The soap bubble method for identifying shower pan leaks and protecting subfloors Most guys skip the leveling compound. They think the underlayment will hide the dip. It won’t. I spent three days grinding concrete on a job last month just so the floor wouldn’t click like a castanet. That job was a nightmare because the…
I spent three days grinding concrete on a job last month just so the floor wouldn’t click like a castanet. Most guys skip the leveling compound because they think the underlayment will hide the dip. It won’t. I was in a bathroom in a suburb outside Seattle where the homeowner complained of a musty smell….
I once walked into a house where a $20,000 master bathroom remodel was rotting from the inside out. The homeowner was baffled. They had watched the contractor paint every inch of that shower with a thick red liquid membrane. It looked like a rubber room. They thought it was a submarine. But three months later,…
How a 5-Gallon Bucket Proves Your Shower Drain is Leaking I spent three days grinding concrete on a job last month just so the floor wouldn’t click like a castanet. Most guys skip the leveling compound. They think the underlayment will hide the dip. It won’t. I have seen it a thousand times. You walk…
I spent three days grinding concrete on a job last month just so the floor wouldn’t click like a castanet. Most guys skip the leveling compound because they think the underlayment will hide the dip. It won’t. I have spent twenty-five years on my knees with a moisture meter and a level. I have seen…
The physics of the perimeter wet spot A damp carpet near an exterior wall after rain usually indicates a failure in the building envelope or hydrostatic pressure pushing moisture through the concrete slab. This occurs when groundwater saturates the soil, creating pressure that forces liquid or vapor through microscopic pores in the foundation or gaps…
Why Your Shower Curb Is Rotting From The Inside Out Most guys skip the leveling compound. They think the underlayment will hide the dip. It won’t. I spent three days grinding concrete on a job last month just so the floor wouldn’t click like a castanet. That same job had a shower curb that looked…
I spent three days grinding concrete on a job last month just so the floor wouldn’t click like a castanet, but that was nothing compared to the shower I saw in a high-end condo downtown last Tuesday. I walked into the bathroom and the smell hit me immediately. It was that sharp, metallic scent of…
The gravity of the situation in your bathroom A shower slope must maintain a minimum pitch of one quarter inch per foot to ensure that water migrates toward the drain via gravitational force rather than remaining stagnant. If water pools, it breeds mold and compromises the integrity of the grout, the thin-set, and eventually the…
Most guys skip the leveling compound. They think the underlayment will hide the dip. It won’t. I spent three days grinding concrete on a job last month just so the floor wouldn’t click like a castanet. That job was a reality check for the homeowner who thought the tile looked fine but didn’t understand why…
