waterproof

Installation of Laticrete Linear Drain (Part 2)

72 hours. That’s the answer to your question. 72 hours. Three days. Your question, by the way, is ‘Now that I have my linear drain in and my shower deck fabricated how long do I have to wait before installing my Laticrete HydroBan to waterproof everything?’ That’s a great question! 72 hours. If you don’t [...]

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Installation of Laticrete Linear Drain (Part 1)

The wonderful folks at Laticrete sent me a linear drain to play with. And you know me – I bastardized it until it was virtually unrecognizable, ran it through the paces and did things you really shouldn’t do with nice, high-end products like this. And it survived. Word on the street is that they read [...]

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Waterproofing fixture cutouts in shower tile

One of the problems with waterproofing a shower is the fact that you NEED to have holes in it. The cutouts for the shower head, shower or bath controls and any other fancy stuff you saw in that magazine. The problem with holes in a waterproof shower is that they make it not so waterproof. [...]

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Shower Waterproofing Manuals

I’ve finally gone and done something worthwhile! Well, that’s a matter of opinion, I guess, namely mine. I have written complete manuals on properly building and waterproofing your shower utilizing the different waterproofing methods. Each manual describes a specific method so you don’t get bogged down with a bunch of information you don’t need for [...]

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Shower Tile Basics or Shower Tile 101

I get a LOT of questions from my readers about basic shower construction. I understand that my readers don’t consider this stuff basic and there’s no problem with that. The problem is that I end up answering the same questions over and over and over… So, to save what very little is left of my [...]

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Location of Weep Holes in Tile Installations

Another request from one of my readers, this time concerning weep holes. As you may know I answer every question I’m asked here on my site when I sober up get home from work. I have tried to explain in the comments section several times where to create weep holes in a tub or shower [...]

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How to Build a Niche for your Shower – Part 2

Waterproofing Just look at you! Sitting there with a hole in the wall of your shower. What are we gonna do with you? If you do not happen to be sitting there with a hole in the shower of your wall read How to Build a Niche for your Shower – Part 1 and join [...]

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How to Create a Shower Floor – Part 2

Now that you have your curb built and your pre-slope done (if you haven’t done this yet check out How to create a shower floor, Part 1) you are ready to install your waterproof liner. Purchasing a waterproof liner When you order or buy your liner you need to get one large enough for your [...]

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Installing Redgard on Shower Walls for Tile

Elastomeric or liquid waterproofing membranes are one of the most convenient methods of waterproofing shower walls before installing tile. These membranes consist of products such as Custom Building Products’ Redgard and Laticrete’s Hydrobarrier and Hydroban and Mapei’s Aquadefense. I will refer to all the membranes as Redgard for the purposes of this post, but they [...]

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Installing Cement Backerboard for Tile in a Shower

Installing cement backerboard is one of the more popular choices for a shower wall substrate. Cement backerboards include Hardiebacker, Durock, Fiberboard, wonderboard, and similar products. These materials bridge the gap between expense and effectiveness. When installed properly they will give you many, many years of durable shower construction. The advantage of cement backerboards is that, [...]

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Preparing a Shower Wall for Tile

If you need to decide which method is best for you I have a free shower waterproofing manual that you can download here. Shower waterproofing manual. Go get it – it’s free! And I’m not gonna use one of those damn annoying pop-ups! I hate those things… There are several ways to prepare the wall [...]

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Tile is NOT Waterproof

A common misconception about tile and grout is that they are waterproof. Once you install tile in your shower you have a big waterproof box that will last forever. Ummm, no. Tile and stone (as well as grout) will actually retain water. How much water it retains is directly related to the density of the [...]

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