How to Apply Wire and Tar Paper to a Shower Wall

Apply wire and paper to shower walls to create a water barrier.

In a sense, the shower is mankind's attempt to bring a waterfall indoors. The earliest natural showers were waterfalls where people stood beneath them and bathed. The earliest man-made shower was in Regency England: an elaborate affair with bamboo-painted metal and a hidden tank. Over time, the shower became more common-place and less elaborate. In one way nothing has changed: controlling the water flow. Creating a water-tight seal on the walls of the shower is necessary to keep the water from penetrating the walls, causing mold and rot behind them. One method is to apply tar paper and wire to the shower wall, thus adding to the success of water containment.

Things You'll Need

• Measuring tape
• Tar paper
• Scissors or Exacto knife
• Fasteners (roofing nails, staples, washers and nails)
• Chicken wire
• Tin snips
• Wheel barrow
• Mortar
• Finish trowel
• Feather edge
• Wood float

Instructions

1. Measure and cut tar paper. Secure it to the walls of the shower with fasteners. These fasteners can be roofing nails, nails and washers or staples.

2. Cut chicken wire to length with tin snips. Apply to the walls of the shower with staples.

3. Mix mortar in a wheelbarrow. The ratio should be one part each of cement and type s hydrated lime, and seven parts of wet sand. Mix until the mortar forms furrows that stand on their own without collapsing.

4. Press the mortar into the wire with a finishing trowel. Go over the mortar with a feather edge, removing excess and smoothing the surface. Finish the edges of the wall with a wood float

References

• ET Industries: Shower History
• Kitchen Remodel Pictures: Tar Paper
• The Tile Doctor: Bathtubs