Schluter Styrofoam Pan

[Steve Page]

Hi,
I'm new to tiling, mudding, internet-forums, and at the same time,
I am old enough to be suspicious of new things.

I bought two things at about the same time: "Tile your world",
by John Bridge, and, a Schluter "Shower Kit". I was under the
impression that John's book would be a nice instruction manual
for me, and it already has paid for itself, although I do like wine
with corks.

Here's my problem though - the book makes no mention of the
styrofoam shower pan that came with my kit, and I am scared
to death that this strofoam is going to dent even after I cover it
with the Kerdi fabric and tiles. I weigh 220lbs and want to rock
my whole self back on one heel, centered on one 1-square-inch
tile, giving 220PSI, and I wanna do that once a day for 20 years,
or until I am dead, whichever comes first.

Is my grout gonna crack?

Is styrofoam as hard as cement?

After 10 years of the one-heel rock-back, is there gonna be a
dip in that pan?

Should I abandon this thing and follow John's mud-directions in the book?

Has anybody out there tried this - I did a search, I think correctly,
and got no hits on this message list.

Not wanting to do this twice,
Nor be the first to do it once,

Steve

[Mike2]

Hi Steve. Just wanted to stop by and welcome you to the Forum.

Personally I have not used the Schluter foam pan (or curb) but others around here have so hang tight, I'm sure you will get some first hand adivce and experience based answers to your questions.

Nice to have you on-board.

[bdoon]

If I may ask, where did you get the styro pan and how much did it cost? Does anybody know how good this is and how much time it saves?...I'd love to mud the pan from scratch but doing entire bath myself and looking to save some time but not sacrafice quality. Thnx, Bill.

[JTG]

We have used these on about a half dozen showers. My input is that it works, and works well. The first shower we had our doubts also just like yours Steve but it does work.

[ninemile]

I've used the Schluter pan and they work great, so easy, I just wish all my showers could use them!

As for making a few dents in the foam pan while you're working on it, don't worry about it. I always seem to dig my toes into it while I'm working but once you've got the Kerdi over top it forms a hard skin with the thinset underneath.

[oogabooga]

Steve,

I had the same reservations when I installed a similar shower pan system (not kerdi) my home 3 years ago, and I'm around the same weight as you. The stuff just didn't appear to be strong enough for my liking, but I was given assurances by the retailer that it was well proven.

It was a piece of cake to install and has never given any problems (so far at least). It certainly feels solid enough when you stand on the tiles. I hope it stands the test of time because I've installed it in a few houses now.

Can't says I rock back and forth on one heel in the shower though

Rob

[Steve Page]

Bill,

The schluter kit is ~$500 at Century Tile, and can be found for
pretty much the same on the internet here and there. It's
a 2' x 4' box with three chunks of styrofoam, and a roll of fabric! Sucker!
I was attracted by Schluter's claims, articles I had read by John Bridge,
and the fact that water had leaked behind the tiles and into the
sheetrock of the existing shower, and it really grossed me out when
I ripped the walls out, revealing the source of the stink.

My hopes are rising, given some of the messages I have seen on
this site - thank you all.

Steve

[DrewZ]

Bill,

I bought the same stuff as you and had the exact same reservations. I've finished my shower and the link below shows my project. I and my wife have been using it since December 10th and have had no problems! You gotta remember, with the thinset between the tile and the Kerdi the load will get distributed somewhat. Also, from my experience talking with Schluter reps, the company is very serious about what they do and they stand completely behind their products. If you have any specific questions about the install I'd be perfectly willing to share my experience with you.

Drew

http://johnbridge.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=14125

[John Bridge]

Hi Steve, Hi All,

First off, when I actually wrote the book the Kerdi-tray wasn't out. And even if it had been I wouldn't have recommended it to do-it-yourselfers unless they just happened to have a shower floor that fit it, which is not usually the case in remodeling. I recommend the mud method I covered in the book. Thanks for buying the book, by the way.

Steve, I think you might have paid a little more than you had to for your "kit," but we don't control what retailers charge for their products. I don't know what's in the kit, so can't really say. For those who come here first we recommend they buy their Schluter supplies through Tile-Experts (link in our store). The prices there are very reasonable. In any case, you are not a "sucker." The products are superior to anything out there when it comes to shower building.

So now why don't we get down to shower building?

Oh, and corks are okay if you can't get anything with a real cap on it. Just don't pay more than two or three bucks for a bottle of the stuff.