Every shower, wet area floor and balcony needs a membrane applied over the substrate before the tile bed goes down. Liquid coatings and cement based products are brushed, rolled or trowelled onto the prepared surface, with tape and cloth added at the weak points.
Liquid options from Sika are SikaTile-110 Secure Proof and SikaTile-111 Rapid Proof, while Mapei has Mapelastic AquaDefense and Mapelastic Smart. K10 Plus and Ardex WPM155 Rapid Plus are also liquid products, and Ardex Superflex WPM002 is designed to go under the tiles. SikaLastic-1K and Mapei Planiseal 88 are the cement based choices. Ardex Deckweb cloth and 80mm butyl tape strengthen penetrations, corners and junctions.