What are the Best Tips for Wet Room Tanking?

A wet room is essentially a shower upgrade with the whole area designed to be an extension of a bathroom. Wet room tanking is necessary to keep the area waterproof. Among the best wet room tanking tips include coating the walls and floors in the room with a primer; keraprimer is the most commonly used product. Two layers of a fiberglass/latex material known as kerafiber are then added before tiles are placed on the walls and floors. Cover the floor’s drain when keraprimer is being added with a tension ring installed afterward.

Ensure the walls are clean and dry before adding a layer of primer. Dilute the primer with water before application. Make sure that this mixture consists of half water and half primer. Apply the primer to the walls and allow it to dry for an hour. Following this, add a fiberglass material called kerafiber to the walls.

Cover all corners, screw heads, and junctions with tape before applying the kerafiber. Allow the first coat to dry for four hours before adding another layer. When wet room tanking, it is important to note that kerafiber changes color when it dries.

Allow the second coat to dry for at least six hours before adding tiles to the walls. Thoroughly check the walls to make sure there are no areas that have been missed. If any missed spots have been found, apply kerafiber once more and allow it to dry as before. Start placing tiles on the wall at least 4 inches (10 cm) off the ground, which should be the second lowest row. Use a special tile adhesive to ensure the tiles remain firmly fixed to the walls.

When wet room tanking, add a layer of keraprimer to the floor and allow it to dry for an hour. Once again, make sure the primer is diluted with the same amount of water and cover all screw heads with tape before beginning. Cover the floor drain with a reinforced material that can be cut through later. Apply kerafiber on the covered drain and allow two hours for it to dry.

Add two coats of kerafiber to the floor in the same way it was applied to the walls. Start tiling the floor once the second coat is fully dry. Cut a hole in the material over the floor drain, making sure the newly cut hole is 4 cm less in diameter than the drain. This is for the edge of the cut hole to reach the drain’s seal.

Place a tension ring in the floor drain’s area while making sure no material is underneath the ring. Place the layers of kerafiber up to the edge of the tension ring. Seal the whole floor drain and tension ring area with silicone.

After fixing the tiles to the floor with a suitable adhesive, wipe any excess material off the tiles with a damp cloth. If the cloth is too wet, the tile joints may become discolored. Allow a whole day for the floor to completely dry. Do not use any heating in the room for about a week after the wet room tanking procedure is completed.