Wetroom on First floor with timber joists

JohnJay

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My bathroom needs a full rip-out and refit. I like the idea of a wet-room type shower, but I am a bit weary of doing this on top of timber joists in a 1950's house as it could be hard to keep everything watertight. Has anyone done this and has it been successful?
 
I've done this in my mid-50ies hous, and it is not particular difficult, but needs to be done correctly.
There's probably no harm doubling up the timber joists (the ones in my house where only 7 inch), or at least add bracing, to minimise bounce if not already planned.
Use cement board then instead of plywood as the floor, and something like the [broken link removed]as the shower element.
Please note that installing the jacko board requires pretty much building a floor between the floor joists, so make sure your builders reads the installation manual and does it by the book, and then some. Double-check every piece he did on this, as you don't want things breaking.

Once the floor is stable, it needs to be lagged - either using something like the DITRA membranes (not cheap) or at minimum with a proper [broken link removed].

I am now into one year of usage and so far no problems - no leak, no cracks in tiles or in the grout. really love the wet-room type shower so gets a lot of use!
 
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