Wedi or Go Board?:Easiest tub surround water proofing method

[Cindy54]

Thank you in advance for feedback!

Which system is the easiest and fastest to install? My husband is handy but we are looking for something straight forward, longevity, time savings, safe fumes (husband will have to shut door while myself and 2 year old son are in the house). I may have to purchase through Amazon as we live remote.

From what I gather both have similar installation methods with individual materials specific to their product. If we were doing a walk in shower I would most likely go with an older proven method. I figure a tub surround won’t have as much impact and weight as a full shower would to increase risk of failure.

Tiles to be installed are 4x4 ceramic
Thank you,

Cindy

[cx]

Welcome, Cindy

Originally Posted by Cindy

I figure a tub surround won’t have as much impact and weight as a full shower would to increase risk of failure.

Not sure I understand that at all. A tub/shower, with a tub full of water, is gonna outweigh a walk-in shower. And it shouldn't make any difference at all if you're building over a properly supported floor. And I'm less sure I understand the part about "impact."

Both of those products you mention are foam boards and are similarly installed and require similar treatments between wallboard and tub tiling flange for proper waterproofing.

You don't have a geographic location in your User Profile, so we can't help with acquisition of the materials, but shipping charges for large foam panels is likely to be a significant cost. Using something other than those products might make a big difference if it can be sourced locally.

What information are we to take from the attached photo?

My opinion; worth price charged.

[HooKooDoo Ku]

Cindy,

I'm a DIYer that used this website about 10 years ago to help finish a bathroom including a tub/shower combo.

Back then, this site primarily discussed three ways of waterproofing the walls of a tub surround:

1. CBU over a sheet of plastic
This was the cheapest solution. But because CBU is not water proof, your only water proof layer was the plastic.

2. Paint-On Waterproof membrane applied to CBU
This was the middle ground on cost. But because the water proof layer is on top of the CBU rather than behind it, it was considered a superior waterproof system.

3. Schluder-Kerdi membrane on Drywall
This was the most expensive system, but (when installed correctly) was considered the most waterproof and only required installing drywall rather than CBU.

I recently returned to this site as I work on rebuilding a small shower, and I'm using the Schluder Kerdi membrane system for my shower.

So I say all this to explain I've got zero experience with modern products like Wedi and GoBoard, but I do have experience tiling a bathtub/shower surround.

So I looked at these two products and I noticed the following differences:

GoBoard installation instructions require fasteners every 8"
Wedi installation instructions require fasteners every 12"
That makes me think Wedi is a physically stronger product.

GoBoard has a basic 10 year warrantee.
Wedi has a basic 10 year warrantee that is upgradeable to 15 and 20 year warrantee depending upon things like using all Wedi components.

The two seem like they are otherwise basically the same product and I think I would pick Wedi over GoBoard over these first impressions (meaning I've NOT done any more detailed review of theses products).

I find it interesting that Schluder also offers a basic 10 year warrantee that upgrades to a lifetime warrantee if you use the Schluder thinset to install the Kerdi membrane to the drywall and the tile to the Kerdi membrane.

So I'd suggest you at least consider the Schulder Kerdi membrane over the Wedi and GoBoard. But it does seem to require a little more work (as the membrane is applied to the wall with thinset) and requires you find a way to get drywall home.

[e3]

If done correctly all should out last you! adding additional products from the same company doesn't make the original product any better, it just puts more money in their pockets.

[cx]

Originally Posted by Joseph

So I'd suggest you at least consider the Schulder Kerdi membrane over the Wedi and GoBoard.

I believe Joseph means to use the Kerdi membrane in lieu of, or rather than, instead of "over" the foam boards. There is little to be gained from installing a sheet waterproofing membrane over a waterproof foam board. Bit of semantics there, but I think we should be clear.

To Eric's point, I think a product manufacturer could reasonably claim that their warranty can be extended if you use only their own products together, rather than mixing their products with other manufacturers' products, over which they have no control, but you must also consider that these are entirely product warranties and the installer can make the same installation errors using either all products from one manufacturer or products from different manufacturers. And an extended product warranty doesn't cover installer errors, regardless who's installation products are used.

I frequently suggest on these forums that our DIY visitors need not pay much attention to product warranties because such warranties are unlikely to apply to any installation failure they might experience. But that's:

My opinion; worth price charged.

[jonchicagoland]

The sealant systems (GoBoard, Wedi etc) are definitely the least hassle to install when compared to the other options. That gives them an edge for speed. The sealants can smell though; one brand (not listed here) made me feel a little sick every time I was working until it was tiled over despite being low VOC. If you're sensitive, I would probably stick with a thinset method of joining panels, which leaves you with a different foam board like Schluter, Laticrete or cement board.

The foam boards are all different different composition:
Wedi: cementitious/fiberglass mesh coated XPS
GoBoard: fiberglass mat over polyiso
Schluter Kerdi board: polyethylene sheet + fleece over EPS

Please don't buy from Amazon. There is a history of fake product being sold there. Contractors Direct has almost all the brands mentioned, if you go the online route.

[Tiger Mountain Tile Inc]

Wedi and GoBoard are both very easy to install compared to cement board and waterproofing fabric.

Wedi is the best quality board on the market and is remarkably stiff, in my opinion.

GoBoard is much less expensive and a very good board for the price.

Wedi requires washers and their own special screws whereas GoBoard requires cement board screws without washers. However, you can use washers with GoBoard and increase the spacing distance (probably to 12 inches but I'm not going to look it up)

Both commonly use their own brand of sealant. I'm not sure which one smells worse as I've never compared them in that manner.

Wedi has their own valve and pipe seals and I would recommend buying them even if you decide to use GoBoard, which I don't believe has any.

FYI, you may not need, or be able to use, the valve seal if you are using something besides a Moen or Delta valve.

[jadnashua]

There are other boards out there, and Schluter has one called KerdiBoard. You do have to use their banding material on the seams and over the screws, but the fasteners are desiged so you can use them in the seam between two pieces, so you end up using fewer of them, and since the seam needs to be covered anyway, that's less area that needs to be covered.

You could probably use KerdiSeal on the screws and it has zero VOCs, but it's not inexpensive so the seaming tape and thinset is their go-to recommendation.

The foam boards are nice since they're light, easy to carry home, and easy to cut with a sharp blade as opposed to cement boards that may not crack easily when scored, and produce a carcinogenic dust if you try to cut them with a blade. And, they're heavy!

[cx]

I thought Kerdi-Seal was those thingees for covering pipe protrusions and shower control valves, Jim. You're maybe meaning Kerdi-Fix for the screw heads?

[jadnashua]

Yeah, the sealant is KerdiFix...getting old...the stroke didn't help, either.