In theTiling,planning,layout &installation book I bought from FH there were two articlies, one Upgrading to a tile shower P. 4 and the other Tiling a tub surround. The first article said not to use a vapor barrior and the second one said to use a watweproff membrane. thoes two contradict each other unless they serve two different purposes. the project is in my house. thanks for some good replies
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Greetings cinrick, As a first time poster Welcome to Breaktime.
This post, in response to your question, will bump the thread through the 'recent discussion' listing again.
Perhaps it will catch someones attention that can help you with advice.
Cheers
'Nemo me impune lacesset'
No one will provoke me with impunity
Cinrick, welcome to breaktime!
I don't and haven't tiled so take this with a grain of salt. But the two terms "waterproof" and "vapor barrier" have very different meanings. "Waterproof" is obviously something which does not allow the transmission of LIQUID water.
A "vapor barrier" is something which does not allow the transmission of water VAPOR.
Pretty obvious I guess, but something more useful is a couple of examples to show that one does not imply the other.
Glass is a vapor barrier and waterproof.
Not a great example but : Drywall painted with BIN primer is not waterproof but is a vapor barrier (actually a vapor retarder, but that's a finer point here).
Tyvek is waterproof but is not a vapor barrier. That said, I don't think Tyvek is what you want to use in your shower install, but you should hear from a tiler.
Anyone else want to chime in here?
Edited 3/12/2006 7:04 am ET by BobS