Waterproofing a shower

[Hybrid]

I have recently discovered that my shower is leaking. I was under the house while the shower was running and saw about four trickles of water constantly leaking external to the waste pipe (coming down from the floor). I have a loose floor tile in the corner of my shower, along with sections of grout missing on the lower wall tiles. Where the floor tiles meet the wall tiles, there are several areas which look a little suspicious and could potentially be leak paths. With the house having the orignal bathroom from 1979 I suspect the waterproofing may not be up to scratch.

After some consideration about the best method to correct this problem, I think I would prefer to fix it once, fix it properly. I would also like to modernise the bathroom anyway and have started investigating the costs involved. Problem is though, I am very naive and have no idea how much things cost.

1. What exactly would a waterproofer need to do if I was to rip all the bathroom tiles out myself?

2. How much would this cost?

3. If I wanted to reuse the existing bath, can I leave it in place and only change the tiles around it? Would I need to remove it to renew the waterproofing?

4. How much do frameless shower screens cost? Do they leak alo t of water at the edges?

To give you some extra information; Shower is in the north east corner of the room, bath is in the south east corner. Bath backs onto the shower. There is an existing hob under the existing sliding shower door. There is a small tiled wall (not sure of the proper name for this wall) which separates the shower from the bath (bath backs onto this wall). I do not wish to alter any of the plumbing locations in the bathroom. My intention is to waterproof properly, retile, new shower screen, and new vanity.

Cheers.

[johnc]

Just about finished a complete bathroom reno, turned seperate toilet and bathroom into one room approx 2.5 x 3.1. Didn't even try to save the walls, stripped the lot back to the studs, with all new fittings. went for a semi frameless shower. Semi was about half the price of frameless and does away with water leaking under the door. The lot is tiled to within 300mm of the cornice so approx 30sq m of tiles. As to question of cost about 6K but depending on fittings the price could vary a lot in either direction. We altered the position of taps etc and this added a fair bit to the price, those plumbers know how to add up a bill!

Victoria is different to NSW when it comes to waterproofing but I would have thought you could leave the bath in place if you wished. It can be left sitting in its frame even if you rehang the wall sheets. If you have loose tiles you may be able to pop them off the wall, some adhesive would withstand explosive, other types of the era become brittle and wouldn't withstand a strong breeze. If your walls or floor are brick or concrete getting tiles up can be tough work.



John

[Hybrid]

Thanks John. I share your concerns about the floor tiles too. I suspect they will be hard to lift up. Any tips here?

I intend to leave the wall in tact and simply retile (fingers crossed things work out this way). Any idea what is involved in the waterproofing process? It is a matter of simply brushing several coats of a flexible, warter proof sealant onto the wall when they are clean and drry? Or is there more to it?

[journeyman Mick]

Hybrid,
do a bit of a search on this forum for waterproofing, there's been some longish threads with lots of question and answers which will probably answer most of your questions (as well as a few you probably hadn't thought of yet) ;)

Mick

[hardwoodjoint]

I'm a Property Manager and we have used Megaseal to waterproof showers. They give a gurantee. Try giving them a call.

[mcfu tom]

I did our bathroom about 18 months ago. It was in brick walls. We ended up stripping everything out and redid the floor and ceiling. Well worth it in the end.
With waterproofing there are minimum requirements under the building code and it is more involved than just applying the waterproof membrane. You also need to use reinforced tape at the corner and floor junctions. This is where the membrane is most likely to fail later. I got our tiler to do the membrane so he was happy with what he ended up tiling over.
You should be able to leave the bath in place as long as you redo the membrane and seal to the lip of the bath engaged into the wall face so that the tiles drain into the bath.
Ours cost about $10,000 all up but we replaced everything including the ceiling and moved the fixtures around. We were able to do most of the grunt work.
Good luck
Tom

[Pulse]

Hybrid, It is pretty cheap and easy to waterproof a leaking shower, if you want to retile though, strip it back to framing, it is not much more expensive and lets you put in things like more powerpoints etc easily. You will probably also make holes in the wall as you are getting the tiles off.
To do a shower:

remove the screen and all floor tiles. Remove the bottom row or so of wall tiles also. remove the waste being careful not to drop stuff in. Check the hob, you may need to remove the tiles from the top of it also.

Vacuum the floor and patch any holes. You then do the waterproofing. First is a bond breaker. This can be a bead of sealant or 50mm wide tape. It allows the membrane to stretch over a larger distance allowing for movement between wall and floor. Then apply membrane as per instructions. Reinforce corners and into waste pipe with woven matting. Reinstall a new waste and tile it.

If you want a proper job you need to go up 1800 in the corner of the shower. Also check pipes for leaks.

Should cost $200 or so and a couple of weekends (waiting for drying)

Cheers
Pulse

[al2]

I waterproofed my shower with a fibreglass kit (its the one where you paint on some of the rubbery material and then lay the fibreglass mesh and then coat it with another layer or the rubbery stuff) some 15 years ago. I have noticed that there are some leaks around the base of the hob (brick). What's the best way to re do the job:-
1.Do I have to pull out all the old fibreglass stuff or just pry out the tiles and place some waterproofing stuff on top of the old stuff befire retiling.
2. I'm sure after 15 years there must be some better stuff around
3. Also is it advisable to put down some flashing (metallic stuff) at the corners.
4. Apart from Bunnings where else can I see whats available in the market
5. Maybe could I use a shower base instead?

[Pulse]

I'd strip it back to a stable base and start afresh. A metal angle won't improve the waterproofing. The key is the bondbreaker. I think most people suggest the woven polyester mat since it has more give. The fibreglass makes the membrane more rigid. Also consider moving the screen to the inside face of the hob, which is where the standards suggest to put it.

Pulse

[Hybrid]

Well I have bit the bullet over the weekend and decided to gut the bathroom and renovate. I have removed all tiles from the walls and floor. Glad I did as I found the stud wall to be more water damaged than first thought. Going to have to completely replace the stud wall where the shower was. The bottoms of all the studs are that rotted that there is actually no timber left. The worst wall is actually hanging from the upper frame at ceiling level.

Thanks to all thouse that have provided information on DIY waterproofing. Even though I now have a greater understanding of the practice of waterproofing a shower, I do not feel confident enough to do it myself. I would have greater peace of mind if I called in a professional to do this for me.

One further question I now have though; Does any form of waterproofing need to be carried out prior to installing new villaboard on the new stud wall? The old shower had what I think are black polyester strips at all the corners under the existing villaboard. I presume that a similar thing needs to be installed prior to the walls being fixed to the studs?

Also, I was thinking of going hobless. From what I understand hobless is ok so long as kids don't try to make the shower into a bath. Other than this I have not read any down points about hobless. Anything here that I am not taking into consideration?

[Pulse]

Hybrid, Get some information from the manufacturers. The james hardie website has heaps of info, so does the CSR residential installation manual. All of these are free PDFs. they have sections through the wall, floor junction showing all the components. Hobless just needs an accurately placed aluminium angle flush with the top of the tiles, directly under the shower screen. This is covered by the membrane which continues onto the main floor. The best information is from AS 3740 - Guide to waterproofing wet areas within residential buildings, but it costs so try the free stuff first.

Good luck, just do it step by step

Cheers
Pulse

[graemecarson]

I'm probably too late but you should really get hold of the AS3740 document - even if it is only to make sure you do the right job for your style of walls and floor. There's a lot more required than just a waterstop in a hobless set up. AS3740 lays it out quite simply and clearly and has both tables and diagrams to guide you on what is needed. In Queensland you need to be licensed to do waterproofing because if it aint done absolutely right - it aint done. So - be careful- seek the best advice you can - and then if you can afford it get a pro in to do the job. It is critical.