Bathroom Waterproofing
Shower and wet area leaks traced to the source, the substrate repaired, and the waterproofing reinstated to AS 3740.
A leaking shower is rarely the shower
Water almost never comes through a tile. It goes around the waterproofing - at the wall-floor junction, at a penetration for a tap or a waste, at a hob that was never detailed properly - and then travels under the screed until it finds somewhere to come out.
That is why the damage usually shows up somewhere other than the bathroom: a stain on the ceiling below, a skirting swelling in the next room, paint lifting on the far side of a wall. Sealing what you can see does nothing to the path the water is actually taking.
We find the entry point first, repair what is underneath, and reinstate the waterproofing and the finish so the room works again.
How the work runs
Not every job needs every step. What it does need is established before you are asked to approve anything.
Find where the water is going
Moisture mapping and, where it is warranted, a controlled flood test to establish the actual entry point rather than the visible symptom.
Lift the finish where it is needed
Only where the substrate or the membrane below has failed. Where it is sound, we work over it.
Repair the substrate and the falls
Screed, hobs and falls corrected so water runs to the waste instead of sitting against a junction.
Detail the junctions and penetrations
Wall-floor junctions, waste and tap penetrations and hobs, detailed to AS 3740 - which is where most of these failures actually start.
Waterproof and cure
The membrane system the room calls for, given the cure time it needs. Rushing this is what causes the next failure.
Reinstate and hand over
Re-tiled and made good, tested, photographed, and handed over with the documentation and warranty.
Frequently asked questions
It depends where the failure is. Waterproofing inside a lot is usually the owner's, but the leak often turns out to be at a junction, a penetration or a common-property element, which changes the answer. As with any strata water claim, the source has to be established before liability can be settled fairly - which is what an inspection and a written report are for.
Who pays when a shower leaks into the apartment belowSometimes. Where the leak is at the grout, a penetration or the screen and the substrate below is sound, a targeted repair holds. Where the membrane under the bed has failed, it does not - and sealing the surface over a failed membrane is what produces a shower that leaks again within a year. We establish which of the two you have before quoting.
AS 3740 covers waterproofing of domestic wet areas, and it governs how the wall-floor junctions, penetrations, hobs and screed falls have to be detailed - not just which product is used. Most of the failures we are called to are compliant products installed to non-compliant details.
A contained repair is usually a matter of days; a full rectification with the screed and tiling reinstated takes longer, because membranes and adhesives have cure times that cannot be rushed without causing the next failure. You get the timeframe in writing after the assessment so it can be planned around the occupants.