penno

Going to do an on suite bathroom and have told the customer the power shower area will need tanking, will only cost him about £20-£30. Doesn't want it doing. I am tiling over plastered walls and have advised him that without tanking the water could go behind the tiles and create dampness resulting in damage to the area. Any advice on what i should do? I know he doesn't want it doing but i don't want it wrecked in a few months, still want my work to be first class. Told him i can't guarentee the work without tanking.

Fekin

While tanking does do a good job, I feel that it isn't always a must have job to be done for standard domestic bathrooms, compared to say sports center shower areas that have a far greater useage.

As long as you do a good grouting job then seal the grout afterwards I cannot see a problem not tanking.

Dave

totally agree with fekin....tile it as normal with white star adhesive and use a flexible grout....and as long as you warned customer then don't worry......this will usually be the case for most showers as not all people want to go to the expense of tanking...........dave..

McP77

On a technical level I sort of agree with the above as reading British Standards it doesn't explicitly state that a domestic shower has to be tanked. But it does state that plaster is not a suitable substrate for tiling onto in wet areas. I also believe that a domestic shower is one that is used for less than 10 minutes per day. A couple of people using a bathroom will probably be in there longer than that on a daily basis.

On a personal level I include tanking in the quotation, state that it is being done and don't give them the option to not have it. Starting a job in a couple of weeks time where previous tiler didn't tank and the tiles are now falling off. Customer really p***ed that tanking was never mentioned to him and thinks tiler is an idiot for not doing it.

Not sure what to advise you in your situation as I don't want you to push tanking and end up losing the job but after seeing a demo of water penetrating water resistant grout and adhesive the plaster can get wet.

NETT Darren

The tiles are probably falling off due to poor fixing rather than not doing the tanking, it is recommended for power showers but so is epoxy grout and i bet not many touch that stuff. You can get away without the tanking as said above as long as AA adhesives and grouts are used. It comes down to your sales skills as to weather you can convince the customer to go for it. What you have to do is create a disaster then sell the solution, if you go to topps tiles and get one of there mags, they used to have a picture of the BAL WP1 tanking kit and a picture next to it of a wall that has been subjected to water penertration, show them that and that should convince them a little more to have it done. it will take a while for the walls to get to that state on the picture though

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McP77

With the greatest of respect the tiles are falling off because the plasterboard behind has disintegrated due to water damage. If the plasterboard had been tanked the water wouldn't have been able to destroy it. So perhaps more accurate to say that the wall is falling off rather than the tiles.

NETT Darren

How long has the tiles been on the wall, the water has to soak through the grout then soak through the adhesive as well, normally takes a while if the tiles have been fixed properly, could have been some pin holes or cracks in the grout that has caused more of a problem, still obviously better to have tanked it in the first place, trouble is some of the old time served trade boys wont know what tanking is to offer it, they get a bit stuck in their ways and dont follow up on the newer products on the market
I said some not ALL of the older ones before anyone starts getting at me

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McP77

Think the tiles have been on a few years (something like 2 or 3), but the shower has been used heavily over that time.

GazTech

In USA,new builds do not have plasterboard walls ,they now use backerboard instead.Backerboards dont perish the same as plasterboard.......It will be years before the same regulation comes to the UK as per chuffing usual !:icon8:

[B]"[I][COLOR=darkgreen]The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten[/COLOR][/I]"[/B]

Holohana

id maybe get customer to sign a disclaimer stating you suggested tanking but they declined. Give you piece of mind against any comebacks. As already stated good grouting and silicone etc should do the job in a domestic shower.

penno

What should i prime the wall and floors with? how long do i need to leave the primer before tiling on it?

ChaseTiling

Explain outcomes to the customer of tanking vs not tanking. If they choose not to have it done then write it into your invoice that this was the case. So if you do get the call back, you are covered to a degree. What you must remember is that putting this in the invoice is not an excuse for bad workmanship though

Tanking is rumoured to become part of building regs on new builds and renovations in the very near future by the way

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