M
mndrsn
I have been renovating bathrooms in Australia for over 30 years and on returning to the UK was intrigued by the phrase wet room.Over there all bathrooms are completely waterproofed,ie all shower walls,the whole bathroom floor area and a minimum of 200mm return up all perimeter walls with the waterproofing returning down all floor wastes,the use of acrylic based waterproofing was used for years but is now banned as it can breakdown over the years if water finds its way between the wall and floor tile junction,rendering the waterproofing useless.Some of the waterproofing systems here are a joke!!A polyurethane ? based waterproofing system or two part system is now the norm or a system where a 3mm liner is manufactured on site to perform the waterproofing.Also all timber floors are replaced with a 20mm compressed cement based cellulose sheeting,bloody heavy and all walls lined with 6mm villa board or 10mm for supporting really heavy tiles similar to the backing board available in the UK that is manufactured by the Australian company James Hardie,and is available in all lengths up to 4.2 mtrs and widths of 1200mm and 1350mm.Any sort of plasterboard designed for bathrooms is rubbish and it all breaks down if water manages to get to it.The use of shower trays is rarely the norm as most bathrooms have all the areas tiled with falls to the shower waste and falls to a waste incorperated in the bathroom floor.All floors are screeded to minimum of 40mm,with the correct falls and the waterproofing applied afterwards as whats the point of being waterproofed if water does get onto the waterproofing and just lies on a flat surface!! I know in the UK this system is rarely used as all floor tiles seem to be stuck down to a flat surface but I have done several bathrooms here doing it the Aussie way and all the clients have been impressed and have been asked quite a few times to look at bathrooms/wet rooms that are leaking.and can only suggest that it all gets ripped out and done properly.This is why I find it annoying when I see ads How to be a tiler in 3 days. Rubbish!!! I have held a contactors license for 29 years and it is still a trade with a 3 year apprentiship
over there,you need to hold a qualified trade license to work on private homes,contracts which give the client a 7 year guarantee.Since when has tiling been just sticking wall and floor tiles down,a monkey can do that.That's why you can't get the proper rate here and that's why so many problems with wet/bathrooms are happening.It seems to many people base the job on price and not on quality.
over there,you need to hold a qualified trade license to work on private homes,contracts which give the client a 7 year guarantee.Since when has tiling been just sticking wall and floor tiles down,a monkey can do that.That's why you can't get the proper rate here and that's why so many problems with wet/bathrooms are happening.It seems to many people base the job on price and not on quality.
Last edited by a moderator:
