Should my new shower cubicle be plastered before tiling

TomsMom

I have a bit of a difference of opinion with my son who will be doing the tiling.

New cubicle has been formed, three sides will be tiled and the short end will have a 900mm door.

At the moment the three walls have just been plasterboarded (ordinary plasterboard).

Should the walls be plastered before tiling or just tile onto the plasterboard?

Razor

The walls should be clad in Wedi board or aquapanel, if using plasterboard it should be tanked before tiling otherwise you are creating potential problems further down the line.

damanpunk

You should be using the green lined plasterboard. Doesn't need plastered over, your tiles, grout and silicone provide the waterproof element.

I wouldn't bother tanking it unless its a wetroom.

TomsMom

Well, as it's already been plasterboarded in normal stuff, it's a bit late for the Wediboard/green lined stuff. I did ask the builder about using marine ply under the shower tray and waterproof plasterboard but he said it would be fine :rolleyes:

How do you go about tanking it?

Razor

Have a look at this

http://www.trades-direct.co.uk/modules/shop/products.asp?rangeid=101

There are cheaper kits available but I would use this one.
I have been to too many showers that have leaked and rotted the floor, joists and walls before leaking through the ceiling, I'm sure all the experienced chaps here will agree.

TomsMom

Do you need to get the Waterproof Shower Kit £64.54 or would the Tanking System Coating £46.34 on it's own be enough?

andyhop

find you local ctd store bal wp1 kit is £38.99+vat this month

point3

We looked into this too; it seems tanking is a relatively new application. It costs around £150 for supply and fit. Showers have been installed for years without it and have functioned fine, but now that it is available some tradesmen will advocate it as an extra precaution. It's an optional extra and others will tell you that tiles and waterproof grouting (properly maintained) will be good enough.

andyhop

point3 wrote: »

We looked into this too; it seems tanking is a relatively new application. It costs around £150 for supply and fit. Showers have been installed for years without it and have functioned fine, but now that it is available some tradesmen will advocate it as an extra precaution. It's an optional extra and others will tell you that tiles and waterproof grouting (properly maintained) will be good enough.

tanking has been around for 10+ years

no grout or adhesive is 100% waterproof

do a job correctly and it will last, skimp on basic materials and it wont

point3

andyhop wrote: »

tanking has been around for 10+ years

no grout or adhesive is 100% waterproof

do a job correctly and it will last, skimp on basic materials and it wont

Yes, but showers, baths and basins have been around for even longer and have been fine without tanking the walls . (Yes, it has been suggested that the entire bathroom be tanked!).

No waterproof tent or clothing is 100% waterproof either, but both waterproof fabric and grouting will hopefully cope with short bursts of light spray. If the tiles were under standing water e.g. on the floor of a wet-room then that would be a different matter.

TomsMom

andyhop wrote: »

find you local ctd store bal wp1 kit is £38.99+vat this month

Thanks Andy. Does that mean we need the whole kit or could we have just the coating?

Do you know if you can buy it from CTD online? We are in north Wales and there isn't a showroom near us.

OH spoke to the builder this morning who said they never use waterproof plasterboard and they install shower trays and seal them twice and have not had one leak (he's talking about 6 and 8 years).

This house we are renovating had lots of problems, one of them being that the shower had leaked previously and there was a lot of mould and ceilings that needed replacing. The new shower cubicle is in a different part of the bathroom and is directly above part of the lounge (previous one was above the downstairs WC). This renovation is costing a lot of money and I suppose I want to be safe rather than sorry as I don't fancy lots of expensive works in future years if it ever did leak.