Expert Answers in Showers

ANSWER - First of all, the way you construct a shower pan is to first apply a pre-sloped mortar bed to establish a slope to the drain of 1/4" per foot.  You can float over…

ANSWER - There is a type 1 and a type 2 organic mastic.  Type 1 mastic is more water resistant, but only suitable for limited water exposure. Using the mastic on the kitchen backsplash is…

ANSWER - You are asking a lot that can't be answered without performing a forensic inspection to determine what is causing the failures.  I can make some general statements that may or may not apply…

ANSWER - Based on the Schluter literature, although they only show floor applications, they don't say it is only for floors. The Ditra is waterproof if installed correctly for waterproofing.  It does have a key…

ANSWER - Regarding whether sealing a cementitious grout makes it waterproof, it doesn't.  Using an appropriate penetrating sealer over grout will make it moisture resistant, it will make it stain resistant, and it normally will…

ANSWER - Generally speaking cracks are either reflective cracking where the underlying substrate has a crack or separation and it telegraphs through the marble or there is structural cracking where the structure has excessive deflection…

ANSWER - From your photo the bottom edge of the wall tile where it is adjacent to the transition joint from the wall to the floor has efflorescence staining.  That suggests water is traveling from…

ANSWER - First of all what happen to the the 3rd wall in the shower?  I will assume it has a different substrate or you aren't tiling it. Not sure why you are using Schluter…

Answer: First of all, all of the transition joints in the shower both horizontal and vertical should not have been grouted with a cementitious grout.  They should have been filled with an ASTM C920 resilient sealant…

ANSWER - If the ceramic tile was installed correctly over a suitable substrate for a shower application then it will not be harmed from being subjected to prolong hot water, steam, and condensation. Ceramic tile…

ANSWER - Limestone is commonly used in shower applications.  Not all limestone are the same.  There are ASTM material standards for each geological classification of natural stone that lists what the maximum or minimum physical…

ANSWER - I have seen Carrara Marble installed in showers and steam shower successfully, but I have also seen where there were staining problems. Many marbles contain pyrite (iron sulfide) minerals which is a natural…

ANSWER -  Normally installing tile over damp mortar doesn't cause staining.  We call that a wet set method if the mortar is installed at the same time as the tile is installed.  A thin-set adhesive…

Answer - If you have subway tiles, I assume you are talking about tiles on the walls of the shower.  Although perhaps you did install the subway tiles on the shower floor. Most subway tiles…

ANSWER - You have to be careful on what cleaning products you use on tile, stone or grout.  Some of the grocery store brands may not be reliable for the type of cleaning you want…

ANSWER - Quartz Stone is a man-made material that is about 90% natural quartz suspended in a resin base. Natural stone and quartz stone can be affected by various chemicals.  The chemicals whether very acidic…

ANSWER - Depending on whether the travertine tiles have been maintained properly or not over the years, it may require a more in-depth cleaning; particularly if there is staining in the stone. Generally speaking, on…

ANSWER - First of all there is nothing wrong with using sanded grout as long as the grout joint width is 1/8" or wider.  There are some benefits to using an epoxy grout in terms…