Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
Graham goes solo today while awaiting Ashkahn’s return.
Graham takes a question about cement backer board and the reasons it should be avoided in a float room. It’s a dense episode. Real dense. More dense, in fact, than cement backer board.
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Graham: All right, hello, everybody. My name is Graham, and that’s it, my name’s Graham. There’s no one else in the studio here with me today. Ashkahn’s gonna be back very shortly, and we’ll have the old Grashkamn duo.
But, for now, I’m just gonna launch right into answering today’s question, which is: “You mentioned not to use cement board when using tiles on the wall. What is the reason for that?”
There’s a couple good reasons, besides just we said so. They are related to soundproofing, and then salt, I guess, like so much else in the float world. The salt aspect, I guess we’ll talk about first because that’s more core to what cement backerboard is.
Basically, just in case you’re not familiar with it, it’s a different kind of material that you’re putting behind typical tile wall. It’s kind of porous, but still very dense, kind of inflexible type material. Typically, you’d put this directly on the studs rather than putting on drywall or something on top of them.
The kind of classic application is that the tile going on top is itself kind of permeable, especially the grout. For instance, in a shower area, you expect a certain amount of the water to kind of seep into the grout, and perhaps get into whatever’s behind it. If that’s regular drywall, then you risk it getting that wet, and molding out, and stuff like that. You want this kind of material back there that’s more solid, that’s not going to mold, but that’s also semipermeable so when the water gets in there, it’s allowed to evaporate over time, which is kind of the idea.
With our application, we’re using porcelain tile with epoxy grout, so we’re not really expecting water to get back there. The main protection from the walls is actually just that impermeable surface of the tile and the epoxy grout.
The other thing is, if water did get back in there, and if you weren’t using kind of a permeable solution with the cement backerboard, salt would also theoretically be able to get back there. That’s terrible because while water is able to evaporate, saltwater will get into something, and when it dries, the salt crystals will expand, and that thing will just start to get destroyed, which is where so much of the salt damage that we see in our space comes from. That’s kind of just on the salt-proofing side, why you don’t really see that cement backerboard.
The main reason why you see the alternative, which is some kind of either adapted drywall setup, usually MMR, mold and mildew resistant, maybe multilayered for soundproofing, or specifically soundproof drywall, something like QuietRock, also maybe MMR, mold and mildew resistant. The idea with that is in addition to trying to make these wet rooms, which is usually where cement board is going, you’re now trying to soundproof those, and turn them into the equivalent of a sound studio almost. Cement backerboard is not going to provide you the same kind of soundproofing as a really heavy drywall set up, or especially something like QuietRock.
Since you want that soundproofing, is also one of the reasons that we go with a totally impermeable surface on the outside. Other than saltwater, you just wanna make sure that now that you’ve put up this heavy soundproof drywall, you’re protecting it. So kind of for both of those reasons, and they mix together a lot, but that’s typically why you’re not seeing cement backerboard in a float center type application. Instead, what you will see, if you are using tile, is this heavy layer of soundproof drywall, again, whatever, whether it’s custom made or just multilayers of drywall with something like green glue in between. Then you’ll see the porcelain tile on top of that.
All right, that wasn’t so bad. I think that the Graham only show can hold its own, maybe we’ll just kick Ashkahn off for the foreseeable future, you know, just kind of wing it on my own.
If you do not wanna see that, let me know by going to floattanksolutions.com/podcast and I will talk to you tomorrow. Thanks, everyone.
Recent Podcast Episodes
How to Handle Reopening? – DSP 310
If there’s one thing Ashkahn and Graham have learned, it’s reopening. Float On has had to shut down for repairs so many times over the years that they’ve got the process down to a science.
They share their secrets for making sure you have a full week after opening, build momentum, keep your members happy in the downtime and throw a kickin’ reopening party!
What Inspires your Marketing? – DSP 309
Graham and Ashkahn talk about what it’s like when inspiration strikes, how they chase their floaty muse to a solid marketing idea and form it into an actionable plan.
The reality is that it mostly involves a lot of listening and willingness to try, and fail at, new things. As with so many things, play to your strengths, focus on the things you’re passionate about and the rest is practice.
What’s Happening with the Float Conference Non-Profit – DSP 308
Ashkahn and Graham talk about how the Float Conference has been going since they handed off the reigns this year. Big decisions are still incoming, but there’s a lot of ways you can help out or get involved.
If you’d like to offer your help, services, or suggestions for the new Non-profit of the Float Conference, or if you’d just like updates to how it’s going and where it might be held next year, email conference@floathq.com, and the Conference will know to contact you.
VR in a Float Tank – DSP 307
While they haven’t tried it themselves, Ashkahn and Graham liberally distribute their opinions on the use of VR in float tanks and what they think might be better, using it before, after, or during a float.
How to do A/B Testing – DSP 306
A/B Testing is a method to compare one system against another. Most often, this is used to compare the performance of one version of a website to another in real time.
Graham and Ashkahn talk about A/B testing (or “the old onesie-twosies” as Ashkahn says) and how it can be used to improve a float center’s website.
Latest Blog Posts
I’ll Give you a Float Tuesday for a Massage Today: Floating & Bartering
Whoever said that you can’t get something for Nothing obviously never ran a float center. At Float On, we’ve used bartering as a creative means to meet a wide range of goals and needs. Even as I’m writing this, I’m sipping on coffee that we traded from a shop across...
Financing Your Float Center with Investors
In addition to an increase in bank loans, more and more float centers have been using investors in recent years to finance their operations. Every center’s earning potential varies greatly — but a well-run center with no surprise buildout costs (or re-buildout costs) can do very well for itself.
As a result, people with means (or general interest) are increasingly likely to consider having a financial stake in the float industry without the glorious headache of actually running a shop.
Float Conference Interview
In the midst of all of our blog writing and party planning, I sat down with Ashkahn Jahromi, cofounder of The Float Conference, Float On, and Float Tank Solutions with a few questions about the upcoming Float Conference aka #FloatCon for you social media savvy kids in Twitterland.
Take Part in the 2017 Float Industry Report
We’re gathering responses for our 2017 Industry Report through the end of June, and we once again need your help.
Please take a brief moment to answer a few questions about your float center (or future float center) – it may be easiest thing you can do to contribute to the growth of floatation around the world.
