Friday, May 28, 2010

3 Ways to Build a Shower Kit on Tileprotection

On Tileprotection.com we have different methods to get to the ultimate goal of building a beautiful tile shower that will last. The methods start out different, but end up merging at the point where you use a waterproofing membrane to waterproof you walls.

So lets start from the beginning stages. The 3 methods include choosing the method in which you want to build or install a shower pan. You could build a mortar bed, install a prepitched styrofoam shower pan, or you could choose the Tile Redi Shower Pan.

1. Building a mortar bed consist of a few revolutionary product in which you will form a perfectly pitched shower pan. First you have the PVC liner, then you have a Quick Pitch Mortar Bed Kit, and a weep-hole-less drain. The Quick Pitch Mortar Bed Kit are guide stick that are pre-pitched that you'd leave in your mortar. Cut it down to size, mix up the mudset, fill in the voids, smooth it out with a trowel, and let it set.

2. Using a Styrofoam Shower Pan allows you to skip a couple steps for an easier installation. Use a Modified thinset to install the Styrofoam Shower Pan onto your substrate, install your curb, mortar down and install your shower drain and you're done.

3. Use a Tile Redi Shower pan. Using a Tile Redi Shower Pan allows you to install the drain, curb, and pan all at once for the easiest installation. The Tile Redi Shower pans are 100% waterproof and are have all of these components integrated so that its one solid piece.

Now that we've talked about the three different methods, we can waterproof your wall. Cement board is usually the preferred substrate before waterproofing. See there is a debate that cement board can be used as a substrate for tile, however that shouldn't even be in the picture because cement board is NOT waterproof. It's water RESISTANT, not WATERPROOF...there's a difference.

Aqua Shield is a Waterproofing Membrane that is installed before tile. You install Aqua Shield directly to your cement board using a modified thinset mortar in order to finish off the waterproofing process when building a tiled shower.

This is a very brief description of how to build a shower, more importantly was the fact that I wanted to shed some light onto the different methods available on Tileprotection.com.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Tile Redi - Redi Poxy

Redi Poxy is a chemical resistant, epoxy adhesive that will bond to most sound, clean surfaces. Redi Crete can be used for tile installation in both Tile Redi® Shower Pan and Redi® Niche installations. In fact, each Tile Redi® shower pan comes with enough Redi Crete to cover the entire pan. However, Redi Crete is NOT included with the purchase of a Redi® Niche. If you would like to use the Redi Crete on your Redi® Niche, or you need some extra for your shower pan, we have the 3-part mix in stock and ready to ship.

Redi Poxy can be applied directly to the Tile Redi® Shower Pan and Redi® Niche surface, and is then ready to be tiled immediately!


Click HERE for more information!



Friday, May 14, 2010

SECURMAT rated EXTRA HEAVY by the TCNA

The latest news of the testing done to the Blanke Securmat Tile Floor Underlayment Membrane. The Tile Consul of North America (TCNA) performed the Robinson Floor Test for SECURMAT over one layer of 3/4" plywood on 19.2" o.c. spaced joists. The SECURMAT was rated EXTRA HEAVY, the second highest rating.

What does this mean?
This means that Blanke Securmat works, and it works real well. Again, when you're dealing with 19.2" on center spaced joists and 3/4" plywood, you can expect movement. SECURMAT is placed in between the plywood and tile floor assembly in order to protect it from vertical and horizontal movement. SECURMAT is an uncoupling membrane that is meant to break away from a subfloor with extreme movement in order to protect the tile assembly. What happens if you have a lot of movement and nothing to protect the tile assembly? Tiles move causing the grout spacing to fail and crack leaving your floor looking terrible. A tear out has to be done and then you're left doing the job all over again because it wasn't done properly in the first place.

For more information click HERE