I’m an old stickler for things, so if I don’t know something, I ask, then LISTEN, until I’ve got it right in my swede.
It really is a simple way of learning about something.
Judging by some of the conversations I have observed recently, this would appear to be a fast-disappearing trait of human nature.
While in a tile shop, strangely enough, queuing up to buy some tiles, I was ear-wigging the conversation between the salesman and his customers in front of me, a family with one child (present), regarding their DIY shower installation.
“What are you going to put the tiles on to?” asked the salesman.
– They are going straight on to a plastered wall!
“What are you sealing the wall with?”
– Just going to coat the walls with PVA
“That will not hold the tiles, it will turn to mush with the plaster and they’ll drop off!”
– So it won’t seal the wall?
“No!”
– What would you suggest?
“Well many people use those concrete based boards…” points at a pile of said boards, “They can hold up to 35 kilograms”
– How much would a wall of tiles weigh?
Clicking on his calculator, “Well going off the measurements you’ve provided, each wall will have around 25 kilograms of weighted tiles on them”
– How much can a plastered wall hold?
“If properly sealed before tiling, around 20 Kilograms!”
– Not with PVA?
“No not with PVA, it will turn your plaster into mush and the tiles will drop off!”
– I don’t want to use boards… turning to her husband, it’s only a little bit less in weight, what do you think?
Husband shrugs shoulders and says nothing.
– No I think we’ll just PVA the walls, it should be ok!
The first thing I thought about was an extra 5 kilograms of weight on each wall, over the quite clear instructions given by the salesman, that it wouldn’t be strong enough to hold the weight of the tiles.
Then I tried to picture what other things would weigh 5kg?
One of those huge bags of sugar? Just over half a sack of potatoes (11lbs)?
That’s quite a lot of weight I thought.
Factor in the heat and condensation created by a shower, the tiniest crack in the grout and you’ve got water getting into the plaster/PVA combo, weakening it still further.
I then thought about the poor people who come along after, to deal with it all, when they’ve sold or rented the house and the tiles drop off and water gets in behind the enclosure and tiling that Mr Shoulder-shrugger has built.
What if it’s going into a first floor flat?
Would it affect the neighbours?
I remembered someone I knew, fitted a shower enclosure into their own house, in just over a day.
All was well until they moved out, a couple of years later.
I over-heard the building inspector talking on the phone outside the house, saying that under the base of the shower the flooring was bowed (the shower base had been installed on top of the flooring, instead of on triple ply board between the joists (stops movement), water had got in and the whole bathroom flooring and two of the joists would have to be replaced!
I bet it cost an absolute fortune!
The salesman brought out the tiles on a truck and off they went to load them in their over-sized pick-up/car.
While waiting for the salesman to return, this brought to mind another trait of the human race I’ve noticed more often recently… the, “You’re a reet lemon!” opinion, normally of myself.
This is where you do things properly, either by experience or tread carefully as it’s your first time, yet are belittled for it.
Something as big as a shower installation, requires quite a bit of thought.
Yes, I can pay someone to come in, thousands of pounds to do the job, but they’ll want to get the job done as quickly as possible for them, then move on.
They may not necessarily do the job to a decent spec and results in more expense further down the line, say in a couple of years, putting right what should have been done in the first place.
When building a shower enclosure, it’s important to protect against leaks, rotten joists and woodwork behind the tiles will result in the whole lot having to be taken down and done again.
Not to mention having to replace a joist and the work that would involve (cutting one or two ceilings, plaster boarding then replastering, taking the rotten joist out putting a new joist in, supports, etc.
The base needs to be bedded on sand & cement, so it doesn’t crack. If there is a leak, then for the price of a bag of lime, some is mixed in with sand and cement, which allows it to expand and contract with the heat, it also will prevent it deteriorating in the future if water does get behind the tiling (lime is a very good water repellent).
The walls of the enclosure need to be based on concrete boarding, so that it can repel water and be strong enough to hold the tiling in place, which in today’s world is not the small square white tiles anymore, but huge, thick, patterned tiling, which weigh considerably more.
A little care and prep work can make all the difference between a two year lasting shower enclosure and one that will last ten years plus. Reducing further costs down the line.
To me this is common sense, to others this is me not knowing what I’m doing and fannying around.
We live in an “I want it now!” instant world, which is not always the best option.
Having a little faith, that I just may know a little bit about what I’m doing, would go a long way!