Do waterstops and transitions need expansion joints?

demoreno

Hey wise Bunnings folk, am tiling our hallway, bathroom and laundry with the same tiles throughout, only other room off the hall is carpeted, and have questions about the transitions / waterstops. Concrete subfloor.

Obviously the bathroom and laundry floors will be waterproofed, with an L angle stuck to the subfloor across the doorway as the waterstop. And I’m doing the carpet transition with just a simple L angle too, going for the minimal look there.

Question is, do these L angles need to be set up as expansion joints somehow? Especially the ones at the bath and laundry doorways, given they’ve got tiles on both sides of them? Have left expansion room at all the walls, that’ll be hidden by the skirting board trims once they’re back on, and we’re not talking huge long runs of tile - the max across is from the back laundry wall out through the door across to the far side of the hall, less than four metres.

MitchellMc

Hi @demoreno,

If both sets of tiles are over the same concrete subfloor, which doesn't have an expansion gap at the transition of rooms, then I see no reason you'd need to add one. If these were two slabs with an expansion gap at the transition, you would need to provide one above it, as the movement could cause the tiles to crack or buckle. 

I do note 'The Australian Standard recommends intermediate “stress-relieving joints” in internal tile work at 8 to 10 metres'. So, it looks like you are well within the guidelines.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell