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Primer on fiberglass gypsum in basement, is it good?
Everything can be scrutinized and debated. Now I was advised to prime the wet room boards before putting them up. Even the back side, just to be safe. The primer seals pores and makes it more waterproof. Even the gypsum reacts poorly to pure water. I thought I saw 95% RH as a limit. In condensation, there is 100% RH, which I interpret as pure water or at the boundary between the two states of gas/liquid.
I took the advice as usual, and it’s a simple thing to brush on some water glass (sodium silicate) or whatever is in the primer. Water glass is a nice product for basements. It seals against water but allows moisture through, just as it should be in a basement. A bit like Goretex. Now it won’t be as you expect anyway, there will be quite a few screw holes, but in between, the gypsum board will be durable and unaffected. Or?
I took the advice as usual, and it’s a simple thing to brush on some water glass (sodium silicate) or whatever is in the primer. Water glass is a nice product for basements. It seals against water but allows moisture through, just as it should be in a basement. A bit like Goretex. Now it won’t be as you expect anyway, there will be quite a few screw holes, but in between, the gypsum board will be durable and unaffected. Or?
Only where water is expected to flow, i.e., at the shower and bathtub. Even there, condensing moisture can affect the board's gypsum to a lesser extent, according to my advisor's thought.
It may never happen, but it can occur occasionally. I have seen once in 35 years water on an exterior wall in the basement. Uninsulated wet-papered basement wall below ground level during the coldest winter chill. On that wall, we tile directly on the gypsum-spackled level concrete wall, however correct that is.
A steel stud wall at the shower area shares half a meter of the same exterior wall. However, condensation water won’t reach the wet room board. There, the moisture will be able to diffuse back out of the concrete wall and toward the shower area since the moisture barrier is only to be applied to part of the wall according to most experts' suggestions.
It may never happen, but it can occur occasionally. I have seen once in 35 years water on an exterior wall in the basement. Uninsulated wet-papered basement wall below ground level during the coldest winter chill. On that wall, we tile directly on the gypsum-spackled level concrete wall, however correct that is.
A steel stud wall at the shower area shares half a meter of the same exterior wall. However, condensation water won’t reach the wet room board. There, the moisture will be able to diffuse back out of the concrete wall and toward the shower area since the moisture barrier is only to be applied to part of the wall according to most experts' suggestions.
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