Have a question about tile that you would like answered? Why don't you "Ask the Expert", Todd Duhe. Todd has been featured in several national magazines and has several certifications under his belt. Todd can assist the end consumer as well as home builders, architechs, and attorneys. So before you begin your next project, ask the expert first.
Is there any greater area of misunderstanding by contractors, architects, and tile installers than waterproofing? I don’t believe. There is no greater area of failure—as far as tile installations go. The following is a direct quote from the State Farm Insurance Website titled “Preventing Water Damage in Your Home.” “If the shower walls or floor are tile a leak may develop if there are cracks or missing areas of grout.”
I find this very disturbing, because tile, grout, green sheetrock, and concrete boards are NOT waterproof. As far as proper shower construction goes you should be able to use your shower without any tile at all. That’s correct—the tile is only cosmetic.
Improper construction and poor specifications in the area of waterproofing is a great liability issue. A leaking shower can cause structural damage to your home and mold problems. Most insurance companies are excluding mold coverage from their policies. This leaves you the consumer with a very expensive repair bill.
Consumers don’t want their roof, doors, or windows to leak, so they pay a great deal of attention to these areas during construction to prevent water penetrations. Little to no attention is paid to the shower. The fact is that a shower used once per day for 12 minutes gets 2.2 to 414 times more water in a year than your roof. If this water ends up anywhere other than the drain, your problems begin.
There are specifications by ANSI (American National Standards Institute), the TCA (Tile Council of North America), the NTCA (National tile Contractors Association), and The National Plumbing Codes for proper construction of your new shower. At Performance Tile we not only meet but exceed all specifications listed. We take great pride in our trade and are active members of the NTCA.
