A Guide To Waterproofing and Tanking
02/06/2025When planning a shower or bathroom renovation, wet room installation, or basement conversion, waterproofing and tanking are essential steps that ensure longevity and prevent costly water damage. Therefore, using the right tanking kit can make all the difference.
In this guide, we'll explore the key concepts of waterproofing, the different types of tanking systems and products, and which products are best suited for various applications like bathrooms, showers, and basements.
Why Do Walls And Floors Get Damp?
Buildings can become damp for many reasons: building faults, penetrating damp, plumbing issues, and rising damp. They can lead to structural issues, damage decoration, and also bad smells.
What Is Tanking?
Tanking refers to the process of sealing a surface to make it watertight. This is particularly important in moisture-prone areas like bathrooms, wet rooms, showers, and basements. Tanking helps prevent water ingress into walls and floors, avoiding mould, structural damage, and poor tile adhesion.
Choosing the Right Tanking Kit
At Pro Tiler Tools, we stock a wide range of tanking kits tailored for every type of waterproofing need. Here's a breakdown of popular options and when to use them:
Different tanking systems work in different ways:
Liquid Membranes – Found in most waterproof tanking kits, these are painted or rolled on to create a seamless barrier. Examples include:
Sheet Membranes – These can be fixed to surfaces and sealed with overlaps. These include options such as tanking and waterproofing tapes:
Tanking Slurry – a cement-based coating that's used to waterproof walls and floors, whether that’s in a basement, swimming pool, bathroom, or exterior wall. We stock a wide range of slurry tanking options from reputable brands, including BW1 tanking, Ardex S7, Mapei Mapeproof, and Laticrete Hydro Ban. Common in basement tanking systems, they offer deep-penetration sealing.
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Featured Waterproofing Options
Pro Tiler Tools offers a curated range of solutions from leading brands, ensuring you can find the right tanking system for your needs. See the table below for suggestions from your favourite brands:
Brand | Product Example | Images |
Schluter KERDI-SHOWER-SK Waterproofing Kits - easy-to-use waterproofing set for floor-level showers. |  | |
JACKOBOARD Shower Sealing Kit - a quick-drying, flexible, liquid membrane for use on rigid surfaces in bathrooms, wet rooms, and showers. |  | |
Impey WaterGuard Tanking Kit - complete wetroom sealing solution, not just for floors but also for walls. When correctly installed across the entirety of a wetroom floor, it provides an impenetrable barrier against leaks, guaranteed for life. |  | |
Tilemaster Tanking Kit Waterproofing Tub - single coat, fast drying sealant system based on co-polymer technology. It is designed to produce a barrier to moisture that is flexible enough to accommodate slight movement and/or vibration, which may be expected under normal conditions of use in and around well-constructed, structurally stable floors, walls, and shower cubicles. |  | |
Kerakoll Nanodefense Eco Organic Water-Based Mineral Tanking Paste - certified, eco-friendly, organic, water-based, mineral waterproofing product for absorbent substrates in damp environments. |  | |
UltraTile ProAqua Shield Tanking Kit - a high-performance one-coat tanking system designed to provide waterproof protection to backgrounds in commercial environments, wetrooms, domestic bathrooms, kitchens, and showers. It is suitable for both walls and floors prior to tiling. It requires only one coat and can be tiled in 90 minutes without the need to prime. |  | |
Mapei Shower Waterproofing Kit - easy-to-use kit containing everything required to waterproof a shower in one tub. |  | |
wedi Fundo Sealing Kit - bucket set, consisting of a 2-component sealant, wedi Tools sealing tape, and wedi Tools inner sealing corners for flexible joint sealing. |  | |
Ardex WPC W Flexible Rapid Drying Waterproof Tanking Kit - a cement-based, rapid-drying waterproof protection coating that allows tiling to commence after just 90 minutes. |  | |
Beava Waterproofing Tanking Kit - fast drying, easy to apply waterproofing and tanking kit for all wet areas. |  | |
BAL Waterproof 1C One-Coat Waterproofing System - ready-to-use, rapid-setting one-coat waterproofing system for tiling in internal wet areas. |  | |
Laticrete HYDRO BAN Liquid Waterproofing Membrane - a thin, load-bearing waterproofing and crack isolation membrane that does not require the use of fabric in the field, coves, or corners and bonds directly to a wide variety of substrates. It is a single-component self-curing liquid rubber polymer equipped with Microban® antimicrobial technology, forming a flexible, seamless waterproofing membrane. |  | |
Benfer EasyBath Shower Tanking Kit - a complete set to waterproof the substrate before tile application in showers, toilets, kitchens, and rooms subject to frequent washing. |  | |
C-Tec BW1 One Part Anti-Bacterial Waterproofing System - the ultimate time and cost-saving solution for professional trades. Its incredible performance totally negates the need for joint tapes and fiddly corner pieces. Suitable for both commercial and domestic projects, BW1 is compatible with multiple substrates commonly used in the construction of bathrooms, showers and wet room installations including Concrete, Brick, Wood, Plasterboard, Fibre Cement Board and Foam Backer Board. |  |
Waterproofing is not optional—it's essential. We offer tanking kits from a range of top tiling brands, such as Schluter, BAL, Mapei, Benfer, Ardex, Marmox, Wedi, Jackoboard, Impey, Ultra Tile, Tilemaster, and Kerakoll.
Explore our range and make your next installation watertight, and if you have any questions or need guidance in selecting the right product, contact us at 01604 859800, or via email at [email protected].