Solidity - Tiled Wetroom and Stone Shower Tray Repairs

Bathrooms

Tiled Wetroom and Stone Shower Tray Repairs

In addition to supplying to new build and full room refurbishment projects we can also help you replace an existing shower tray or wetroom floor which has failed.

About 30% of our shower tray and wetroom business comes from the inappropriate specification of materials chosen by, in the main, professional Interior Designers but often by architects too.

It is a myth that tanking is the answer to all wetroom issues, it is vital that the finished surface is non-porous and this is particularly hard to achieve with stone as the sealers wear off very quickly. The worst materials to choose for a bespoke shower tray or wetroom are limestone, slate and travertine as they are very porous and go considerably softer when wet.

This limestone shower tray was installed by a reputable high end kitchen and bathroom dealer in the Ascot area.

Approximately 1 year after installation it started to leak into the kitchen below.

Eventually the dealer refused to help anymore despite not fixing the problem and after a long list of trades people had tried to repair the tray the home owner came to Solidity.

The only option was to remove the tray and investigate.

Stone is porous. Only after treating the stone with a sealant is it suitable for wet areas and if you don't seal it regularly it will leak. It is for this reason that all stone shower installations should be tanked and this one was no exception. The tanking was done using fibreglass to a high standard.

The problem was that the stone was not sealed often enough. This bathroom was used by the whole family every day as it has the best shower and this wore away the sealant very quickly.

The missing sealant allowed water into the tanking in large quantities and this led to mould build up between the tanking and the stone. The combination of dirty standing water and mould meant the tray started to smell and eventually the mold blocked the path from the tanking to the waste.

The result of all this water is on the right.

At this stage the fitter was working between taking breaths out of the window, the smell was horrendous.

This tray was replaced using Moonscape Quartz Hi-Macs which is non-porous and won't suffer the same problems.

Limestone shower tray - Why did it smell?

The results of our work are below. Our work is covered by the LG Hi-Macs 15 year warranty.

Another Tale of Woe
We have absolutely no idea why this architect thought putting limestone slabs on plywood bearers would be a good idea. The stone was so porous that the colouration from the wood came back up through the stone. Fortunately the damage was only cosmetic as the tanking was very well done using fibreglass.

This job was tricky as detailing needed to be sympathetic to a house interior that had been completely designed by an architect.


And Another Tale of Woe
A multi-million pound house refurbishment with an Interior Designer to make a colossally expensive mess of a wetroom floor. Note the extra long specially fabricated stainless steel waste which ruined the structural integrity of the floor, allowed the tanked ply to flex and make the grout crack etc, etc.


We were not happy with this job. On this occasion the mixture of natural and synthetic materials jars against one another, this could have been avoided by using a more natural looking Hi-Macs colour rather than the solid colour the client chose. However, the floor works perfectly now, the drawing room below can finally be re-decorated and the client loved it.