame of the room. For the floor, I was hoping to use as thick an external ply as I can get in. We have the final floor and wall fittings. We have gone for fancy composite tiles (no grout!) and polymer laminate floor planks. Both install like standard laminate flooring and click together. Spent a small fortune on the wall and floor coverings but they were advertised as 100% waterproof and we were drawn by the easier maintenance and longevity of it. Both wall and floor coverings state once locked in they are totally watertight. It is because of the wall and floor covering we have chosen that I am re-boarding the room, as I need a totally smooth surface to put them onto.
Question time:
1) If the wall and floor coverings are totally watertight, do I need to worry that much about what is going behind them? For example, where water *shouldn't* be getting splashed onto, can I put something cheaper than plywood behind it?
2) A lot of forum posts recommend tile backer board on top of sub-floor but specifically when tiling. Can I discard this because of the type of flooring I have? Or is cement board partly to mitigate water damage? I realize I am contradicting myself slightly by suggesting I will use cement board around the bath/shower area.
3) Some forums I have read advise a very thin bead of silicone in the joints of the tiles before they go up. I'm not liking the idea of this for a couple of reasons. Surely it makes the joint more difficult to click shut, and surely it's unnecessary if they are claimed to be watertight?
4) Am I incorrectly assuming plywood for the walls is my only option? Should moisture resistant plasterboard be as effective? My initial draw to plywood was from a suggestion that this would bond better with the adhesive that you are provided with the wall covering.
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