Replacing fiberglass shower with tile, questions

[FishDug]

My wife and I have decided to sell our rental home and my wife decided that we need to replace the ugly/old fiberglass shower in the master bathroom with tile. I redid the tile in our primary home's pool bath/shower so I have a little tiny bit of tile experience.

The new shower wall tile will be a simple white subway tile and will go up to the 8ft ceiling.

My immediate question is about how to handle the front edges of the side walls. I currently plan to use a Schluter Jolly white aluminum trim along the front edge. The side walls are framed with steel studs.

My current/original plan has been to align the front edge of the side wall tile with the front edge of the curb. Seems logical. However the seams from the old/existing drywall to the new Hardi cement board are an inch or two outside that vertical line so the seams must be patched with some decent looking drywall work (not my forte).

I was thinking about possibly moving the front edge of the tile forward about 3" to cover the seam in order to avoid the drywall seam patching. However this may not look 'right' with the edge of the tile 3" outside the curb?

If I decide to leave the edge of the tile aligned with the curb I assume that I should I patch the seam before installing the side wall tile?

Thanks for any advice.

Left side (wall between shower and throne)

[FishDug]

More background information on the shower rebuild.

The floor is a concrete slab. The exterior walls of the house are precast concrete. The interior walls are metal studs.

The original plumbing for the shower valve was run from the right side where the hot/cold feeds (CPVC) came up thru the slab around the back side of the fiberglass shower to the valve on the left wall. This plumbing was NOT inside the walls and was routed in the hollow space behind the fiberglass walls. I chose to locate the new shower valve/head on the right side to avoid the trouble/pain of running the plumbing thru metal studs and precast exterior wall.

I am using a Kerdi shower pan, drain, and curb. I cut the Kerbi curb down to 3.5" tall. I installed Hardi cement board on the side/back walls all the way to the 8ft ceiling.

I installed dry pack mortar in the large shower drain hole in the slab to support the Kerdi drain and a PVC 3"->4" coupler that sits 'outside' the 2" drain going thru the slab.

I installed an EZNiche 14x14 niche on the left side wall.

I installed the Kerdi inside/curb corners and 5" waterproofing strips along the floor/wall/curb seams.

Finally I did 2 heavy coats of Red Gard on the cement board.

Basically ready to start tiling pending an answer to the location of the front edge of the tile versus patching the drywall.

Thanks for any/all advice and comments!

Before removing FRP shower. Marking cut lines.




Drywall cut....



Drywall removed to access screws holding FRP shower




Right side of shower cut out using Sawzall

[FishDug]

Need to figure out why it's turning my photos sideways....

[FishDug]

Let's try linking to photos hosted on my website....

Some quality work by the home builder....



2x8 metal studs on right side wall



Original Plumbing running outside of wall.



Adding wood studs to frame in niche



Starting to install concrete backer board



The preexisting drain hole/pipe with new 2" coupler for the Kerdi drain.

[FishDug]

The hole in the slab filled with dry pack mortar and a 3"->4" PVC coupler that sits outside the 2" shower drain pipe.



New shower valve/plumbing in the right side wall



Cementing down the Kerdi shower pad with unmodified thinset. And applying some weight while it cures.



Plumbing passsed the 24 hour pressure test, so I installed cement board on the right side wall.

[Davy]

I like having the edge of the wall tile stop at the outside of the curb but you can go past it if you want. If you do go past it, I'd go out to the corner on the left side and bring the right side out the same distance.

I would tape that out and use thinset instead of bed mud before I start tiling. You want the area to be flat. On the end walls, I'd use a straight edge about 2 ft long and fill in anywhere it's needed from the paint toward the back wall.

I'd check for a matching bullnose instead of profiles, but that's just me.

[FishDug]

Davy, Thanks for the reply. I agree that it will look better if the front edge of the side wall tile aligns with the outside of the curb so I started down that path this morning. I used some of the leftover non-modified thinset I had used to cement the Kerdi pan/curb to do an initial patch of the seam. Once that cures and I can sand/fair it I will come back with a couple coats of drywall mud to smooth it out. And then add back some texture.

More photos of the progress on the shower:

Waiting for the curb cement to cure



Patching the cement board screw holes, seams, and corners




The Kerdi inside corners, curb, and pan/wall waterproofing membranes installed.

[FishDug]

More photos of the shower build

Painting 2+ heavy coats of the pink/Red Gard




After the Red Gard cured




The relative position of the shower



After my first schwack at fixing the seam between new concrete board and old dry wall using thinset. I'll sand/fair this down and then apply a couple coats of drywall mud.




Some of the tile options we are considering. I guess it's time to make a decision.

[Davy]

Is the white mud up the sides thinset or bed mud? I would want thinset under the tiles. Place a tile on the face of the curb and draw a plumb line from there to the ceiling. The wall tiles will cover that line 1/16-1/8.

[FishDug]

The white stuff is thinset.

I decided to go with Schluter Rondec bullnose trim on the front edge of the side walls. I assume I shoot a line up from ~3/8" in front of the curb to mark where I will install the front edge trim? And install then edge trim before the side wall tile?

I plan to install the tile on the back wall first and then the side walls. I'm leaning towards the 6x18 tiles.

[Davy]

Ok. I'd make it 7/16-1/2 inch from the front of the curb, you'll need a little thinset behind the tiles on the curb face.

Yes. tile the back wall first.

I'd probably try to install the profile edge as I go up the wall with the tiles. If you set it first, you're married to it and may have problems meeting up with the tile just right. Cut the length of it and temporarily hold it with tape in several places. Just make sure the tiles run level and plumb as you go up.

Others may have better ideas on installing the profiles, I've only used them a few times. I don't like the way they look but that's just me.

[bottlefed]

Nice work!

[FishDug]

I've started (finally) installing the 6x18 wall tile. Seems like it's going to take forever. I wasn't paying attention and I went 1 row past where the decorative rail is going so I had to pull that row off. And call it a day.

Are there any tips/tricks for dealing with 2x2 Hex mosaic tile? The 5x3 floor seems like it's going to take approximately 1 gazillion cuts.

Prepping the hex mosaic for the back of the niche was painful enough.





Installed spacer for decorative rail and 3 more rows. The row of tile above the spacer cut down to reflect the height of the decorative rail.

[smifwal]

For your pan with the hexagons (or any shape) I like to take a measurement and make marks on the floor outside the shower and set the tiles inside those marks and move them around to center them up the mark all the tiles and cut everything at once. Then when it is time to set them you just drop them in and the cuts the ones around the drain off the mesh. I normally set those when I do the first course of the wall. I do my pans last minus the first course

[FishDug]

I finished the back wall and the inside of the niche. This morning I installed 2x6 bullnose tile along the front edge of the left and right side walls. Originally I had planned to use Schluter Jolly trim for the front edges, but I decided it would be safer to just use bullnose time.