Do I need tanking if I'm only tiling one wall in Leek?

If that wall takes direct shower spray, yes. Outside the wet zone in a normal Leek bathroom, a sound boarded substrate is generally sufficient.

Can you tank over plasterboard?

Standard plasterboard isn't the right base for a wet zone. We replace it with a suitable tile backer board in the shower area, then tank that.

What about the joint between wall and tray?

That junction gets sealing tape bedded into the membrane before tiling, plus a silicone movement joint afterwards. Two lines of defence, not one.

How long before you can tile?

The membrane needs its full cure between coats and before tiling. On a Leek job that normally means the tanking stage occupies its own day in the schedule.

Can you do large-format porcelain in a small Leek bathroom?

Yes — 600x600 and 1200x600 porcelain work well in Leek bathrooms when the walls are skimmed flat and set out properly, making the room feel bigger.

Do you provide a fixed-price quote before starting?

Always. After a free home visit in Leek we send a fully itemised, fixed-price quotation — no surprises on invoice day.

Bathroom & Wet-Zone Tiling · Leek

Shower Tanking & Waterproofing in Leek

Specialist wall and floor tiling — including large-format and stone.

Call 01782 901390 Request a Quote

Tiles and grout are not waterproof. They're the wearing surface. The waterproofing is the layer behind them, and it's the part nobody sees — which is exactly why it's the part most often skipped on a Leek bathroom.

We tank as a separate, deliberate stage: board the substrate, tape and seal every internal corner and junction, collar the pipe penetrations, then two coats of membrane with the second at right angles to the first.

If you're weighing up bathroom & wet-zone tiling in Leek, the local detail matters more than the brochure spec.

Waterproofing questions from {town}

Do I need tanking if I'm only tiling one wall in Leek?: If that wall takes direct shower spray, yes. Outside the wet zone in a normal Leek bathroom, a sound boarded substrate is generally sufficient.
Can you tank over plasterboard?: Standard plasterboard isn't the right base for a wet zone. We replace it with a suitable tile backer board in the shower area, then tank that.
What about the joint between wall and tray?: That junction gets sealing tape bedded into the membrane before tiling, plus a silicone movement joint afterwards. Two lines of defence, not one.
How long before you can tile?: The membrane needs its full cure between coats and before tiling. On a Leek job that normally means the tanking stage occupies its own day in the schedule.
Can you do large-format porcelain in a small Leek bathroom?: Yes — 600x600 and 1200x600 porcelain work well in Leek bathrooms when the walls are skimmed flat and set out properly, making the room feel bigger.
Do you provide a fixed-price quote before starting?: Always. After a free home visit in Leek we send a fully itemised, fixed-price quotation — no surprises on invoice day.

Local context for Leek

Locally, Leek is part of Staffordshire Moorlands District Council's area within Staffordshire, covering postcodes ST13. Leek is a hillside Moorlands market town with stone-built terraces, former silk-mill conversions and stone cottages in the surrounding villages. Main routes through are A53 and A520, which is why our vans pass close to Leek most days.

ST13A53A520A523

Tanking shortcuts we find in {town}

Anyone tiling a wet area who wants it waterproof behind the tiles in Leek hit a recurring set of issues with shower tanking & waterproofing:

Membrane rolled over standard plasterboard in a full wet zone — flagged regularly on Leek jobs.

Internal corners painted rather than taped, so movement splits the membrane — flagged regularly on Leek jobs.

Pipe penetrations left uncollared — the one place water always finds — flagged regularly on Leek jobs.

On the Leek side of our patch: walls out of plumb meaning tiles step at corners.

On the Leek side of our patch: wrong adhesive on porcelain leaving slow cure and edge cracks.

Other services in Leek

Our shower tanking & waterproofing process in Leek

Here's how the job actually runs in your house:

1Stage 1 on site at Leek: hand-cut and diamond-cut every detail — inside corners, recesses, niches.
2Stage 2 on site at Leek: tank wet zones with liquid or sheet membrane.
3Notch-trowel a rapid-set adhesive matched to tile and substrate (planned per Leek room).
4Strip existing tile, check substrate and skim where needed (planned per Leek room).

Materials & methods

Glass mosaic banding and feature strips, used in Leek installs.
Natural stone (marble, travertine — sealed before grouting), used in Leek installs.

Beyond Leek — where else we work

Our vans cover a tight radius — Leek sits centrally, with frequent jobs in:

Coverage from Leek

Service radius is approximate and based on our regular weekly routes.

Our tanking stages in {town}

What we commit to on every shower tanking & waterproofing job in Leek:

Tanking photographed at completion of both coats before tiling (standard on every Leek shower tanking & waterproofing install).
Every corner, junction and penetration taped or collared as a separate stage (standard on every Leek shower tanking & waterproofing install).
Specialists in 1200x600 large-format and 1500x750 slab tile, every Leek job.
For Leek clients: tiled thousands of square metres across staffordshire.
For Leek clients: stone-care trained — sealing before and after grouting.

Tank it properly before the tiles go on

Free Leek survey of the substrate, plus photos of the tanked walls before tiling starts so you can see what you paid for.

Specialists in large-format and natural stone
Free site survey before quoting in
Tile-only or supply-and-fit options in