tile shower tray grout waterproof

[chas55]

hi new on here help please just finished refurb bathroom and have put in new shower have grouted with bal superflex and realy like the finish all joint between bath and tile and shower tray and tile grouted look good bal say there grout can be used in swiming pools so i would very much like to leave this as the finale finish ie no silicane on bath shower joins will this be water proof or must i silicane and spoil the look
thanks for any help

 

[Richard C]

BAL & others may well say their water proof products can be used in swimming pools but the thing to understand is that (apart from expensive epoxy products) water proof adhesive/grout is only waterproof to the extent it will not break down when damp/wet; it will, however, still absorb water! You should not rely on grout where the tiles meet the tray, it will definitely crack & even the smallest crack will suck in water. I leave a 2mm gap, run one silicone bead between the top of the tray & underside of the tile, cut the nozzle slightly wider & run a second finish bead between the bottom corner of the tile & top of the tray. It’s also good practice to run a silicone bead down the corner joint between two adjacent walls as you can get cracks here due to movement or differential expansion between wall materials. Properly done, silicone looks equally a neat as grout & most would struggle to spot the difference.

 

[jctilingservices]

spot on advice again Richard, NO grout is totally waterproof unless its EPOXY based