Some advice on waterproofing a bathroom floor

[depreciator]

It occurred to me on the weekend when I was waterproofing the floor of my new bathroom that I was probably going overboard.
But lots of DIY guys go the other way and skimp on waterproofing, which is nuts given the problems a leaking bathroom can cause. Tradies often take shortcuts on waterproofing and the problems don't become apparent till they have long gone.
Waterproofing stuff is cheap, but it takes a bit of time to do properly.
This bathroom is a spare one outside in our yard - next to the building I'm renovating. So it's not even inside the house.
I first made sure there were no holes or high spots.
Then I primed it all.
Then I did the edges and 100mm up the walls with matting and blue goop.
Then I did the floor with matting and blue goop.
Then the next day I did a second coat of blue goop.
I concentrated on the corners and the junctions where the floor meets the walls.
And I did the whole room. A lot of people say it's really just the shower area that needs doing, but it's not expensive so in the three PPOR bathrooms I have done I always done the whole thing. I figure once you have blue goop all over your hands and bits of matting stuck in your hair you might as well keep going.
I'll do the walls next. The corners will be taped.

 

[nww]

If you get any pro's in for the tiling etc I suspect they will think or say you have gone overboard but its good you will have peace of mind for years to come..

 

[boeman]

Doing my bathroom at the moment.

The waterproofing mob we use at work got given a carton and waterproofed the entire room up to about 300mm from cornice (full height tiling).

Personally think you have done the right thing, because as you mentioned, you do not want water leaks.

 

[depreciator]

The tile bed will go down before I get a tiler, so much of my over zealous waterproofing will be something only I (and you lot) know about.
Some people advocate waterproofing over the screed, and some under.
My plumber mate, who I have known since we were kids and who only does bathrooms, is from the 'membrane under the screed' school.

 

[Scott No Mates]

The tile bed will go down before I get a tiler, so much of my over zealous waterproofing will be something only I (and you lot) know about.
Some people advocate waterproofing over the screed, and some under.
My plumber mate, who I have known since we were kids and who only does bathrooms, is from the 'membrane under the screed' school.

The last MBA CPD course pointed out that even if you apply a membrane to the floor as you did, the Aust Std calls for it to be graded to the waste, so you should put in a second one over the screed. The issue being, if you have moisture penetration through the tile/joints the bed will become saturated and the water will find a way out either through a pinprick or over any threshold.

As for the height of the membrane, I haven't checked but I recall it being 150 mm (but need to confirm with my notes).

It is a requirement to waterproof the entire floor, not just the shower hob, as well the full areas of the shower walls plus 500 mm outside of the walls of the shower recess or bathtub, and behind basins.

For liquid membranes, there is a little gauge which you poke into the layer when wet to check the thickness.

 

[depreciator]

Yep, the concrete base has a fall on it.

It is a requirement to waterproof the entire floor, not just the shower hob, as well the full areas of the shower walls plus 500 mm outside of the walls of the shower recess or bathtub, and behind basins.

Yep. But a lot of people don't do it - I have seen the shortcuts often. Sometimes I have seen them before the tiling gets done, other times I have seen them when the tiles have been pulled off to fix a leaking bathroom.

 

[travelbug]

I don't think it's over kill at all. Our tiler covers the whol floor with a generous amount of waterproofing membrane.

It surprises me when I see people post photos of their bathroom renos and they have a thin layer of waterproofing slapped on along the edges only. You can see through it a lot of times. I wonder how long before it starts leaking.

I like things done properly.

 

[Scott No Mates]

. but it saves money. (until you have to rip out the tiles.

 

[Scott No Mates]

Requirements for Waterproofing Bathrooms
The Building Code of Australia and the Australia Standard (AS 3740-1994) outline the minimum requirements for the waterproofing in residential bathrooms. These requirements include:

waterproofing the full floor within the shower recess
at least 100mm over the hob or step down onto the bathroom floor should be waterproofed
at least 150mm up the walls inside the shower walls needs to be waterproofed
the vertical angle between any two walls in the shower needs to be waterproofed up to at least 1800mm high

 

[Daniel 101]

I'm a waterproofer. If you have any questions, Id be more than happy to answer them. I usally cringe when a homeowner has a go at doing there own waterproofing, as many of you know the dramas of not doing it right the first time. I also cringe when I see what some other waterproofers do. No pride in there work.

Depreciator, it sounds like you have done everything right, prep is the key and half the job in my opinion. Just ensure that you have waterproofed in an angle at the door to top of finished tile height. I thought I was the only person that matted the whole shower base. Lol but I bet you didn't double mat the wall floor joint in shower.

I have sat back and learned so much from all the people that contribute to this forum. Its fantastic, so thanks everyone. Its great to meet people that are out there securing there financial freedom.

 

[depreciator]

but I bet you didn't double mat the wall floor joint in shower.

I did.

I had spare matting and I was on a roll and already had blue stuff and bits of matting all over me so I kept going.
Haven't done the internal and external corners, but I'll be using angles - stainless (they're not all that much more expensive).
Given this is a dunny/shower/laundry out in the backyard, I want it to be a hose out room. The shower base falls to the waste, but the rest of the room falls gradually to the external door and outside.

 

[Daniel 101]

Great work.

Want a job haha. Your better than 90% of the industry.

 

[Scott No Mates]

He's a qs so he better have learnt a thing or two about everything at uni. But there's nothing like actually doing it to put theory into practice.

 

[pinkboy]

I prefer K-10 myself, a green goop!

Looks pretty bomb proof there.

Problem with (some) tilers is they get the 1st year apprentice to waterproof (for their first year ), so they don't always have the knack to get it right. Just like grouting (another 1st year job). A good tiling job can be destroyed by a $h!t grout job, but an ordinary tiling job can be dressed up by good grouting.


pinkboy