Shower from the 60's

[Davy]

The grinder/diamond blade will remove it all the way down to the bisque. You'll chew away too much bisque if you're not careful. I wouldn't use the grinder to remove grout from the edges. Tile nippers work well for this. When grinding the backs, be careful not to place it on something that will allow the face to scratch.

[HooKooDoo Ku]

Went back today to start on the rough-in for replacing the plumbing.

Here's some pictures of where I started from today.
My son is pretty tall, so I've decided to extend the water proof area to 6" above the spray valve.

[HooKooDoo Ku]

Suggestions on how I might be able to reuse this original soap tray with the Keri membrane over drywall? It's sized to take the place of a standard 4x4 tile simply embedded in the mud.

[cx]

I suppose a fella could just glue that in using some sort of adhesive sealant, joseph, but it might be better to give it a good throwin' away and install some sort of niche designed for use with your direct bonded waterproof membrane.

My opinion; worth price charged.

[HooKooDoo Ku]

Originally Posted by CX

I suppose a fella could just glue that in using some sort of adhesive sealant, joseph, but it might be better to give it a good throwin' away and install some sort of niche designed for use with your direct bonded waterproof membrane.

I'm wanting to try to reuse this old soap holder not for practical purposes but for aesthetics.

Since I can't find tile for the shower that's going to match the existing bathroom, I'm looking for alternate ways to link the two together.

So as one example, since the rest of the tile in the bathroom is hexagons on the floor and 4x4 tiles on the wall, I figured I'd use a white hexagon mosaic for the shower floor and white 4x4 tiles for the wall. That way the colors don't clash and the "style" is the same.

Over the sink in the bathroom is a pair of these soap holders. So another way of maintaining the "style" would be to find a way to reuse this old soap holder. But as you can see from the pictures, the rim is designed to lay flush on TOP of the surrounding tile, and the depth is much greater than the thickness of the tile.

I've got some ideas churning in my head, but I hoped one of the experts might have delt with something similar and might have some suggestions.

[Davy]

I would throw it away. You can still buy a porcelain soap dish that replaces a tile and they are pretty cheap. They also had a similar paper holder.

[HooKooDoo Ku]

Davy,
Yeah, I know about the type you are talking about. I used two corner shelves and a soap dish like you are talking about in my previous project, building a tub/shower combo.

All I NEED for this project is a niche wide enough to hold three bottles. Finding a way to incorporate this old soap dish (if I can even get the front of it clean) would be a "nice to have".

Seems like worst case, at the waterproof layer, I could build a 4x4 niche, and then glue the dish over the niche like CX mentioned.


Which brings me to another question...
In the Libbey, there is a template for cutting a piece of KERDI for a niche. It doesn't say anything about using anything else, but it seems like the design leaves potential pin holds in the corners. Can you use this template and then use something like KERDI-Fix for the pin holds? Sounds like KERDI-Fix is supposed to be a combo sealant and adhesive as at least one instructional video shows using KERDI-Fix to seal around a shower valve.

[cx]

Joseph, if you fold your Kerdi corners carefully, there will be no pin hole. Commonly referred to on this website as the vortex, that little point will not leak liquid water if you fold it like a Dixie cup, hold it with just your fingers, and pour water in it. But lots of folks prefer to put a tiny dab of KerdiFix or similar in that vortex corner just for the peace of mind. In a niche subject to water spray, I would elect to do that. I honestly don't think it's necessary, but it makes me more comfortable.

See Post #22 here for a picher.

My opinion; worth price charged.

[Davy]

Joseph, looking at your top picture in post 47, your waterproofing really needs to go all the way to the outside edge of the curb and jamb. I know you left the original bulnose but that will be the weak link in your shower. It's critical to get the waterproofing to the outside edge, that's the first place we usually see showers fail.

[HooKooDoo Ku]

Originally Posted by Davy

looking at your top picture in post 47, your waterproofing really needs to go all the way to the outside edge of the curb and jamb. I know you left the original bulnose but that will be the weak link in your shower.

I've been contemplating what to do with the curb.

I know I've still got to check the wood under the curb as the sub-floor under the curb has been mostly removed.

I've considered completely removing the entire curb.

But before I remove the bullnose from the curb, I need to take stock in how much bullnose I've recovered and can reuse.
To continue using the bullnose, first need enough to finish the edge on the right-side wall seen in post 30 (about 6 or 7).

Given that the remaining tile on the curb is supported by 1" thick layer of mud, it would be great if I can find a way to leave the existing tile in place, cut out the wood from behind/beneath the curb tile, then slide an new waterproofed curb in its place.

[Davy]

If the wood under the curb has been removed, I can't see how you'll get it all built back and get support under the curb. Sounds like the curb is now hanging unsupported at this time, just supported from the sides. I can't see it from here so maybe I'm wrong. It's not something I've ever done or heard of anyone doing. Of course we don't have the time to do something like that. We would remove everything that's rotten and build it back. You would have to live with a different color tile. Having a functional shower is usually most important.

For the bullnose, if you don't have enough of the old pieces to go around the shower opening, I would take down what's there and go back with one color around the whole thing, usually white.

Another popular place that likes to rot out is there where the jamb meets the curb (where your BN are mitered ). So the waterproofing really needs to come to the outside edge there too.

[HooKooDoo Ku]

Updates:

Plumbing
The plumbing rough-in is complete.
I've not sweated copper pipe since the last project 10+ years ago. The 1st night was pretty much a disaster. So I took the fixtures home, googled a video or two to recheck the finer points and things came out much better.
The extra wood on the left was to help compensate for the notching that was already in the stud that I widened to make room for the valve to be as close to center of the shower as possible.


Curb
I got the curb out...
It was being supported by two small pieces of original subfloor that was in the corners (freshly flush cut in the picture). It was made with 2 2x4s standing on their sides and then a 3rd 2x4 lying flat on top of the other two. It was under the remaining curb tile by only about a 1/2". The green tile from earlier pics is still there, but I taped it off to take a grinding wheel and get something more like a strait edge.


Now that I've got the curb removed down to the floor joists, I guess I will be buying a new piece of wood for the subfloor. From what I understand of the KERDI shower trays, I just need things structurally sound so I should be ok with OSB sub-flooring.

[HooKooDoo Ku]

So I was trying to figure out... Once I have a new curb in place, how do I make sure all the voids between the new curb and the existing tile work are filled to ensure the old work is well supported?

At first I was thinking of trying to pour in some cement... perhaps leftover thinset from doing things like setting the Schluder pan.

But an idea that occured to me last night was what about spray foam? If you don't get the version for windows and doors (which I think sets up a little squishy), I'm thinking that stuff seems strong enough.

[HooKooDoo Ku]

Still deciding how to build up the new curb to match the height of what is left of the old one and waterproof the outside, I'm currently thinking Quikcrete vinyl patch might be a good choice to fill the void between old and new

[cx]

Joseph, I don't think we're ignoring your questions here, I think most of our regular helpers, like myself, are simply unable to fully grasp the thinking of how you might intend to waterproof a curb re-installation given what we see in your photos. If you can think of a way to do that effectively, I'm all in favor of that. It's just a situation that I would not attempt for a customer without having fully removed at least the curb and jamb tile work.

So, whatever you think might work for you is just what I'd recommend.

My opinion; worth price charged.