Waterproofing and Vapor-proofing Tile Assemblies in Showers

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The wettest place on Earth is probably the standard American shower. Typical shower heads have a flow rate of 2.5 gallons of water per minute. If the shower is used by two people each day for 10 minutes each, 50 gallons of water fall on the floor. In a typical 3′ x 4′ shower, this equates to nearly 7 inches of water pouring on the floor every day. That’s more than 2,500 inches of water falling on that shower floor in a year’s time! Despite the average U.S. annual rainfall of only 30 inches, construction codes give more attention to waterproofing relatively dry rooftops than soaked shower floors.