Starting a curbless shower today!

[john2777]

Well, today is D-day for the curbless shower in the to-be master bath. It will be a kerdi shower with 5/8" sheetrock on walls and ceiling.

We are in the process and have recently made an addition to the house with a 2-car garage and a master bedroom and bath behind. Although part of the master bath protrudes into the older house structure, the curbless shower is in the new section. The subfloor is already down so I will have to rip into it. Some electric, and drywall (ceiling) is up, but no plumbing. So, I can make as big a mess as I need to!

Shower dimentions: 5'x 5'6"
Joists: 2x10 on 16" center, 12' span
Subfloor: 3/4" OSB

The plan is to cut down the joists in the shower area about 2" in the shower area. The addition of a small speed bump at the door entrance should give me the required 2" rise above the drain and make it a bit easier to install a door, which would swing "into" the shower. Having to cut the joists down 2" gives me an insufficient deflecto score for tile, so I will be sistering 2x8's onto the sides of the cutdown joists for the full 12" span. This should give me a deflecto score around 500. The new subfloor will be 2 pieces of 5/8" plywood, for a 1 1/4" total.

I think I have taken everything into consideration as I have done a fair amount of reading on the site, but never sure if I have missed something.

I'll be posting pictures a bit later as the project goes. I had been looking for threads showing how the floor is recessed but didn't see any picture-threads. If there are any out there, I would appreciate the link, because I still have some questions about the blocking around the edges when it is recessed and could use the ideas.

I just a DIY-er with a little tile experience, but ready to go...

[Sponsored Links]

[wannaBpro]

John...first thing is if you just cut down your our joists to 2x8, your floor will not be stiff enough for even ceramic tile. Check the deflecto above. Now...if you do cut them down to 2x8 and sister another 2x8 to each joists, you can use either ceramic or natural stone. 3/4" T&G is minimum for ceramic tile but natural stoe would require another layer of plywood.
Curbless shower...you could do a complete mud job, place the vanity, commode, etc. of a flat plane ad slope the rest of the floor to the drain. More slope in the shower area and the entire floor (Ditra sealed with kerdi) and 2-4 inches of the wall (Kerdi or Kerdi band) would need to be waterproof. Check out the new issue of fine home building.
If you don't do the whole bath, waterproof outside the shower area (Kerdi over plywood sealed at the walls near the shower. Good Luck.

[Theold--scottyb]

Randy, looks like he stated most of the stuff you just said. Sistering 2x8's and adding another layer of plywood.

[john2777]

I really just want to recess the shower area and I will be laying a mud floor. I also ordered kerdi for the whole bathroom. Even though the shower will be tile, I purchased that discount travertine at HD for the bathroom floor. I just couldn't pass up $1.57/sq ft. The deflecto score is iffy for the rest of the bathroom with natural stone, so I am looking at sistering some joists for the rest of the bathroom.

Well, there is no turning back... I have a big hole in the floor. OK, what do I do now?

Just kidding. Has gone pretty good. I was hoping to recover the subfloor in maybe 2 pieces, but it was not meant to be. I really had to cut things out. Sawzall was a great help for cutting along the walls. Then used the rotozip with the wood blade to get them totally flush.

I'll post pictures this evening... back to work, break is over.

[John Bridge]

Hey John, :)

You can have a shower door hinged both ways, but it has to open out one way or the other. The door can't open in only. It's a safety feature. If you need to exit the shower in a hurry you should be able to push and exit. Also, what if someone collapsed in the shower against the door. How would you get at them without breaking glass? :)

[wannaBpro]

Gee...guess I'm the first person to ever miss something while reading. :bang:

[john2777]

John,

You bring up a good point. The reason for the door opening inward is so the dripping water off the door will stay in the shower. I think there are drip guards that help in this situation.

So, did you say that they make a hinge that opens both ways? That would be very desirable. With the current design there is nothing to prevent the door from also opening outwards. But we may not have a door for a bit anyway. Because the whole remodeling job is quite a bit over budget, I think we will have to settle for a shower curtain for a while. :)

[cx]

Check on the Wilson Glass (http://www.wilsonglass.com/) website, John. They have all manner of hardware for shower enclosures and doors.

[John Bridge]

I've seen two way hinges on frameless glass doors, the type where they use no weather strip at all and which leak a bit when the shower is in use. ;) For a traditional framed door I've never seen a two-way or one that opens in.

[Theold--scottyb]

Randy, quit banging your head, its giving me a headache. :clap2:

[john2777]

John, it looks like I will have to think a little more about a one-way door, or the frameless two-way door. I am doing this as a kerdi install so that I will have the option for a steam shower in the future.

CX, I'll visit Wilson glass online for hardware options. I received a quote from them for the other shower I recently did. I found out that locally installed glass doors will run about $1800, and will glass could provide the tempered glass and hardware for about $1000. More than sufficient to tempt a do-it-yourself-er.

Well, project seems to be going well. I have the four joists cut down and sistered with a 2x8 for the full 12' span. I am now looking to put in some lag bolts to pull them together more tightly. But I don't have the right size washers and I can't find my wrench. :dunce: So, I'm off to Lowes...again.

I also realized that 2 pieces of 5/8" for the shower subfloor will lessen my recess margin more than a single piece of 3/4". So, I think I will also pick up some 3/4". I think I remember reading that 3/4"OSB or plywood is OK for subfloor in the shower with an 1" of deckmud under the Kerdi.

[john2777]

Today I managed to open up the floor, cut down the 4 main joists in the recessed shower area, and glue and nail the sister joist to the main joist. I have a few pictures of the project.

The first shows the shower area and the main tools I used for opening up the floor. On the right is the exterior of the house prior to the addition. The rear shower wall has one exterior window in it.

The second picture shows the floor opened up to the size that will be recessed.

Most of the project went smoothly. But the 4th sister joist was definetly misbehaving. It was pulling apart as I nailed it. I had to get some clamps and lag bolt it so it would hold together. 4 bolts seemed to do the trick pretty well.

The last picture shows the final result of the sistered joists. I still have some blocking and then laying the new subfloor. I should have that done tomorrow.

I'm really not a construction person, so I'm open to suggestions if something needs some fixin'. :)

[john2777]

Well, I have still been working on the master bath curbless shower that I started... ah... yesterday? OK, it's been more than a few days. I have a few more pics.

Here is the finished floor. After talking with the KErdi people, they felt that 3/4" osb was fine for the shower subfloor, so I did.

[john2777]

The bathroom project also included a heated floor in the rest of the bathroom, but not the shower. So, that is what I have been working on most recently. I decided to go with Warm Tiles and just buy the wire kit. My floor diagram was a bit complicated and I felt just laying the wire myself would be easiest. But I'm sure it took longer than the mat to lay. The kit comes with strips to "snap" in the wire. Since there is a crawl space under the shower and it is unheated, they called for the "alternate spacing" which is one run at 3" and the next at 1 1/2". It averages out to 2", but it seems to me they should just offer a 2" spacing kit.

[john2777]

My bathroom floor was flat, but sloped. I tormented myself quite a lot over what to do about it. In the end I decided to skip the SLC and just mud over the wires manually. The SLC required a wire mesh over the wires (Custom Blend no longer makes the plastic lath and now requires metal) and I didn't like the idea of a metal mesh over the heating wires.

After the wires were mudded in, I layed an isolation barrier. This may not be totally propper, but I used Kerdi on the floor, instead of Ditra, because I had quite a extra. Sorry, no pics here.

Then I laid the travertine 18x18 tiles from HD. I used 1/16" groutlines. The floor was not particularly level, expecially after mudding in the wires without SLC. So, I used a 1/2" x 1/2" trowel and back-buttered the tiles with a 1/4 x 3/8 trowel to try and reduce the lippage. I'm sure this method was helpful, but this was not an easy task. I went with a non-modified thinset and just mixed it a little stiffer. I was trying to keep with the Kerdi recommendations, but I am starting to have my doubts on this "non-modified thinset" method. On the floor I'm sure it will be fine. But on the walls of the shower which will be starting shortly, I believe I will use a modified thinset.

[john2777]

Last night I put in the preslope of the shower area. I mixed the mud manually and it took 3 batches of about 100 lbs each. I guess I should have had a helper, but this is not the sort of things friends volunteer for. I was really hustling to get it done in a short period of time. It didn't help that it was over 90 F outside. But it seemed to turn out OK.

Next will be Kerdi on the floor and walls, but I am thinking modified thinset at this point... at least to adhere the Kerdi.

I am also a little concerned about putting Kerdi on the ceiling. I may eventually make this a "steam shower", so I would like it totally Kerdi-ed. (Is that a real word?) I'm hoping this stuff will not "peel off" the ceiling after tiles are placed. I'm not so sure it is an irrational fear after reading recently about another person's woes with their Kerdi steam shower.

[john2777]

Oh, yeah... here is a shot of the plumbing roughin in the shower. We wanted the rain shower overhead, with a regular shower head on the wall, and then also a hand-shower mounted close by.

I removed the black vapor barrier before I closed up the walls. Didn't want the the 2-vapor-barriers thing going on since I will be using Kerdi.

[chuck stevenson]

Looks good John. You might consider protecting your mudbed and doing the walls first and grout them. Then kerdi the floor. Also did you check the Deflecto fo double 2x8 spanning 12'?

[john2777]

Yes, I did check the deflecto for the shower and it will be fine for tile. The span is actually 11' 2".

I will be protecting the shower floor with cardboard as shown in the Kerdi video. I do plan on tiling the walls, ceiling, then floor, although I am trying to figure out how to omit the first course of tile on the wall with a kerdi installation. I was thinking of screwing in a 2x4 at the right height and then build the installation from there. The tile is a 6x6 porcelan.

Hope to have everything done in about 3 weeks.

[john2777]

Alas... I have gone the way of many beginners. Some deficienties have been pointed out to me in my steam shower design by a company rep from the Steamist. So, I thought I would seek some opinions here to see if these issues are really important and should be fixed, or if they are minor and the project should continue. I am currently in the process of applying the kerdi to the walls. But it seems the problems are all in the ceiling design. :(

The first issue appears to be with the slope of the steam shower ceiling. I really don't have a slope. The company rep says that their needs to be about 2" per foot of shower, or water droplets will form on the ceiling and drop on the steam bather. This is meant to be primarily a shower, but I am not crazy about the drops coming down when I don't want them to. I have been in steam showers before and do recall the problem in their setup, and it was an annoyance. Any thoughts?

The second issue was with the ceiling fan. I read a few threads and I kinda liked the idea of the fan "inside" the shower area and installed a fantec product, where the fan is an inline model and a 10' distance from the actual shower. However, this may be great for a shower, but the company rep pointed out that steam rises and will create a draft and more loss of heat, even if the fan is not on. He highly recommended the fan be "outside" the steam shower, perhaps just outside the door. I guess I am wondering if this is really a serious problem. The fan has a spring-loaded damper which would reduce air flow when not "on",and the roof vent I plan to use also has a "lid-type" damper, which "raises" with pressure when the fan is on. This could also reduce or stop heat flow out of the shower. Anythoughts of this problem.

All in all, I could fairly easily adjust the ceiling pitch at this point. A few 2x4s and some drywall. I have not put the kerdi on the ceiling yet, so now would be the time to make the adjustment. But I really don't like the idea of moving the fan. There is no access from the attic and moving it could get ugly.

I'll post a picture shortly that shows the issues. Any replys greatly appreciated!

[john2777]

Here are a few pictures of the current "state of the project". I had just finished up the counter top and used the same travertine I used on the floors. But you can also see the curbless shower and the ceiling issues.

[john2777]

bump

[chuck stevenson]

John,

I am just finishing a bathroom with a curbless Kerdi shower. You can slope the ceiling by taper ripping 2X6 or 2X8 depending on the slope, leaving 1" at the thin end of the taper. Cut a 2X4 notch at the wider end and nail a 2X4 flat perpindicular to the ceiling joists. This is not a major deal. From what I have seen of your project so far, you will be done before you know it.

Our local codes prevent us from locating an exhaust fan in the shower.

[john2777]

Thanks Chuck for the info. I've never sloped a ceiling before so your info was helpful.

I figure I have two options on the ceiling. Slope the whole ceiling and I figure I can get about 1 1/2" per foot before I start to interfere with the window. But, I also figue I could just slope the back 2' of shower where the seating will be for the steam bathers. This would prevent water sfrom dripping down in the back portion and would be considerably easier, especially since I could leave the fan as-is in the present position.

I figure I have another day or two before I have to make the decision. In the meantime, i've switched to tiling the island in the kitchen with 20"x20" ceramic tile. :)

[john2777]

Well, since my last posting I put the curbless steam shower on hold and have gotten married. So, I have had a few changes.

I didn't stop working all together, but rather turned my attention to the tub enclosure, which looked to be a little quicker to finish before the wedding. Since the travertine looked so nice on the floor and counter, we had HD bring in some more for the enclosure. It's hard to believe that they brought in 100 sq ft from 700 miles away and still sold it to me at the close-out price of $1.35/sq ft! :yummy:

I think it turned out pretty nice, so I thought I'd post a few pictures. I always read various threads before I start anything new to avoid as many problems as possible. One of the big issues with the enclosure was how to do the access areas. In the end I didn't want to get too elaborate and just "tight fitted" some poplar wood that I picked up at a local sawmill. Cost me about $10 and I think it looks fine. It pulls off easily and hold fairly tight due to the "snug" fit. I have two access panels, but only one is visible from the photo angles.

As always, I appreciate all the advice I found in the forum threads. I will be starting work in the steam shower area shortly. I will probably go with travertine on the walls and find a close maching tile for the ceiling and floors. Unfortunately, all that cheap HD travertine is gone so I am looking for an economical source for 12" and 6" walnut travertine. I'd appreciate any recommendations.

[john2777]

BTW, the heated floor is up and running and it is sweet! It is sooooo nice to step on a warm floor! Highly recommend it.

[wallygater]

hi john
how big is that door in your picture?

[john2777]

Hi Wally,

The access door pictured is 15"x11" and is for access to the hot and cold water plumbing. There is another access panel on the rear not pictured that is 20"x13" and gives access to the pump and motor. Those would be the most likely points of trouble. If there is some problems with the plumbing along either side of the spa, then I am pretty much screwed... or I will have to find a very small plumber...

I did call the company as asked a few questions about an enclosure and was told that if there are no initial leaks in the tub plumbing, then you are probably good for the life of the spa. If I get a leak on the "wall" side of the tub, then I could actually access it from the other side of the wall, which is a closet. I suppose there is still some risk in tiling over permanently a good portion, but so far so good!

[John Bridge]

Looking good, John. :)

[Davestone]

I would do that slope in the steam room,anything you can do is better than nothing.Tub looks nice. :bow:

[john2777]

Thanks for the nice remarks. The pictures were taken without a flash and with just the natural light. We put a skylight directly over the spa that adds a lot of extra light to the bathroom, especially in the morning.

I will definately be sloping the ceiling in the shower/steam room. I figure I can get about 1 1/2" per foot. I'm still debating about what to do with the fan. I'll probably move it, but I want to keep the light in the steamroom. I put two can lights on a dimmer switch next to the skylight over the spa and it really adds a lot of atmosphere. So, I definately want to use light to improve the atmosphere in the steamroom, too. I'm getting pretty excited about this, as the other projects have turned out pretty well.

I have already plumbed in the steam generator and run the control wires. When I figure out my best fan and lighting options, then I'll jump right in!

[wallygater]

how big is the door that leads into the bathroom? looks like maybe a 26 x 80

[john2777]

Oh, that door...

The current opening is 27 1/2 inches. After it is finished out it will be closer to 26 1/2, or so. So, I think the glass door itself will in fact be 26". There will be a fixed piece of glass above the door as well as in the opening to the left of the door.

I would like to go frameless on the door because it will look nicer, but I am a bit concerned about loss of steam. So, that means I probably search for a door with a tight seal on the sides and top. I understand there needs to be an air gap at the bottom of the door in a steam room for steam to escape. That seems to be a pretty strong case for the fan placement just outside the steam shower.

[john2777]

Well, things are moving along... slowly. I went back and redid the ceiling so there is now a slope, a little more than 1"/ft. I also moved the fan to "outside" the shower. Since I was in the mood to correct items in the shower, I also redid the floor. I came to the conclusion my first attempt at a custom kerdi-type floor pan was not very good. Mostly the slope was not very level from the wall to the drain. But there were some "soft spots" in the floor that also caused some concern. I just redid the floor yesterday, so it is still drying. I did a simple niche for this shower, nothing complicated.

I do have a question: How long do I need to wait for the floor to dry until I can put kerdi over it? I need to get going as soon as possible to make the Thanksgiving deadline! :)

Here are the latest pics.

[chuck stevenson]

John,

You can Kerdi the floor the next day.

[john2777]

Well, that pretty good news. I managed to get the day off, so I will be able to stay on the project another day. Thanks.

[admcclure]

John,
Is there a reason why you're installing the walls BEFORE the ceiling? My tile guy told me the ceiling goes in first. Perhaps it's just a personal preference...?
I'm following your work - it's good! And it's exactly what I'm trying to do, as well (travertine a steam shower). Are you going to be sealing the travertine? If so, what product do you recommend?
Thanks ~ anne

[john2777]

Anne,

My understanding is that with the Kerdi water-proofing method the order of installation does not matter. I did the walls first because I had never done this stuff before and I wanted to practice on a wall where I didn't have to climb on a latter. Having now done the ceiling, it is definately a pain in the arse! Just imagine yourself standing on a latter with your head cocked way back, spreading thinset on the ceiling, and then putting up this 3x5' piece of kerdi and working it into the thinset, pushing out excess adhesive and removing air bubbles ... but it seems that you will get to avoid that on your project!

As far a sealing the travertine, I sealed it after I grouted. The travertine was honed and filled and I had no trouble cleaning it as I was grouting. Everything wiped off fine. I sealed it after I was done with a product from Lowes. I plan to do the same in the shower.

I am also considering cutting the 12x12 tiles into 4x4s for the floor. But I am wondering if honed and filled travertine is too slippery for a shower floor? If anybody has information on this issue I would be very appreciative. And if it is not appropriate, is there some treatment for the stone that will reduce slippage and not diminish the beauty of the stone?

[admcclure]

John,

Didn't you say you'd stopped a while back to get married? Where's your new bride to help hold that 3 X 5 piece of kerdi?!? Ah, well. One of the reasons I'm letting tile guy do it is because my husband won't be helping me out one little bit, either!

I was worried about the slippery factor of trav, too, so I've elected to go another, albeit still natural route: an Arizona Tile marble pebble product placed on 12" X 12" mesh:

[john2777]

Hi Anne, I liked the Arizona floor tiles, but my wife doesn't like the "broken-up" look. And I think when I put on the 3x5' ceiling Kerdi piece she was at work. She is a counselor and sees clients until 9pm because of their work schedules. But on the other hand, I've pretty much done this myself, although she is great with painting, staining and wallpapering.

I dediced to go ahead with the 4x4" cut tiles on the floor with a 3/8" sanded grout line. Laying the travertine has been challenging. Many of the "premium" travertine tiles I purchased has some large "unsightly" grouting that was very "chalky" and white. So, it has taken quite a bit of time to decide which tiles go where. I have mostly been able to cut out the least desirable parts, since the shower has a considerable amount of cuts- especially having two Better-Benches to cut and place tiles around. For the few remaining "spots" I am hoping to find some sort of grout stain, so I can make the white filled areas blend better with the color of the surrounding travertine.

Another challenge has been the tile colors. I purchased "medium travertine", but it seemed to me I got maybe 40% of dark tiles, 40% or light tiles and about 20% of medium. I used a mix of light and dark in the floor, but on the walls I am going pretty much dark and medium. I'll do the ceiling in light. So, above the 4' mark I am planning to put a "light" border of sorts, then cut the remaining light and dark tiles into 6x6" tiles. I will then install and blend them the best I can above the border.

I also decided to do the floor first. :eek: Once I got the Kerdi down I felt I wanted totally avoid any puncture problems. So I did the floor first and cover it with cardboard when I work on the walls. I'm getting much better at putting mud on the walls without dropping it on the floor. :)

Anyway, for those looking for pics of building a travertine shower, here are a few more of work in progress...

[john2777]

More Pics!

The project seems to be going along fine. No real questions because of all the great info here on all the other threads. But I must say, still being in the "heat of the battle" that this shower is much harder and more work that I figured. There was a HUGE amount of work cutting 12x12" travertine tiles down to 4x4", 6x6", 1x3", as well as all of the special cuts for the Better-Benches, sloped ceiling, niche, and whatever... It was a lot more than I expected, and I have acquired quite a pile of "trash". The ol' tile saw (MK-100) has really gotten a work out. BTW, don't get this saw if you plan to use 18x18" tiles- they are too large for the sliding bed.

The difficulty of the task was increased due to some out-of-square travertine tiles. I figured they might be a little larger or smaller, + or - 1/32 or so, but the out-of-square really threw me. Things were not lining up very well and when I checked one "problem" tile I could clearly see the issue. Fortunately, there were not too many, but just enough to drive me craz! :crazy:

Putting tiles on the ceiling was a big concern, but it seemed to go OK. They all pretty much stayed there and I didn't have any drop. But I did need to check them, as some pulled away a little. I did have two tiles that kept pulling away about 3/16", so I set up a quick support method to hold them. The tile spikes came in handy here. I think the problem was that I had a little too much thinset under the tile, and so when I pushed to flatten the tile, it seemed to "push" back. In later courses I removed the tile and removed or added some thinset and it seemed to help quite a lot.

I decided not to install the glass door myself, but I am having a local installer measure on Friday. The door and the side glass panel will probably run me $1400 for 1/2" frameless glass, installed.

I start grouting tonight. The floor will get sanded grout and the walls/ceiling unsanded. I'm looking forward to the day this is done so I can have a life again! :dance:

Here are some pics-

[john2777]

Couple more-

[Brian in San Diego]

John,

A couple of things...the support for the ceiling tile was ingenious! I'm a little surprised the tile spikes supported the weight ot the 2x4, blocking and provided enough support to keep the tiles up. I have an MK100 and I can cut 18x18s (straight). I think I'm limited to a 14x14 on the diagonal. Is that what you meant? If I'm seeing the photo of the saw correctly, I think I see your problem. If you look at the underside of the "base" that holds the motor there are two holes that the shaft of the support arm can go in. I believe you have the saw set up on the back hole. Undo the knob that holds the saw head in position, slide the assembly off the support arm and reinstall the saw head back onto the support arm using the front hole in the base. You'll gain 2-4" in tile size if you do that.

Very nice work, my friend.

Brian

[John Bridge]

Looking good, John. That's one heck of a project for a first timer. ;)

[john2777]

Hi Brian,

Yeah, the support did nice and there was a lot more support available than I needed. For the tile spikes to hold the weight, the 2x4 needs to be cut close to the wall. My first attempt had about 1/4" on both sides and that was too "sloopy" and the spikes were "flexing" badly. So, I took a scrap piece of 2x4" and used my chop saw to cut off 3/8" inch and tacked it onto the end. If you look at the picture closely you can see the extra piece I added. Then it had lots of support. I think I could have hung on it.

About the MK100, I think you figured out my dilema! I was just reading up today on the saw and a post said I should be able to cut 20" long. Well, I put in the 18x18 in the bathroom floor and I could not fit the tile on the sliding bed. So, I drew a line on each tile where the cut should go, overlapped the bed 2", visually lined up the cut line and the blade, cut the first inches, then slid the tile forward to rest flat on the bed and finished the cut. Boy, I wished I would have posted that saw picture 5 months ago! It's not easy being a first-timer! :bonk:

Brian, I have alway enjoyed reading your posts. You are very informative and I'm sure you have helped out a lot of people here on the forum. A big warm thanks!

John,

You have offered an incredible amount of good advice and help to DIYer and we're all very grateful. As concerning this project, it was quite a bit more than I had planned. I have a new-found respect for those who can lay stone well. It seems to be about twice the difficulty of laying tile. A DIYer buys natural stone trying to make something beautiful and you struggle with tiles being out-of-square, different thicknesses, different sizes and totally different shades of color with imperfections you have need to position outside your cuts. Hardly things a first-timer usually thinks about. I purchased 200 sq ft of stone and there was quite a lot of edge damage, since it came in a crate and was not packaged in cardboard boxes. But anyway, I am now in the home stretch and starting grouting today. :yipee:

[john2777]

Well, the project is just about completed. :yeah: Grouting when well. I used no sealer before grouting since it was honed and filled travertine, then I used Aquamix Ultraseal Premium to seal the stone. I realize this requires the Aquamix cleaner to be used to maintain the warranty, but we have to use something... so I was OK with that. The grout wiped off the travertine quite well while it is still wet or slightly dry.

I was a bit surprized the floor with 4x4" travertine squares is not slippery, at least in my opinion. I'm not sure why this is so. The floor almost "squeaks" when your rub your foot across it, so I was very pleased I will have to do nothing more. I was looking at clear traction strips if there was an issue. Before grouting the floor, I used a dremel to slightly "knock off" the sharp edge of the tiles. That took and hour or two. The water drains nicely to the center, which was also a big relief. As a first timer, I'm never quite sure what I will end up with! :nod:

I used nothing special to finish out the niche. :shrug: Just ran a file along the edge so it was not sharp. The project has been long and I didn't have the energy to do some special frame as I had seen in some other very nice showers. Along the outside edges of the shower I simply used grout to finish the edge. It is kinda' a 45 degree angle. To me it looks fine, and was fairly easy.

I do have a few issues with the quality of the travertine I received. It had more patches than I would have liked. What I purchased at a closeout at HD was better than what I purchased on the web from Discount Travertine in Florida. With shipping I was at about $4/sf for 200 sq ft. Unfortunately, locally I was being quoted $12-$24 per sq ft, so I took a chance. Next time I would probably order an additional 25% and throw out more of the deficient pieces. But I seem to be the most critical person on this issue, my wife thinks it is just fine. :yummy:

The glass is turning out more than I thought. I am looking at $2300-$3200 for the door, stationary transom, and the side window. I wasn't going to do the glass, but it looks like I can save about $1000. I am considering using a company called "eShower" in San Jose, CA. Anybody used these guys?

Well, here are a few more pics. Have been using the shower for several weeks and am very pleased. Plan to get the steam running after the glass is in.

[john2777]

A few more pics.

[sandbagger]

VERY nice, John! :clap2:

fwiw - I actually think that your frameless niche complements the overall design scheme quite nicely. :tup1:

[john2777]

Thanks Sandbagger for the remarks. The plan was to keep the design simple and use different sizes of travertine to make a border and give some variation. We decided not to use different colors. Looking forward to getting the steam generator up and running.

About the glass... :deadhorse Anybody used eShower.com for their purchase? I have also contacted Wilson Glass. Having also NEVER done any glass installations, anybody have any advice? :scratch: I'm all ears!

[john2777]

Just thought I'd give a one-year update.

Unfortunately, I ran out of cash for the glass shower doors, so I still don't have the steam going. But the shower is fantastic. So far I can say that the advice here has been excellent, as I have had no problems with any part of the installation. At this point I can say that:

-there are no cracks in the tiles, joints, or corners
-the floor drains nicely and is not slippery with just the honed travertine
-no leaks in the plumbing or under the shower
-niches and shower benches are highly advised and used a lot
-kerdi is holding on the walls and ceiling and no tiles have falled down!:clap2: I just say that I did have my doubts.
-I love the Moen controls. Just set the temp and then adjust the pressure for any of the three options. Great!
-Love the window in the shower! Lets a huge amount of light into the bathroom, which is a wonderful advantage. It's high enough that it doesn't cause problems...and I get another shelf to put stuff on!:yummy:

My wife does complain, though, that the Moen temp controller does not get hot enough. This is a Moen thing and is not adjustable beyond a certain temp. But it is fine for me.

If I did the whole project again, the only thing I would change is that I would omit the ceiling rain shower. It is not used very often, and I really don't care much for it.

I'm still hoping to get the glass door in a few months and crank up the steam shower. When I do I'll post the final pics. I was a lot of work for a custom shower, but worth all the time and effort.

Big thanks again for all the help from the many great threads here. They were all useful and helpful to put this shower together!