Feltwell
Member
- Messages
- 6,363
- Location
- Shropshire, England
Hello,
In the midst of bathroom renovations here - 2 bathrooms at the same time, just to make life interesting! Increasing the size of our stupidly small family bathroom by taking some space from the adjoining en-suite bathroom, so the wall between had to come down. New stud wall has gone in, plus a mix of knackered plasterboard and knackered lath & plaster has come off a side wall - it was well & truly beyond redemption - and has been replaced with Elements board, as these will in part form the back walls of a shower cubicle. I'm very impressed with Elements board - totally waterproof, lightweight, very easy to cut and feels very sturdy once up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwlHR6rEduY
Which got me thinking - breathability. In the en-suite bathroom, the first one to be refitted, the Elements board has gone on internal stud walls only. There is an external wall, but it's not behind the shower cubicle - it's been gypsum plastered by previous owners but shows no signs of damp so will stay as is.
However - in the family bathroom, a bath with shower over will go in a corner adjacent to two external walls. Those walls are currently gypsum plastered and are cold - condensation & mould has been a problem. Ventilation will be massively improved in the refit (no fan at present), but these external walls will be fully tiled - surely a fully tiled external wall can't offer much if any breathability? I'm considering using the Elements board on these walls as well - give a much better surface to tile on and offer some insulation to help reduce condensation.
It seems wrong to be sticking an impervious board to the walls, but by the same token I can't see that there will be any breathability anyway - can anyone see a downside?
Walls are 9" solid brick, lime pointed on the outside, no sign of any damp - even though up until last year the pointing was fairly knackered cement.
In the midst of bathroom renovations here - 2 bathrooms at the same time, just to make life interesting! Increasing the size of our stupidly small family bathroom by taking some space from the adjoining en-suite bathroom, so the wall between had to come down. New stud wall has gone in, plus a mix of knackered plasterboard and knackered lath & plaster has come off a side wall - it was well & truly beyond redemption - and has been replaced with Elements board, as these will in part form the back walls of a shower cubicle. I'm very impressed with Elements board - totally waterproof, lightweight, very easy to cut and feels very sturdy once up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwlHR6rEduY
Which got me thinking - breathability. In the en-suite bathroom, the first one to be refitted, the Elements board has gone on internal stud walls only. There is an external wall, but it's not behind the shower cubicle - it's been gypsum plastered by previous owners but shows no signs of damp so will stay as is.
However - in the family bathroom, a bath with shower over will go in a corner adjacent to two external walls. Those walls are currently gypsum plastered and are cold - condensation & mould has been a problem. Ventilation will be massively improved in the refit (no fan at present), but these external walls will be fully tiled - surely a fully tiled external wall can't offer much if any breathability? I'm considering using the Elements board on these walls as well - give a much better surface to tile on and offer some insulation to help reduce condensation.
It seems wrong to be sticking an impervious board to the walls, but by the same token I can't see that there will be any breathability anyway - can anyone see a downside?
Walls are 9" solid brick, lime pointed on the outside, no sign of any damp - even though up until last year the pointing was fairly knackered cement.