Tyvek bathtub floor?

Tyvek is only noise until you wash it our crush it up either way you should be able to get rid of!
Happy trails
Matt

Thanks Matt… nice to hear the voice of experience…

My first time working with Tyvek…

but, when you say 'wash'… are you talking washing machine???

and when you say 'crush'… are you talking, like, stuffing into a stuff sack?

thanks

Billy

An easy way is to roll it up newspaper like and then twist the ends as if you were wringing a wet towel.

Hey Billy, they are super noisy new.
They quiet down considerably with use.
Packing and unpacking it after a few trips will do it.

Thanks guys. I'm getting the idea. Took a scrap left after the cutting and crunched it up a few times… yes indeed, it does quiet down…

Love this info exchange… no one knows everything…

Billy

I want a bathtub floor to be waterproof, personally, and after bailing out of a pouring rainstorm with a soaked tyvek shelter? I'll never rely on it again to be water resistant let alone waterproof.

Tyvek makes a great groundsheet to protect the nylon floor from granite.

Hmm… pretty sure I had read somewhere that Tyvek is water proof. It's not?????

some varieties are, some are not.

keeping up with technology.

Edited.

From the zPacks web site:

"Tyvek Ground Sheet

Description:
Tyvek "Home Wrap" is an ideal material for ground sheets. It is waterproof, and very abrasion and puncture resistant."

http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/tyvek.shtml

You'll find out then. I've been wrong plenty.

All you need to know is here.
Tyvek

How It Works

The unique nonwoven structure of Tyvek® HomeWrap® makes it breathable, allowing moisture vapor to pass through. This helps promote drying in wall systems, to help prevent mold and water damage. In addition, Tyvek® HomeWrap® stops air movement through the walls, helping insulation perform closer to its full R-value, to provide a more energy-efficient home.

http://gossamergear.com/wp/tips/tip-of-the-week-will-rietveld-talks-tivek

Always reminds me of construction site trash. Which reminds me of work. So I use something else.

It is interesting Ken, some information re Tyvek on the web says it is water proof… other info says it is 'water resistant'…

Even in the link you provided Will refers to the thinner/softer 1443R Tyvek as being waterproof. But when I go to his link to the kite place that sells it they refer to it as being water resistant :(

I always assume when a product is advertised as 'water resistant' that it is NOT water proof.

That said, I just dunked a small patch of Tyvek in a bowl of water for a very short time and noticed zero water penetration… not sure if that would hold up for longer periods… or for Tyvek that had been folded a lot of times.

Billy

It really depends on which Tyvek that you are using and what the application of it will be. Tyvek 1443r has a hydrostatic head of about 775mm if I remember correctly. Waterproof enough for a steep sided shelter like a pyramid or an A-frame pitch tarp, but not for a ground cloth really. The 1085D home wrap version of Tyvek is more waterproof and has been used for ground cloths millions of times.

If the Tyvek you have is loud and improves when you crinkle it, you most likely have 1085D and it will work just fine.

Ryan

I too have had poor experience with Tyvek as a primary floor.
It is meant to be installed vertically, so in that sense it is waterproof, but used as a tent floor it will leak.

I don't know all the "flavors"- I'm talking about typical housewrap. There may be a special one you can snag, but for the el cheapo floor, I back it up with polycro or cheap plastic tarp.

Don't have any evidence of it, but it seemed to me that all the crushing and crinkling to quiet it down also broke down the coating a bit. Once you lose the stiff and noisy- not sure how close you are anymore to the original specs.

So. I took a small piece of Tyvek… the house wrap kind… crushed it up so it was totally krinkled… and then submerged one side in a bowl of water for about 6 hours…

Result: the dry side stayed dry for 6 hours with no sign of wetting out.

So. Seems to me it is waterproof.
I expect with that using it as a ground cloth on gravel, etc will eventually make it leak. But the same can be said for all other tent floor and ground cloth materials… including Cuben, sil-nylon, and polyurethane coated nylon.

What I don't know is which will last the longest without leaking.

Billy

"So. I took a small piece of Tyvek… the house wrap kind… crushed it up so it was totally krinkled… and then submerged one side in a bowl of water for about 6 hours…

Result: the dry side stayed dry for 6 hours with no sign of wetting out."

You will need to do a pressure test. All you have proven is that it floats.

Try using a hose against a piece of the fabric or maybe a shower head.

"You will need to do a pressure test. All you have proven is that it floats."

Not.

I did not float it. I pushed it down a couple of inches with some small weights in the middle of the piece.
That in itself creates a small amount of pressure.
That test should simulate it's use as a ground cloth in a puddle.

You have proven nothing.

You should also amend your first post. When you say, "Result: the dry side stayed dry for 6 hours with no sign of wetting out," it implies that you kept one side out of the water, hence no pressure.

A rock does not simulate an average sized person putting all of their weigh on their knee on a groundsheet. Unless, of course, you weigh the same as the rock.

Good luck in your search.

At one point after adopting Tyvek for groundsheets, I read & then did the washing machine trick. I hung the sheet on the line until it stopped dripping then, on a lark, weighed it before and after. I don't have the exact number at hand but was struck by how much water Tyvek retains among it's spunbonded fibers. Quit using it, generally. The other day I was looking at a roll (Dupont Tyvek) in a hardware store, searching for that specific type ID#…didn't see any. (Vaguely recall & maybe someone will say, you can specify/obtain the good stuff from kitebuilders.)

Charlie,
How do you define 'good stuff'?

The stuff that is used on houses is sold in hardware stores everywhere… but the rolls are huge and expensive. Perhaps some hardware stores will sell this by the foot, but I bought some of this 'good stuff' in a much smaller and cheaper quantity from zPacks.

There is a link for the other 'good stuff' that Will recommended is at:
http://gossamergear.com/wp/tips/tip-of-the-week-will-rietveld-talks-tivek
I believe it is a kite shop, but it looks like the lengths sold are too short for a groundcloth and some say that this particular 'good stuff' is not waterproof, just resistant.

Billy

>Charlie,
>How do you define 'good stuff'?

>The stuff that is used on houses is sold in hardware stores everywhere… but the rolls >are huge and expensive. Perhaps some hardware stores will sell this by the foot, but I >bought some of this 'good stuff' in a much smaller and cheaper quantity from zPacks.

I was referring to the distinction & IDs Ryan Smith posted, Billy. Sounds like you already got the "1085D" "good stuff" from GG. Just wanted to share how non-waterproof–via weight of absorbed water–is the "1443R" I no doubt got. The big box store I visited had narrower width rolls (4 ft-6 ft ?) of Tyvek, maybe for small projects. I just kept looking for any product ID number & saw nothing.

[edit inches to feet. Seems no typo I can't make.]

David U:

You are entitled to your opinion.
But you are wrong :)

Hey. You are welcome to do some testing yourself and report it if you are not satisfied with mine.

Billy

I have and it isn't waterproof enough for a floor.

Hi Charlie,
I really don't know anything about the product numbers other than what I have read in this thread. I got my Tyvek from zPacks; not GG. zPacks says it is good for use as a groundsheet and that it is waterproof.
There is a number on the Tyvek I got from zPacks: T05143… which does not correspond to either of the numbers that other posters have mentioned in this thread.

But my thought is that the stuff from zPacks is maybe tougher and more water resistant/proof than the stuff mentioned in the article at GG… as I understand it that is thinner/softer stuff made for protective suits, etc… and it may be less water resistant.

That's about all I know relative to the idea of 'the good stuff'

Billy