which shower waterproofing product

[DoItLikeADude]

Hi folks,

I'm planning to prepare some plasterboard (and plywood panel) walls prior to tiling them for a shower.

I have a dilemma. Do I use Dunlop branded waterproofing kit from Screwfix which has several good reviews but only 5m of tape and 3Kg of product:

http://www.screwfix.com/p/dunlop-shower-waterproofing-kit/79333

or do I use the Mapei branded kit also from Screwfix which comes with twice as much tape and 5kg of product but no reviews?

http://www.screwfix.com/p/mapei-shower-waterproofing-kit-5kg/78484

As there's no reviews for the Mapei product so I've no idea how well regarded it is. The shower tray is rather big and therefore the wall area to prepare is also large so I would prefer the 5Kg Mapei product but only if it's decent quality. Can anyone recommend it?

Thanks for any help!

 

[tictic]

dunlop or mapei....mapei wins hands down mate..

as for the plasterboard is it MR plasterboard...

the ply on walls....i would rip this down and replace,not very good in wet areas never mind anywhere on walls...

have you looked into either a wall membrane,..homelux etc..or
12.5mm cement based backer boards as other methods,one off these would be my choice..

also do you have insulation in the studs and a vapour barrier over this..

what type/size tiles you planning on fixing...

 

[DoItLikeADude]

Thanks for the feedback and recommendation for Mapei. Much appreciated.

Not sure of the plasterboard... is MR = mold resistant? I'm guessing the plasterboard is probably just the standard stuff.

Erm.. the plywood is brand new and was my idea - thinking it was suitable if correctly waterproofed. It boxes in the pipes and gives a more secure material for the shower head to be mounted on.

The plasterboard cavity walls throughout the house have glasswool insulation but I don't know about the shower walls. I doubt there is a vapour barrier in the walls.

Tiles sizes - I'll need to get back to about that. Is that important? I guess small tiles have a lot of grout area and potentially let more water through. Is that what you're getting at?

 

[DoItLikeADude]

By the way the shower is in an ensuite bathroom and probably wouldn't get very heavy usage - maybe twice a day maximum.

 

[tictic]

take the ply down mate,an replace with either moisture resistant plasterboard(green in colour) then tank it ..me i would use homelux tanking membrane(hang it like wall paper onto a thinset....or
use 12.5mm cement backerboard,hardie/aquapanel these will be more stable/stronger than the ply...

tile size.. there is a weight limit load to the plasterboard unskimmed 32kg per m2 but include 4kg for adhesive grout...backerboards will take a lot more weight per m2...

rest of ensiute/bathroom again mr plasterboard/cement b/board...

what you have is not the proper materials for the job in hand...sorry...

and it could come back an... bite ya on the bum bud....

if you are going to use what you have...then you will defo need an epoxy grout throughout the whole area...even using it twice a day,hope you have ventallation in the room...window/exstractor fan etc...

tiles...do they need sealed etc...lots off things to consider before doing anything mate....

tiling is 90% in the prep an materials if ya want it to look nice and Last for a very Long Time....

your call bud..best off

 

[tictic]

forgot mate..

you will want to put a vapour barrier over the stud/insulation before anything..

 

[DoItLikeADude]

tictic - that's given me a lot to think about - thanks for the advice, appreciate it hugely.

I'm such a newbie that I'd not heard of aquapanel nor that tanking sheet before.

I guess I've only ever seen tiles fitted on top of standard plasterboard so the tanking kits I was asking about seemed to be enough to avoid problems with tiles coming loose. Sounds like there is a lot more to it than that.

What do you mean by asking if the tiles need sealed first? Do you mean the backs of the tiles?

 

[tictic]

sealing tiles....

depends on what type off tile you are fixing..
glazed ceramics,glazed porkies dont need sealing...

stone tiles..travertine honed/unhoned,marble,granite,polished porkies etc etc will need sealing proir to grouting and after grouting.

you will seal the face off the tiles,not the back..

 

[DoItLikeADude]

You mean there's tiles that don't have a sealed front surface!?

I didn't know that. This thread has been a real school day for me!

 

[Thedukewood]

Hi

Also have an ensuite to sort
Needs new tray and door
Trying to minimise mess and go over existing tiles which is sound - just gone out if fashion
Want to use warerproofing
Substrate behind tiles in shower is ( 99% sure)

1 wall plasterboard ( not wateboard)
1 wall solid / plastered
1 wall marine ply

Ideally I need to minimise time/ mess

Home would you approach this re waterproofing etc

Thank you