Waterproofing Drywall Before Tiling

Drywall can be primed and painted to be waterproof.

Waterproofing drywall before tiling.

These materials can be used to make your drywalling projects in basements bathrooms and other potentially humid rooms waterproof so you don t have to spend extra money on. Determine how much tile you ll need. These membranes consist of products such as custom building products redgard and laticrete s hydrobarrier and hydroban and mapei s aquadefense. Compare this to the common practice of tiling over drywall and you get the idea that you have a totally different shower by using a product that is meant to function in the shower.

Remove the old shower tile and green board drywall. Most paint manufacturers make oil and latex based primers and paints designed to be waterproof and even mildew resistant. Even in the best of scenarios the tile and grout will eventually wear down leaving behind a clear route for water to seep through and soak into the drywall. The tile does add a layer of waterproofing protection but the real heart of the system is in the wedi board behind the tile.

After the second coat is dry and the whole shower area is prepped it s time to make tile decisions before going any further. Lumps and bumps lead to misaligned tiles. You don t really water proof the drywall itself. If you want to update your kitchen or bathroom walls with tiles you don t have to remove existing painted.

You protect it with a layer of water proofing material. Regular drywall can be used as a base for tiles in a shower but only as an absolute last resort. Preparation is the most important step for drywall before any tile installation project. So where i last left off i had taken out the old shower tile and cut out the damaged drywall.

Measure each wall area calculating the width times height. Repeat the previous steps to apply waterproof membrane to the remaining shower walls. For our shower we chose a running bond pattern. Smooth the membrane with the drywall knife.

Spread mortar along the vertical wall corners with a 10 inch wide drywall knife. This surface will be the foundation which holds your beautiful backsplash together over the years and a. Take a 4 inch wide strip of membrane crease it vertically down its center then press it into the wet mortar. I will refer to all the membranes as.

Elastomeric or liquid waterproofing membranes are one of the most convenient methods of waterproofing shower walls before installing tile. The top objective is to create a smooth and uniform surface on the drywall for the tile to be evenly placed. You should be attaching the tile to cement. Waterproofing and tiling the master shower an overview 1.

The tile had been in decent shape but i d grown to hate it and i finally had the budget to get a better bathroom. You should not ever put tile directly onto drywall even the green board water resistant kind.