Complete Shower Remodel - to the studs and back (I hope!)

[Madie]

Hi everyone -
I've been reading this for a while - and I've already learned so much!
I'm hoping that I can solicit help from everyone here as we go through this process. My husband and I have never attempted anything so difficult before - we're going to try to do the entire thing ourselves, but we will call in a professional if we get in over our heads.

Our plan is to put in a tiled shower - tiled floor as well, with a seat (possibly).

I'll try to keep it short and sweet:

I noticed that one of the walls of our 31" X 60" shower was flexible in a small area so we demolished the shower to the studs.
The greenboard was wet in many places - the insulation behind the greenboard was also wet - and we had some mold on a few of the studs. The long wall and the back wall of the shower are exterior walls.

See pictures here:

Pictures of our shower destruction

We pulled out the shower pan (no pictures of that) and the floor is very wobbly and not flat.

I used a mixture of bleach and water and lightly sprayed all of the moldy looking spots. All of the studs and the back wall are solid and don't need to be replaced. We allowed the shower to dry out for about two weeks just to make sure everything is bone dry.

Yesterday we sprayed Kills over the areas that were moldy looking. That has dried - and now we need to replace the insulation.

My husband bought insulation with a "vapor barrier" on the back (that paper stuff) - he said that the salesman told him NOT to put a vapor barrier on top of the insulation, because the house needs to breathe and that will dry out the wood.

I think we should put a vapor barrier up despite the fact that the insulation has a vapor barrier. There was no barrier there - and we saw what happened. Our shower is 10 years old by the way.

So - what should our next step be?
Thanks again for any - all help you can offer!

[muskymike]

Hi Madie, welcome. You can check out the Liberry and look under shower construction. You will find lots of info there. Click me After you check it out come back with any questions. We'll be here waiting.

[sandbagger]

Originally Posted by Madie

....My husband bought insulation with a "vapor barrier" on the back (that paper stuff) - he said that the salesman told him NOT to put a vapor barrier on top of the insulation, because the house needs to breathe and that will dry out the wood.

I think we should put a vapor barrier up despite the fact that the insulation has a vapor barrier. There was no barrier there - and we saw what happened. Our shower is 10 years old by the way....

listen to the sales guy (this time! ). That second barrier could actually be worse than none at all depending on your location and environment. You could actually create a "sandwich" that provides a perfect breeding ground for moldy things. Follow the "best practice" for your locale and you will be happy.

You said yourself the walls were wet behind the tile - THAT was your problem. No amount of vapor barriers is going to compensate for a messed up shower.

[Madie]

Thanks for all of the information! This is a great site!

Alright then, despite the fact that every fiber in my being wants to coat the entire shower in plastic - (Pulling out wet, smelly insulation was NOT my idea of a fun Sunday activity) if we really don't need it over the insulation then we won't put it over the insulation.... Gulp...

I was reading about how to create the shower pan on this site - it's really helpful, but I'm still nervous. My husband and I found a really cool gadget at the tile store that may help. It's a drain assembly that has spider like legs that come out of it. Spindles if you will. These legs are sloped and when you mortar right on them - it helps you create the correct and foolproof slope. Has anyone seen or used one of these before?
But is it really possible for two laypeople to really build a watertight shower pan ourselves??

So tonight - we put in the insulation - with no vapor barrier.
Our next step then is to start with the floor. Any suggestions - advice?

[sandbagger]

Originally Posted by Madie

Thanks for all of the information! This is a great site!

Alright then, despite the fact that every fiber in my being wants to coat the entire shower in plastic - ......

you can - it's call "Kerdi" by Schluter. (goes between tile and substrate, not behind)

and depending on the shower size, they even have prefab pre-sloped pans. Regardless, you should definately check out the Kerdi drain.

[Madie]

Hey thanks!

That stuff looks pretty neat! Is it really recommended? We could just hang drywall and put Kerdi on top?

Could we just use the drain assembly portion and only have to place one set or mortar?

Hmm.. where would one get this - must do more internet searching...

[TruckeeTrout]

Schluter makes a kit that includes a pre-formed 32x60 pan which will probably work for you. I just installed one - nearly a piece of cake. Only difficulty was with the town - had to convince them that Kerdi and the drain were UPC listed. tile-experts.com sells the kits and are quite helpful.

Good luck on getting back from the studs. That's where I went, and things are looking up here. Nearly done. Whew!

George