Shower - waterproofing

[chocccie]

I'm just about to build a shower cubicle (three walls and a glass door).

I'm in two minds as to whether to use bathroom plasterboard or to use normal plasterboard and seal it with .... well, what would I seal it with? ... I know there is a product but not sure what it's called over here in France.  I guess this would be the cheaper options (I'm building two large shower cubicles, so the plasterboard route could be costly.

Cheers

 

[Pierre ZFP]

If you use the bathroom plasterboard you pay a bit more but do the job ONCE.  Anything else and you run a significant risk of having to do the job TWICE and buying the proper materials as well.  I'd bite the bullet and use the correct material, it's what it was developed for is it not?

The expression of losing a ship for want of halfpenny of tar springs to mind

[Alex H]

[quote user="chocccie"]

I know there is a product but not sure what it's called over here in France. 

[/quote]

Carrelage ? [:D]

[Clair]

[quote user="chocccie"]what would I seal it with? ... I know there is a product but not sure what it's called over here in France. [/quote]

There's this type of product, which is applied on the surface before tiling: http://www.xylochimie.fr/

[expat paul]

I did a similar shower not so long ago, and was advised to use Aquapanel (type of cement board I think) instead of green plasterboard. To this I put a layer of tanking material (I used kerdi), I did a quick google and found this website

http://www.schluter.co.uk/produkt.aspx?doc=8-1-kerdi.xml&pg=funktion

and then tiled. All the materials I bought at a builders merchant rather than a diy store.

It wasn't cheap but I was assured it will not leak.  

[chocccie]

Thanks for the replies folks.

I had a look in Bricomarche today ... the plasterboard was 25 Euro a piece and the liquid to form a waterproof membrane was 130 Euro for 10 kg.  Is this about the right price, or does anybody know of a bargain somewhere else (Mr Bricolage, etc).

Thanks

[Bobc]

"I'm just about to build a shower cubicle (three walls and a glass door).

I'm in two minds as to whether to use bathroom plasterboard or to use normal plasterboard and seal it with .... well, what would I seal it with? ... I know there is a product but not sure what it's called over here in France.  I guess this would be the cheaper options (I'm building two large shower cubicles, so the plasterboard route could be costly."

If you are building shower cubicles, large or otherwise then you need to use the correct materials as a base for the tiling.

Standard plasterboard should not be used anywhere in a bathroom. Green placo hydro should be used for any wall and ceiling areas that are going to be painted, rendered or otherwise decorated.

Shower cubicles should be constructed with waterproof panels such as those suggested by Expat Paul. We use panels from the German company Wedi www.wedi.de These are available from any decent French plumbers suppliers and cost around 30 Euros per m² which is a pretty low price for a material which is 100% waterproof, unlike green plasterboard.

To seal all the joints between the panels and the shower base you use a rubber tape which is bedded in with wall tile adhesive - this costs around 4,40 Euros per metre.

You then end up with a watertight shell which can be tiled and jointed.

If you are building a large walk-in shower then Wedi produce large preformed shower bases ready for tiling with an integral drain. Available in sizes up to 180 x 90 cm which can be extended by using additional floor panels.

For any large shower you need an efficient waste trap with preferably a 50mm waste pipe and also a good extractor system to remove the steam.

Forget paint-on finishes to waterproof plasterboard in showers. Tile joint is not waterproof and eventually water will get behind the tiles and the plasterboard will rot and disintegrate - green plasterboard will just take a little longer!

As others have said - do it once and do it right.

Regards,

Bob Clarke

www.legrindouxproperties.com

[BIG MAC]

Makes me wonder just how many of us have a bath mounted abutting a straightforward plasterboard wall without incident.

Whatever you use, make sure the tray is well bedded down then seal the tray to the wall with decent quality silicone (Dow Corning is ok) allow to go off then tile using decent quality adhesive (BAL Aqua is ok) Then grout with water resistant grout (BAL again do a decent one) Buff up tiles and clean away any dust  Then seal all tile to tray joints and vertical internal  angles with good silicone. The way to stop damp affecting plasterboard? Dont let it get damp in the first place. In an inherently dry buildinga all waterproof / resistant panelling does is provide peace of mind for those in doubt as to how well they did the job. In a damp farmhouse with no dry lining thats when these water resistant proof materials are really good at minimising water ingress from behind. I may not know much but I installed bathrooms and kitchens for quite a few years..no complaints...

[LEO]

I would be following Bic Mac's specification. It has been tried and tested in the uk for years