A walk-in shower is a shower area in the bathroom where the floor tiles run through. So when showering, you are not standing in a shower tray, but "just" on the bathroom floor. But how do you ensure that the floor of the walk-in shower is waterproof? There are a number of measures you should take to make the walk-in shower watertight. For example, a waterproof tile adhesive is used to fix the floor tiles in the relevant part of the bathroom. The most difficult part is the corners. These are the weak spots in a walk-in shower and they have to be treated very carefully with a special agent: kimband and the corresponding paste. With kimband, you make a permanent, flexible seal. You can simply tile over it once it is thoroughly dry. That tiling layer should then be finished again with sanitary sealant.
Walk-in shower waterproofing, carefully executed
Waterproofing your walk-in shower is a painstaking job. In this blog, we will take you through how best to go about it.
Kim tape for a waterproof walk-in shower
So the corners and seams in the walk-in shower, such as at a transition between the floor and a wall, can be made watertight by using kimband. Kimband is a fibrous type of tape. It is also called flies tape. You process it with a sticky paste. Apply the paste liberally to the corners, after which you press the tape into it, as it were. Apply another layer of paste on top of that. When the corners of the walk-in shower are ready, you can tile over it.
Once that is done, the finishing touches will follow. Remember not to joint the tiles in those corners. The action of the materials can cause small cracks in the joints, which will prevent the walk-in shower from being watertight. The solution is sealant, and to be precise, silicone-based sanitary sealant. You can usually buy sealant in the same colour as the grout. Many brands have even matched the colours of grout and sealant.
Natural stone in the walk-in shower
You can also treat the joints in a walk-in shower. Joints suffer a lot because of water. To prevent them from getting dirty and/or discoloured, you can use water-repellent grout. Then there is another part to think about when waterproofing the walk-in shower. Marble and many other types of natural stone absorb moisture and eventually allow water to pass through. If the floor and/or walls in the walk-in shower consist of these materials, provide them with a waterproof coating. Especially if the walls contain plaster.