Wet Room Floor Repairs

One Tale of Woe

This limestone shower tray was installed by a reputable high end kitchen and bathroom dealer. About 1 year after installation it started to leak into the kitchen below. The dealer could not fix the problem nor could a long list of trades people.  Frustrated, the home owner came to Solidity.

The only option was to remove the tray and investigate. The installation had been tanked correctly with fibreglass and to a high standard.  However, it had not been sealed often enough. This bathroom was used by the whole family every day as it had the best shower, and this wore away the sealant very quickly. The missing sealant allowed water into the tanking in large quantities, which 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 mould blocked the path from the tanking to the waste.

Leaking limestone shower tray
leaking limestone shower tray
Limestone sealant failure
limestone sealant failure
Tanking mold
Tanking mold
HI-MACS shower tray
HI-MACS shower tray
Shower tray edge detail
shower tray edge detail
Replacement HI-MACS shower tray
replacement HI-MACS shower tray
Another Tale of Woe

In this instance the architect had specified limestone slabs on plywood bearers but 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.

It was important that our detailing was sympathetic to the rest of the house interior.

The tray was replaced using Arctic Granite HI-MACS which is non-porous and won’t suffer the same problems. Our work is covered by the LG HI-MACS 15 year warranty.

Stained limestone wet room floor
stained limestone wet room floor
Colouration from wood staining
colouration from wood staining
Replacement HI-MACS wet room floor
replacement HI-MACS wet room floor
Junction with shower wall
junction with shower wall
New shower area
new shower area
Detail to shower entrance
detail to shower entrance
And Another Tale of Woe

This is an example of unintended consequences when shower floors are designed by non-specialists.  The interior designer had specified an extra long, specially fabricated, stainless steel waste which actually ruined the structural integrity of the floor. This allowed the tanked ply to flex, make the grout crack and the stone wet room to fail.

The shower area was replaced by Solidity with HI-MACS solid surface material. The floor now works perfectly, the drawing room below could finally be re-decorated, and the client loved it.

Cracked grout
cracked grout
Failed wet room waste
failed wet room waste
HI-MACS panel meets polished plaster and wood
after_Hi-Macs_stone_polished_plaster_wood_detail_0
New solid surface shower area
new solid surface shower area
Finished Solidity wet room floor
finished Solidity wet room floor
Design and Decorating Awards
HI-MACS Quality Club
DuPont Corian Industrial Partner
Remodeling and Home Design