Tiling in wet areas: you should pay attention to this

Bath and shower, the guest toilet and the laundry room, the sauna and the swimming pool: These and other wet areas are usually tiled because they are constantly exposed to splash water, moisture and moisture. If you have equipped your bathroom with a floor-level shower, the water runs, for example, directly over the floor covering to the drain. Tiles are actually a good solution in wet areas because they are easy to care for, hard-wearing and resistant. So that the constant moisture does not cause any damage, a few things must be observed.

Caution, danger of slipping: more safety in wet areas

Basically, stoneware tiles are best suited in wet areas. The reason: They absorb little water because they have a very high density . Only porcelain stoneware Tiling with a water absorption capacity of less than 0.5 percent are even better . The only exception is polished porcelain stoneware, which should not be used in wet areas. And then there are earthenware tiles. With their coarse pores, they absorb a lot of water and are therefore less suitable, particularly for floors in wet areas. 

Non-slip tiles are only required by law in commercial and publicly accessible wet areas such as indoor pools and changing rooms, but for your own safety, you should also opt for non-slip Tiling for the home bathroom . This significantly reduces the risk of accidents caused by slipping. Basically, the slip resistance or the so-called static friction coefficient is divided into classes R 9 to R 13 . The classes R 9 and R 10 offer a rather average or moderate slip resistance, the higher classes, on the other hand, guarantee more safety. Also pay attention to the letters behind the class name, they stand for the rating groups for the barefoot wet area.

Class A Tiling are suitable for all those areas that only get wet every now and then. For example, this could be a changing room in a public indoor pool or the guest toilet at home, which is rarely used. Class B stands for the borders of swimming pools or for shower rooms, i.e. for areas that come into contact with moisture more often and more strongly. Then there is class C , which is suitable for permanently wet or underwater areas. Walk-through pools in public baths are a good example of this.

How high you set your personal benchmark in terms of slip resistance is of course up to you. But keep in mind that injuries after slipping are not uncommon. By the way: Small mosaic tiles increase the slip resistance simply because of the high proportion of joints. They are particularly popular in floor-level showers.

How to seal the surface in wet areas

When laying tiles in wet areas, careful sealing is extremely important. By doing so, you prevent water from penetrating the substructure of the tile covering over time and causing damage such as mold. Such damage is often noticed much too late. By the way, gypsum plasterboard and gypsum fibreboard are particularly sensitive: here you must not do without a seal

After treatment with Tiefengrund , start with an insulating coat . It looks similar to a protective rubber skin. As long as the paint is still fresh and not dried, put an elastic sealing tape in the corners and around all sanitary connections. Place sufficiently large sealing sleeves in the fresh coat of paint, especially around the pipe passages. If you apply another coat of insulation after a drying time of around two to three hours, the surface will be completely waterproof. At the same time, this prepared substrate offers the best conditions for optimal tile adhesion. 

However, it is important that you cover the sealing tape with the insulating paint! After another drying time of around twelve hours, you can start laying the Tiling. To do this, align the tiles at the desired location, place them in the previously applied tile adhesive and press gently. Once the tile adhesive has hardened, the correct grouting is required.