Trouble Taping Shower Niche made from Durock

[dappelha]

I am doing a durock + redguard tub and shower surround. I did a simple one before, but this time I wanted to put in a niche. I framed in my own with Durock on the far side of the shower, but now I'm trying to tape the seams with mesh tape and thinset (I know, maybe the prefabbed would have been better).

I'm running into problems getting the mesh tape to stay down when taping the outside corners of the niche. It wants to stay flat instead of bending at 90 degrees. I'm using the 2" FibraMesh tape and had to pull it off the outside corners in the picture because it was not staying down.

Any suggestions? Should I buy some kerdi product to tape the outside corners and then redguard over that? Better mesh tape? I will be going over the whole thing with 2 coats of redguard.

[Mdsims]

I think Kerdi band on the bottom inside and outside corners would be a great idea and add some peace of mind. You can basically hit the entire lower half with it.


Where are you located? If in the CA Bay Area, I have extra I don’t need.

[Lou_MA]

Thinset half the tape down (lengthwise). Let it dry. Then thinset the other half.

[makethatkerdistick]

I'd do as Lou suggested and then later use that fabric that is used for embedding Redgard in corners and seems to give the Redgard the required strength. Even though the Kerdiband might work, it's not really an approved method with Redgard.

[dappelha]

Thanks for the help. I'm going to try taping one side at a time. I also bought the lactite 6" fibertape for use with the redgard.

When using the fiberglass tape with the waterproofing membrane, do you all tape and thinset the joints as well?

I was thinking of just prefilling the joints with thinset but only doing the tape at the waterproofing stage.

[muskymike]

Hi David, everything should be taped and thinsetted before you do you waterproofing.

[dappelha]

Thanks for the help everyone, I was able to work with the thinset tape one side at a time and I put in some lactite waterproofing tape embedded with redgard.

BTW, 5 year old redgard separated some but once it was mixed up it had the right pudding consistency and color and went on just like normal. So there is one data point that its shelf life is longer than you would think.

The niche is coming along and I started tiling the rest of the shower in a herringbone.

[SpaceCadet]

Too late now but you can get wider tape. I used 5" mesh tape on the corners and didn't have much trouble.

[dappelha]

The niche came out great! Thanks for the help. Here is a picture.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwDbWhJl...=1wqfn5vxjkc8v

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwDbWhJl...=1wqfn5vxjkc8v

We did the main shower surround in herringbone and wrapped the pattern around both walls. Herringbone was 3x more work than normal!

[cx]

David, please attach those photos from storage on your computer so they appear in your post and remain a permanent part of your thread and don't disappear later.

[dappelha]

Here is a picture.

[cx]

I'll add that to the Niche thread in our Alumni Photo Album, David.

[HS345]

Originally Posted by David

Here is a picture.

That's awesome. Very nice job.

[HS345]

Originally Posted by CX

I'll add that to the Niche thread in our Alumni Photo Album, David.

Hear hear, that'll be a great addition.