It might sound scary, and it might be more than you have bargained for.

Behind your wall tiles in your shower is a waterproof membrane, this is designed to keep water from affecting the structural integrity of the wall lining that the tiles are adhered to, so is the membrane leaking? If not what could possible go wrong?

When the walls are waterproofed before the tiles are laid the waterproofer will check to make sure there are no holes, no nicks and that the membrane is good ready for tiling, because if there were a hole or a gap it would surely be filled and fixed, RIGHT , not quite.

All too often the gap around the penetrations is overlooked, why because they are a grey area, could be the tilers responsibility, or the plumbers responsibility, all to often they are left as a gap and this is what can happen

 

 

No one filled the gap and water leaked back into the wall, just like this job, the client said some of her grout was cracking, and the walk in wardrobe smelt musty.  Strip out all the tiles redo the bottom plate, new wall lining , new tiles.

Aprox $10 000.00 to fix, yes she loves her new bathroom but would have preferred to have $10 k still in her back pocket.

So why does this happen?, because if you saw a gap in the wall and membrane you would surely fix it!

Its because tilers / waterproofer’s sometime think that some one else will do it, or there training courses don’t really explain the dangers. It is always, always best practice to make sure all penetrations are sealed and waterproofed around, some mixers even have a encasement that can stop water from entering the wall cavity, so if there is a gap don’t leave it for some else to fill, because if you waterproof it, you own it.