synthetic

Just curious on what is the opinion on using only the green gypsum drywall around bath/shower area of bath and using drywall on rest? Reason I ask is because I am in middle of doing my bath with my father and he has told me we need only the green gypsum board around the bath and shower area and rest could be drywall. I question this especially after he told me I should vent my fan into my attic. I am just wondering if doing whole bath in green wall is waste of money or is this the common practice or is doing only shower area acceptable?

of course all green seems best to be safe but I am over budget on this project already by several hundred and don't want to spend more than I have to so I am just looking for more opinions before I follow my father's advice

woodworkingmenace

Well, does moisture only go into your shower and no place else? Can you securely trap it there? I dont think so, so I would use it all through out the bathroom, to prevent humidity from penetrating the walls into other rooms, or compromising other things. (In my neck of the woods, green board is only a buck more than gypsum board, or dry wall, so the cost is negligable).

(Its what I did, and its only my humble opinion).

Venting to the ATTIC? NOOOO WAY!

You will have mold up there!

You will create ice conditions in the winter time, thus promoting ROT and Decay!

You are inviting TERMITES to your location by doing this!

Who knows about other critters

No, you either vent it out the wall, or out an vent through the roof!

Personally, I would put a vent near the floor, about 12" above it, and in a location where you will not have any obstructions, that being a table, or shelf for this and that, that women love to put in thier bathrooms
(You WILL need to clean the fan blades every 6 months or a year). Near enough to the toilet to expel odors from it, and water vapors are heaviest near the floor, so they will be taken out rather quickly that way.

(No, I have nothing personally against the fan being in the ceiling of the shower, I just like mine next to the floor where it does the best of both worlds and a whole lot of good).

I vented mine out the side of the house, and it came with a hood over it, that has a spring mounted lever so that air infiltration didnt come back and cold with it. Also, make sure its "big enough"... (You dont have to get a huge 8 inch one like I did, but it has to exchange the air enough times to expel the moisture, so incase you DO go with drywall (*cringe*), then you might have a chance of saving it from damage from moisture.

Just my two cents for what its worth and a wee bit extra for the collection plate...

Jesse

IHI

Green has'nt been used for years in any remodel or new construct in our area for years. Your not supposed to use it on the ceiling either since the additional weight of the product will lead to sagging and/or popped nails/screws. Once you apply proper paint to the wall the gypsum is sealed from any moisture....just like painting the exterior of your home so to speak.

As far as venting, you NEED top get it out the roof or through a wall if your bath is on a 2nd or 3rd floor. Venting inside the home is only asking for mold/mildew and rot as mentioned above...inspector catches that your permit will not be signed until you change it and they will look for a roof vent or wall vent if they know what they're doing....either way you need to do it for piece of mind.

As far as installing a fan directly about the shower area that will have to be on it's own seperate GFCI circuit other than the brand new GFCI circuit you already had to run into your bathroom. In my area they also make us install a arch fault breaker as well if the fan is within 36" of tub/shower area.

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Square Eye

Green board around the tub or shower is fine. IHI is right about the fact of less contractors using it. Most inspectors around here require semi-gloss paint in bathrooms and kitchens. The semi-gloss paint seals the walls just enough. Caulking the tub to the drywall before you paint helps. Green board does make a difference where there is a lot of moisture. When I put a garden tub or any other tub without a surround made onto it, I use green board.

At the very least, vent your fans to the vented soffits and maybe the moisture wil collect on the soffit panels and dry there before it damages your insulation or framing,, or cause your ceiling to sag.

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woodworkingmenace

Remember, if you dont use a GFCI on a "seperate line", and try to use the same line for your fan, and everything else in the bathroom, DO NOT USE FLORESCENT LIGHTING!

For some reason, it backfeeds signal into the GFCI and makes them fail...
And yes, I have my bathroom on GFI circuit, and found out about this AFTER I installed a florecent light in the bathroom!! Sheesh!!

Jesse

Bud Cline

Greenboard in wet areas has been problematic for decades. Effective January 01, 2006 greenboard was outlawed in all shower and shower surround and wet-area applications. For years the Tile Council of America, The National Tile Contractors Association, and The National Plumbing Code, among others, has recommended against using greenboard in wet areas.

Deliberatly venting moisture into attics and crawl spaces is also against building codes in most areas.

synthetic

hmm... I might suggest checking your GFCI units or possibly the flourescent light's ballast. I have a flourescent in my kitchen run on the same circuit as 2 GFIC outlets with no problems.



thanks for all the replies... will probably just use the green wall around my shower area then and not whole bathroom. Here it is $5-6 more per board than drywall.

woodworkingmenace

Well, its what I have read in many places, regarding florescent lighting and GFI wall sockets.

I am not happy with it either, because I put up a florescent lighting in line with my GFI...(And believe me, that GFI saved my bacon MANY TIMES when I was doing my bathroom, cutting into wiring with the silly thing ON, and having explosions happen!! Several times! And I didnt get shocked ONE TIME!! I AM A FIRM BELIEVER IN GFI's NOW!!)....

Its that feedback from the lighting aparatus that engages the florecent light that causes turmoil in the GFI circuit, so that it cant trip right. Wife wants me to put a ceiling fan up there now, so I may have to rip the ceiling up a bit, and put some bracing, so I can put one of those tiny ceiling fans that I have put in almost every bedroom...(really throws some air around for a 25 inch fan), and I want to make sure its braced up good!. Thus, my GFI will be effective again.

I am actually thinking about putting in all GFCI in all sockets, so that I dont have to go down to the fuse box, every time a circuit trips, just reset it at the silly outlet...but, problem with that is, I have "gang boxes" in the living room, where I have to plug 6 different things in for the television and all the accutraments that go along with it. (naw, forget about adding more outlets... walls are double brick all four walls, and I have added a few to the base boards but, they dont really look as apealing as a regular socket... Gotta figure something out, about adding to the brick and ripping a trail downwards and sealing it up again... And forget about those "external ones", thats ugly to me)....

Ok, 'nuff of my diatribe on this one...

NEXT.....

Jesse

pqglen

I would use wonderboard or somthing like it in the tub/shower surround and good old dry wall everywhere else

pqglen

asbestos

So if green board is banned and heinous and will cause all sorts of horrid things why do they sell it? Why could it be worse then plain old drywall? I like using cement backerboard around the shower, but then I'm spending other people's money.