Welcome to all.

This is the start of the FixaBathroom Blog.

In this blog we’ll try to cover a few issues that are arising in the Tiling Industry.

The main focus will be on DIY renovations with detailed how to’s. 

The first issue will be DIY waterproofing.

 The image shown is a bathroom that was ill prepared.  The original floor was uneven from jackhammering the existing tiles off the floor.  The owner decided that the floor be filled with a premixed sand and cement mixture purchased from a local hardware.  The premixed sand and cement mixture was considered too hard to work with and was diluted with additional sand. The additional sand made the mixture very weak.  The result was unsatisfactory due to the mixture being very powdery. The owner not knowing that it was faulty continued to proceed with the waterproofing. When we arrived it was soon evident that the waterproofing was peeling and tearing.

The only thing to do was to remove the waterproofing and strengthen the sand and cement mix underneath with a PVA type hardener. (the hardener was chosen after phoning the manufacturer of the new waterproofing to be used and dicussing what would work best. Chemical reactions can result from using non compatible materials) Once hardened it was then re-waterproofed. This was left to cure. A second coat was applied the following day and also left to cure.

Three days were lost performing this repair. Mostly waiting the recommended curing times.
All of this could have been avoided if the owner was alittle more informed. Rather than guessing, a 15 cent phone call to a 1300 number would have eliminated any misjudgement. 

The best advice we can give anyone is ASK if you are unsure. It doesn’t mean your incompetent if you don’t know, incompetence is not finding out the right way to waterprooof.

It was a costly mistake in time and money. The three days lost and the cost of the new materials. The labour cost was nil because the materials were on hand and the job took no more than two hours in total.

Please leave a comment on the DIY waterproofing. 

Have a good renovation