Waterproof Membrane Buying Guide

Waterproof Membranes

Sheet Membranes

Sheet membranes have dominated the market in the past due to their reliability and availability. The original Chloraloy CPE shower pan liner has been proving its effectiveness for over 40 years. The primary drawback to this product is that thinset adhesive cannot adhere to it, which means that one cannot tile directly on top of it. This drawback meant that this shower liner needed to be installed beneath a pre-pitched mudpan.

New membranes have been developed by industry leading manufacturers like Noble, USG Durock, Schluter and QuickDrain to name a few. These new membranes include a fiber mesh on their surfaces that allow thinset to obtain a proper adhesion. This allows installers to tile directly to the membrane. Many of these sheet membranes include the added value of "low permeability" making them ideal steam rooms.

Liquid Membranes

Years of research and development have resulted in a number of capable liquid waterproof membrane options. These products excel in their ease of installation via paint brush, nap roller, or trowel.

These products are used in tandem with other shower installation products like pre-pitched shower pan templates to construct precise shower pans and wall niches.

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