Shower Waterproofing in Cromwell, CT

Grout at the floor-to-wall joint that keeps cracking, a persistent musty smell, tiles at the bottom course that sound hollow, discolored or soft drywall on the back side of the shower wall, or any stain on the ceiling below. Any one of those is reason to have the pan looked at; two or more usually mean a rebuild.

Nearly always. A modern bonded membrane attaches to a bonding flange, and the old clamping drain rarely accepts one. The plumber swaps the assembly under a plumbing permit while the floor is open; the new pan is then bonded directly to it and flood-tested.

Not reliably. The wall membrane has to lap over the pan membrane to be continuous, and 1970s walls have no membrane to lap to. Redoing only the floor leaves the joint where most leaks start. We rebuild the wet area as one system.

Waterproofing and tile are exempt from a building permit under the state code. Drain and valve replacement is a plumbing permit obtained by your plumber from the Cromwell Building Department at 41 West Street; applications are downloaded from the town site and filed in person or by mail.

We build the pan, then go over it with a bonded waterproofing membrane such as a Schluter-KERDI style sheet or a liquid-applied one where the geometry calls for it. The membrane runs over the pan, up the walls, around the curb, and over every seam, corner and valve penetration, and we hold a twenty-four-hour flood test before any tile goes down. If a drop moves, we find it while it is still inexpensive to fix.

Only sometimes, and only when the old tile passes the checks: solidly bonded everywhere when you tap it, flat, and structurally sound, with enough give at the outlets, counters and doors to absorb the added thickness. When it fails any of those, tiling over it locks the problem in. On a wet area we almost always take it down to the substrate instead.