Moisture Barrier Shower Floor

There are a number of reasons for having a vapor barrier in the shower but they all revolve around making sure moisture doesn t penetrate where it can do damage to the fabric and structure of the house.

Moisture barrier shower floor.

A vapor barrier in your shower will save the walls of the shower or the bathroom. A very simple experiment to show how a vapor barrier works is to lay a. Moisture and condensation are the two biggest problems to contend with when building a new shower. An extremely effective moisture vapor retarder for use in a variety of interior construction applications.

In simple terms a vapor barrier is a material that won t allow moisture to pass through it such as plastic sheeting. Liquid waterproofing should be applied to all surfaces in the shower area that meet water or moisture. The worst case scenario for your waterproofing strategy is to be redundant behind and over your tile substrate by applying or installing a water resistant barrier. Most commonly used beneath wood flooring ceramic tile and stone veneer or as a membrane on walls counter tops and residential showers.

A moisture barrier should keep moisture from entering behind your installed shower walls more importantly it should encourage it downward into the shower pan. My house is on a concrete slab and the shower was constructed with a mortar bed smooth river rock was used for the shower floor and cement board with a vapor barrier was used on the walls. I recently noticed some wet drywall at the base of the shower on the outside corners of the enclosure. Sub floor barrier slows moisture migration and helps prevent buckling cupping and cracking.

Before tile can be installed on shower walls a moisture barrier must. I basically paint all of the surfaces that will receive tile in the shower including horizontal areas exposed to moisture such as shower benches shelving half walls niches and especially the shower floor. It s something that s vital to protect your house. The industry standard as well as most local building codes do not encourage the use of a vapor barrier behind and over the tile substrate.