Shower fitting - Standard Plasterboard + tanking?

danoriordan1402

Hey there
I am getting a new shower in - its going into a room that previous was a bedroom and is plasterboarded and skimmed. Would the best option be to use a tanking system in place with the existing "normal" plasterboard or should I get the waterproof slabs and board over the area. Its an upstairs shower so am paranoid about leaks.

DublinDilbert

Tank the area, how much is the tanking kit? €60? But even after tanking, I would still use a classy seal behind the tray and be careful with the bottom row of tiles to make sure everything is ok.

You could just fit a fiberglass shower pod which is completely sealed, have a look on adverts there's some for sale there. A complete unit walls and tray as 1. No chance of it ever leaking, ever. It also saves on tiling / grouting / cleaning. If also means you don't have to tile the rest of the room if you don't want to!

The next shower I do i'd be very tempted to use some sort of pod system.

tom1ie

danoriordan1402 wrote: »

Hey there
I am getting a new shower in - its going into a room that previous was a bedroom and is plasterboarded and skimmed. Would the best option be to use a tanking system in place with the existing "normal" plasterboard or should I get the waterproof slabs and board over the area. Its an upstairs shower so am paranoid about leaks.

I’m doing the exact same but I’m attaching magnesium board (basically a cement board) to the skimmed plasterboard, then I am tanking this mag board, then tiling over that. Some people would say overkill but I don’t care it’s upstairs, albeit on a concrete floor.

DublinDilbert

tom1ie wrote: »

I’m doing the exact same but I’m attaching magnesium board (basically a cement board) to the skimmed plasterboard, then I am tanking this mag board, then tiling over that. Some people would say overkill but I don’t care it’s upstairs, albeit on a concrete floor.

Magnesium board is already waterproof, surely you could just tape up the joints with the proper tape and over the screw heads? Apparently, the tape for sealing it is very good. Its very nice stuff to tile on.

BTW make sure to get a shower tray with an upstand so the tile / magnesium board goes over the tray, this will pretty much ensure there's no leak.

tom1ie

DublinDilbert wrote: »

Magnesium board is already waterproof, surely you could just tape up the joints with the proper tape and over the screw heads? Apparently, the tape for sealing it is very good. Its very nice stuff to tile on.

BTW make sure to get a shower tray with an upstand so the tile / magnesium board goes over the tray, this will pretty much ensure there's no leak.

As far as I remember you still have to tank the mag board as it’s highly water resistant not waterproof if ya get me. Also I’m putting in a Wet room tray so the tray is butted up against the mag board and the flexible tanking tape creates the seal between mag board and wet room tray.

Tigerandahalf

Tiles are a nuisance in the shower. Once the grout gets discoloured or mouldy it is very hard to clean it and whiten it without damaging the grout. I'd prefer a glass surround.

How high does the tanking go up?

tom1ie

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Tiles are a nuisance in the shower. Once the grout gets discoloured or mouldy it is very hard to clean it and whiten it without damaging the grout. I'd prefer a glass surround.

How high does the tanking go up?

What would you have on the other 3 walls? Or do you mean a full glass enclosure out in the middle of the room?
I’m putting the tanking up the height of the wall purely because I will have a ceiling mounted shower head, and to allow for condensation within the shower enclosure. To help with this I have installed an extractor fan within the shower enclosure on the ceiling. A