Bond breakers and pinholes before the tiles go down
Two membrane faults that are invisible once tiled.
In short: Waterproofing inspections across the Hills District keep finding missing bond breakers and pinholes in membranes. Both need fixing before the tiler arrives.
What a bond breaker does
It stops a flexible membrane bonding hard into the corner where wall meets floor, so the membrane can stretch as the building moves.
What happens without one
The membrane is held rigid across the joint and tears when the joint moves. Water then gets behind the tiles.
Pinholes
Tiny holes in the cured membrane, often in niches and corners. Each one is a leak path.
Puddle flanges
The membrane must wrap the puddle flange at the floor waste fully, or water tracks around it.
The fix
Bond breakers added, extra coats over pinholes, flanges wrapped. All simple before tiling, all difficult after.
Written by our local inspection team from work carried out in Castle Hill. Licensed building practitioners, NSW Fair Trading licence 366177C.
