Ali's Shower Build

[makethatkerdistick]

Ali, countersinking the drywall screws 1/8 in into the drywall seems excessive to me. That will result in cutting through the paper layer, greatly diminishing the holding power the screw exerts. I recommend using one of those drywall Philips bits that automatically release the screw at the proper depth. They're cheap and do a great job. Not sure what that construction adhesive on top of the screw would really do for you other than wasting your precious time. Remember, this will be dry. One-time mortar contact is unlikely to corrode the screws.

Ooops, CX beat me to it.

[Radas]

Thank you Wolfgang and Kelly for the advice.

Got a little motivation last night after dinner with Mrs. Ali and beer with my buddy and his wife and decided to hang drywall before midnight. I can't take all the credit for this phase since my buddy who did most of the work is a drywall contractor by trade.

I'll be adding plastic corner bead along the curb (probably overkill), add valves to the mixer and diverter, open the shut offs, and permenantly attach the last sheet to the wall/finish the edges.

Almost ready for Kerdi and tile, Mrs. Ali has picked out some 12x24 bright white porcelain for the walls and a glass hex mosaic for inside the niche. I will have my go-to granite contractor cut/bevel some remnants of black granite for the curb, diagonal bench top, and bottom shelf of the kerdi niche.

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[cx]

I'll advise against any corner bead anywhere you plan to tile, Ali.

[Radas]

Originally Posted by cx

I'll advise against any corner bead anywhere you plan to tile, Ali.

Is there a specific reason why? The corners that have bead on them do not overlap completely.

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[Topspin]

Is there a specific reason why?

Tile likes surfaces that don’t move, at all. If you’re going to use Schluter Kerdi, you don’t need corner bead or any other corner treatment. You’re Kerdi band or Kerdi membrane will serve to bind both surfaces together just fine. Additionally in order to make the corner bead stick to the curb you’d probably need some product like Kerdi Fix to bind it with no movement whatsoever, then on top of it you need a product like Hydro ban or redguard to make the surface satisfactory for the Kerdi to stick to it. It just adds an extra layer of complexity and area of potential fail.

The first thing you have to ask is does the manufacturer recommended it? The answer is no. So save yourself a step

[ss3964spd]

Q: Who gets motivation to hang drywall, in the evening, after eating dinner, and drinking beer?

A: The guy who has a drywall contractor for a friend.

Agree with omitting the plastic corner bead. Also agree with the granite trim bits.

[Dave Gobis]

Not enough screws.

[BelkTile]

Now, it has been a couple of years since we have done traditional mud pans, the duct tape is a no, but as far as the pre slope that is done when you pour the mud. The rubber liner is to make sure that no water can escape, other than the drain. Hopefully they will be putting cement board over the liner to the bottom of all the seams. Then doing a waterproofing membrane over where the rubber meets the cement board. Also, once pan is poured doing another waterproofing over the poured floor as well and around the drain to make water tight.

[Radas]

Originally Posted by Topspin

Tile likes surfaces that don’t move, at all. If you’re going to use Schluter Kerdi, you don’t need corner bead or any other corner treatment. You’re Kerdi band or Kerdi membrane will serve to bind both surfaces together just fine. Additionally in order to make the corner bead stick to the curb you’d probably need some product like Kerdi Fix to bind it with no movement whatsoever, then on top of it you need a product like Hydro ban or redguard to make the surface satisfactory for the Kerdi to stick to it. It just adds an extra layer of complexity and area of potential fail.



The first thing you have to ask is does the manufacturer recommended it? The answer is no. So save yourself a step

Fair enough, thank you for the detail. I'll keep the PVC corners off of the curb.

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[Radas]

Originally Posted by ss3964spd

Q: Who gets motivation to hang drywall, in the evening, after eating dinner, and drinking beer?



A: The guy who has a drywall contractor for a friend.



Agree with omitting the plastic corner bead. Also agree with the granite trim bits.

Hahaha, gave the wives time to gossip. We are going to my friend's granite shop this weekend. Praying for cheap black granite remnants!

Dave, I plan on adding more stainless screws. Left it like that temporarily because the drywall screwgun didn't like the torx heads.


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[Radas]

Originally Posted by BelkTile

Now, it has been a couple of years since we have done traditional mud pans, the duct tape is a no, but as far as the pre slope that is done when you pour the mud. The rubber liner is to make sure that no water can escape, other than the drain. Hopefully they will be putting cement board over the liner to the bottom of all the seams. Then doing a waterproofing membrane over where the rubber meets the cement board. Also, once pan is poured doing another waterproofing over the poured floor as well and around the drain to make water tight.

Mike, they left the liner as-is with no preslope, bedded CBU, didn't pitch the bench or the curb, grouted all corners and changes in plane, and didn't slope the floor properly. I've since torn it all out. Also found areas of liner that weren't cemented property, liner separated without much force.

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[Radas]

Back to work this week so not much progress.

I tried to fit the Kerdi niche and had an issue with the vent stack in the half wall interfering with the back of the niche. Ended up 'moving' the vent stack using 4 45 degree fittings. I was going to glue all the joints but there was no play so I ended up using a proflex fernco fitting to join the two offset halves together.

Also added more screws to the drywall and bought PVA primer to paint over all the areas that were mudded and taped along the main wall and ceiling.

Drilled a 4" hole in both layers of subfloor for the kerdi drain that showed up today. I plan on gluing up the drain immediately after putting down tar paper/metal lath. I can pack wet mud under the drain when I plan on pouring my drypack. I watched a Sal video on YouTube and his approach seems more comfortable considering I have 1 hour working time with drypack and installing a level drain will eat up some of that time. I'll need all the time I can get with a 38x60 pan.

Returned the kerdi tray and bought a bucket mortar mixer, 5 bags of mapei 4:1, lath, roofing tar, lath screws, and a mag float. I am going to float a mud pan instead. I don't trust myself setting the drain perfect enough for the tray install and the mud is more forgiving.

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[Lazarus]

With Kerdi, really isn't necessary to tape and skim the seams. In point of fact, the Kerdi membrane doesn't play well with drywall mud and takes the place of tape. If you can get rid of it, I would.

[Radas]

Originally Posted by Lazarus

With Kerdi, really isn't necessary to tape and skim the seams. In point of fact, the Kerdi membrane doesn't play well with drywall mud and takes the place of tape. If you can get rid of it, I would.

Laz, I'm going to leave the mud on the ceiling seams and some irregular areas and paint with PVA primer to prevent it from washing out with thinset application. Schluter's documentatio recommends that if theres mud on the walls. The rest of the mud will be sponge washed off of the walls where it's not necessary.

So I installed the last sheet of drywall where the valve and diverter is located after installing the cartridge for each and verifying they were both set to 'off'. I Precut sheets of kerdi for each wall last night and plan on joining the seams with kerdi tape.

This morning, I stapled down the tar paper and screwed down overlapping sheets of diamond lath to the floor. I installed my kerdi drain after measuring the riser and all went well with one exception.

The p-trap must not have been 100% level when I set the drain location initially and my glued kerdi drain flange was off by 3/16" on one side. I did some digging on here and Terry Love and saw that some used coated screws or roofing nails to give the drain a "nudge" to level position. I countersunk the hole so that the screw would sit flat on the flange. I didn't have to sink the screw in too far to get the drain level. I added screws to three other sides too just to keep the assembly Ridgid while I kerdi the walls this week.

Is this ok? I plan on thinsetting the bottom of the flange before packing wet mud under it, setting a bucket on top, and removing the screws later if need be. I'd rather not cut the riser if I don't have to.

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[ss3964spd]

IMO, since the assembly is now under tension I'd be inclined to leave the screws in place, so long as whatever metal they're made of will not corrode from the mortar/mud. I'd be concerned that at some point in time that it might pop loose from vibration, flexing, etc.