Moisture is an unavoidable issue that must be dealt with when designing a bathroom. It is the wetness that accumulates in the wall cavity, floor and or attic space day after day that turns to rot, mold and overall degradation of your bathroom. It is our responsibility as builders and designers to follow strict guidelines to prevent this undermining of your newly remodeled bathroom.
There is a very useful article at (http://www.finehomebuilding.com/PDF/Free/021151052.pdf) which illustrates proper subsurface preparations, ventilation and plumbing concepts. Nearly every bathroom that we have remodeled has had underlying water issues. I cannot think of a single instance where the subfloor wasn’t stained by moisture, or had water penetrating behind the shower walls, or the toilet wasn’t sealed to the flange properly.
If the subsurface and moisture preventative solutions are overlooked when remodeling there will be problems, it’s only a matter of time. It’s worth taking the steps to prepare for moisture so that your new finishes will last their proper lifetime.
Make sure and bring any questions to our upcoming bathroom design seminar on August 13th at Mountainland in Salt Lake City.
Image credit: finehomebuilding.com ; Jo Peterson
The use of a topical waterproofing product like Mapei Aqua Defense or Laticrete Hydro Ban would further improve these tub surrounds.
ReplyDeleteAs a designer you should ensure that drywall, green drywall and mastic are never used in your projects. Add these notations to your drawings and you can help save hundreds if not thousands of bathrooms from ending up in the land fill do to poor construction practices.
John Whipple
By Any Design Ltd.
North Vancouver
Bathroom moisture control equipment is very commonly seen now a days.
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