Doorway Waterstops (Angles) & the requirements associated with Jambs, Architraves or Stud Framing

People often deem the waterproofing of a shower enclosure and waterproofing of the perimeter of a wet area as essential, and in turn neglect the seriousness required when dealing with the termination of waterproofing at a doorway.

Doorway opening waterproofing (in particular the installation, sealing and waterproofing of doorway angles) is also a critical element as it offers the final piece of a complete waterproofing solution.

As a person responsible for the warranty associated with the waterproofing of an internal wet area, your responsibilities do not solely lie with waterproofing just the shower enclosure.

If for whatever reason water escapes a shower (that is the waterproofing is performing but water escapes due to a tiling or shower screen issue, etc.) an installer is still responsible if water escapes the wet area room due to workmanship failure.  This failure can often be attributed to poor detailing at a doorway.

A waterstop (angle) at a doorway provides the wet area outside of a shower enclosure with what is called a “maximum retained water level”.  This is defined in AS3740-2010 as: the point at which surface water will start to overflow out of the shower area, or in this instance the room itself.

Hypothetically in a scenario where water has escaped a shower area and has saturated the floor outside the shower area (tile bed), the waterproofing must be completed such that a saturated tile bed can “spill” water over the top of the doorway angle (or maximum retained water level) – thus allowing the user to identify there is a leak and have the original problem resolved.

This can be achieved at the installation stage by waterproofing around stud framing, jambs or architraves to a point that is level with the finished waterstop height (at a minimum).  By doing this these elements of the building are protected and therefore are not exposed to the effects of water damage.

It should be noted that if water is allowed to spill over the door angle and the waterproofing is installed appropriately and has achieved its purpose, that the issue associated with the leak is not deemed to be a waterproofing issue, rather a third party issue.

For any other advice of a technical nature, Wet-seal’s highly experienced technical expert, Robert Rath, will be happy to take your call.  Robert can be contacted on 0413 008 303 or via email rrath@wet-seal.ws

Alternatively, for a bathroom waterproofing expert, please speak with your local Franchisee directly.  Details of how to contact your local Franchisee can be found at Find A Franchisee