Tanking a wetroom
When I was growing up, “tanking” was a bad thing. To “tank” was slang for “a very bad performance” as in “tanking on an exam” and “tanked in the final game”.
Anyway, it was with a bit of humor that I find the term “tanking” is also used describe the complete waterproofing of a bathroom when it will be functioning as a wetroom.
The farmhouse will have a wetroom in place of the bathroom.
The challenges have been a bit more than I expected. Do an internet search for “wetroom” and you find a lot of information - nearly 100% of the useful stuff is from the UK. After a lot of reading, I ended up doing more searches on the various materials and again, nearly everything useful was from the UK.So, if my research is right, I will end up with a tight and dry space - even with a lot of water flowing on the walls and floor.
The concrete slab in the bathroom will be sloped to the in floor drain. The walls will be covered in concrete wall board, taped and mudded. This work will be done by the contractor, then I take over. I will have to spray or roll two coats of RedGuard waterproofing on the floor and walls. This will include the base cabinet area of the sink. I’ll inspect the joint between the wall board and the floor. If it looks too sharp, I’ll add 6″ fiber mesh as a fillet with the RedGuard and all the significant angle changes. Once everything has cured, I’ll then be able to start the floor tiling and then the wall tiling.
The best photo series I’ve found so far - to give me an idea of what steps I’m in for - is a project completed by Harry Dunbar. (The photo credit for this post goes to Mr. Dunbar of Barrie, Ontario).
