Hi guys, 1st post so go easy and thanks in advance.

No I'm no professional tiler, I'm actually a retired mechanical/electrical engineer. However I have dabbled in every area of construction all my working life.

I an going to do a wetroom in my daughters property, Ist floor ensuite jobby. Now I've looked at all the diy systems available and they still seem an expensive route so I want to take advantage of the fact that I have time and patience and don't mind the messy route, ie to tank out the floor and part walls in laminated fibre glass, ie woven cloth and water resistant resin. I have enough experience with this stuff having tanked out sub ground level garages and made fibre glass body parts for track cars I have owned.

The construction of the room doesn't phase me, I have looked into the drainage side and have several options, but, how do I successfully tile over a cured fibre glass tray??????

A bit like tiling the rough side of a plastic bath tub

Cheers for now

there are many different systems out there, Fibreglass isn't the easiest option (I know i've had to do enough repairs to my boat)

If I was you Cyclone, I'd go for durabase wp, got to be cheaper and less messy than fibreglass. I'm not even sure if any adhesive wold bond successfully to fibreglass

as doug has said you will have trouble finding a adh to stick also any type of garantee

First thoughts were to agree with Doug and Jay until I googled tanking with fibreglass, seems to be used quite a lot if the link below is anything to go by, I would have thought the smell of the chemicals would be overbearing and it seems a lot of work when other easier products are available.
My choice would be a tanking membrane with a pre formed tray.



Fibreglass Roofs Fibre Glass Windows Showers Glassfibre Tanking Systems :: Fearon Fibreglass Ltd
Fearon Fibreglass - Dublin 14 - fibreglass waterproofing dublin fibreglass tankin fibreglassed roofs fibreglass work

hi cyclone and welcome to tf

tubbed adhesive dries by water dispersion and is not suitable for this situation

which leaves powdered adhesive which cures by chemical reaction

there is a danger that if chemicals are present in the substrate they can efffect the curing and adhesion of the addy

ive used fibregalss to repair a boat and its an i nvolved process as you know

tanking is easier , cheaper and is designed to take addv

if you can fibreglass you can tank

I was asked to tile a fibreglass jacuzzi years ago and put the question to BAL with regards adhesive?

They recommended sanding the surface of the fibreglass to give a key then fix with Fastflex I've just got in touch with BAL technical for you and await their response - I'll let you know when they get back to me.

Originally Posted by merlecollins

I was asked to tile a fibreglass jacuzzi years ago and put the question to BAL with regards adhesive?

They recommended sanding the surface of the fibreglass to give a key then fix with Fastflex I've just got in touch with BAL technical for you and await their response - I'll let you know when they get back to me.

Why not mapei technical merle? Site sponsor and all that.

bal technical are very good

but they couldnt tell me how much weight per m2 their render will support

they just said it depends on substrate and application

Why not mapei technical merle? Site sponsor and all that.

You know what, bloody good question that no way intentional, just had BAL in my mind as i had worked with them before on fibreglass
If you go back through my posts I'm a Mapei man.......

Wow, thanks for all the responses, only been a couple of hours

The warnings re smell and "messiness", I'm aware of and I won't dismiss them lightly, but I'm certain for less than a £100 I can mould out the whole floor and the wet wall area. Merle, thanks for your ongoing help.

If I do give up on this what would the next most cost effective solution be, ie which tanking materials, brands etc to use.

A little more detail;
the room is about 8ft by 6ft, very sound and dry 3/4 tongue and groove pine flooring. Because the bedroom has a solid oak block floor I can use 3/4" ply over the boards and plane a fall into the triangulation to the drain if you get what I mean.

This would be effective with either glass or other tanking.

The stink of fibrre glass for a few weeks was the biggest worry

Why don't you get a wet room tray rather than try to skimp on somethink which may be an inafective means to an end

Originally Posted by whitebeam

Why don't you get a wet room tray rather than try to skimp on somethink which may be an inafective means to an end

If I honestly thought it would be ineffective I would not consider going that route, just trying to be "cost effective"

Any tips on alternative tanking materials/suppliers?, I do fancy doing it this way rather than using a preformed tray.

Cheers again,

you could have a word to wetdeck send him a pm on here

Originally Posted by cyclonebri1

If I honestly thought it would be ineffective I would not consider going that route, just trying to be "cost effective"

Any tips on alternative tanking materials/suppliers?, I do fancy doing it this way rather than using a preformed tray.

Cheers again,

I don't think the tray itself would be ineffective, if fact I’d think it would do its job very well, I wouldn't like to comment on how suitable it is to tile onto as I have never tried, so I'd seek the advice of any adhesive manufacturers that you plan to use.

I doubt you'd find many tilers that have ever done this as to a professional it is anything but cost effective, regardless of the material costs the labour involved in making a tray and then fibre glassing it far outweigh saving a a couple of hundred quid in materials - The end cost to a customer would be far greater taking this into account.

It really depends on your circumstances, I understand you are doing this for your daughter and you may have time on your hands so it might work out cheaper for you.

Sometimes tradesmen are asked to do something a bit out of the ordinary and 'bespoke' so we research the market for products and if nothing exists then we may make something up that we feel will work and often this may come about by applying logic from other areas of life, much like you having worked with fibreglass, feel it would do a good job. Although we would discuss with the customer that it is untested and would they like to take the risk. But in this instance there are products on the market, in fact there are quite a few, which are tried and tested and designed for the job so as professionals you opt for this option as it's often cheaper, quicker and guaranteed if installed correctly.

Good luck with whatever you decide and let us know how it went and what the adhesive manufacturers said

about the only adh that would be suitable would be epoxy (not cheap) if you do go fiberglass get some clean sharp sand and trowel in to finish coat before it drys to help give a bit more key have seen this done good luck

Originally Posted by jay

about the only adh that would be suitable would be epoxy (not cheap) if you do go fiberglass get some clean sharp sand and trowel in to finish coat before it drys to help give a bit more key have seen this done good luck

You know Jay that was at the back of my mind. I've got most gear, inc sand blasting. When I tanked out a sub level garage many years ago I applied sand before the final render coat. Could blast that onto the wet epoxy face??

Having said that, the posts receivced so far have given me several more options

just a note on fiberglass just n case you go with it.
i live in ireland and tile on fiberglass quite often.i dont do fiberglassing but sand is used for extra key.
the smell only lasts a day or two.we use bondmaster adhesive over here and its fine for fiberglass.any of the white bagged adhesive would do id say.
finally the lads on here have more experience than me so best of luck with job.

Originally Posted by macken

just a note on fiberglass just n case you go with it.
i live in ireland and tile on fiberglass quite often.i dont do fiberglassing but sand is used for extra key.
the smell only lasts a day or two.we use bondmaster adhesive over here and its fine for fiberglass.any of the white bagged adhesive would do id say.
finally the lads on here have more experience than me so best of luck with job.

Mack, I think that rounds it up then, cheers. I have all the answers to the question I asked. Thanks to all.


Can I just say what a pleasant change to come on a forum as a "newbie" and not be maligned, or shot down by so called professionals. Good on you guys

No problem Cyclonebri1

Don't be a stranger