Bathroom Waterproofing and Tiling in Ryde

Why this stage gets its own page

Two things in a bathroom renovation cannot be corrected afterwards without demolishing the room again: the falls in the floor, and the membrane over them. Everything else — a tap, a vanity, even the glass — is replaceable.

In a Ryde walk-up, the consequence of getting them wrong is not just your bathroom. It is the ceiling of the unit below, an insurance claim, and a conversation with an owners corporation that approved the work on the strength of your waterproofing specification.

Over an old concrete slab

The floor in a 1960s or 1970s block is a concrete slab with a hand-laid sand-and-cement bed on top, often 40 to 70 mm thick, with the waste pipes cast into it and the falls set by whoever was holding the screed board that day. Frequently there is no membrane under the tiles at all.

The sequence over that substrate:

1. Everything off, down to slab. The bed goes, the old hob goes, the tile adhesive residue is ground back. This is the noisy, dusty part, and it happens inside the building's permitted hours.
2. Inspect the slab. Cracks, honeycombing, exposed reinforcement and the actual condition of the cast-in pipework all show up here. Old cast-iron or early PVC wastes are assessed, and replacement is priced as a variation if needed.
3. Prime, and treat the joints. The slab is prepared to the membrane manufacturer's requirements. Floor-to-wall junctions, corners and any movement joint get bond breakers and reinforcing, because that is where movement cracks a membrane.
4. Detail every penetration. The floor waste, the tap penetrations, the shower mixer body, the toilet waste. Each one is a hole through the waterproof layer and each one is detailed individually.
5. Screed the falls. New falls to the drain, set out so that a hobless shower drains properly and the rest of the floor stays comfortable underfoot. A linear drain against a wall allows a gentler, single-direction fall, which is why it suits level-entry showers.
6. Apply the membrane to the product's specification — the right number of coats, the right film thickness, the heights up the wall in the shower and elsewhere, with the manufacturer's cure time respected.
7. Document it, so there is a record of product, areas and applicator.

In a post-war house on timber

Where the bathroom sits on a suspended timber floor, the problems change. Sheet flooring has to be sound, adequately fixed and stiff enough not to deflect under a tiled floor — movement is what cracks tiles and splits membranes. Joists and bearers under an old shower are inspected once the floor is open, because a shower with no membrane over fifty years does real damage to timber. Any replacement framing is priced before it is done.

Wet-area walls get sheeting rated for the job rather than ordinary plasterboard, and the junction between a timber floor and a masonry wall — a common detail in a rear addition — is treated as a movement joint, not a plaster corner.

Tiling: the part you look at every day

Good tiling in a small room is mostly set-out and preparation.

Set-out before ordering. We draw where the tiles land. Whole tiles at the wall you see from the doorway and at the shower entry; cuts pushed to the corner behind the door or under the vanity. A niche sized in whole tiles rather than a thin sliver at its edge.

Wall preparation. Old brick walls in these blocks are rarely flat. Rendering or sheeting to a flat, plumb plane is what lets a large-format tile sit without lipping. Skipping it is why so many 1990s renovations have tiles that catch the light unevenly.

Format that fits the room. A large tile reduces grout lines, which helps a small room, but only if it lands with sensible cuts. A slightly smaller format that fits the wall properly beats a fashionable one that needs a 40 mm sliver at every edge.

Full height, generally. Stopping wall tile at 1,500 mm leaves a line that halves the room visually and a painted band that grows mould. Taking tile to the ceiling costs more in tile and less in repainting every three years.

Grout and silicone. Grout close to the tile colour keeps the walls reading as surfaces rather than grids. Every internal corner and every floor-to-wall junction is silicone, not grout, because those junctions move — grout there cracks, and then the cracking gets blamed on the tiler.

Floor grip. Slip resistance is chosen for wet bare feet. Smaller floor tiles or a textured surface give more grip; a polished large-format floor in a shower is a decision to reconsider.

What your owners corporation will want

For a strata bathroom, the waterproofing paperwork is usually the centre of the approval. Expect to be asked for the membrane product and method, the trade licence details, certificates of currency, and confirmation that documentation will be provided on completion. Many buildings also want a by-law recording who maintains the new membrane in future. Our strata renovation rules guide walks through the general process, and the process page shows where approval sits in the program.

Waterproofing as a standalone job

Sometimes the room is fine and the shower is not. A shower leaking at the hob or at a cracked floor junction can occasionally be addressed without a full renovation, but be cautious about promises here: unless the tiles come up, nobody can see the state of the membrane underneath, and surface repairs to a failed membrane buy time rather than fix the problem. We will tell you which one you are buying.

Next

For budget, the cost page. For the full scope, the bathroom renovation page.

Renovation work is carried out in partnership with Coastal Renovation Group, a licensed NSW builder. Waterproofing, plumbing and electrical work are carried out by separately licensed trades. Licence and insurance details are provided on request.

Call 02 5563 0307 or describe the leak or the room.