Steve's Kerdi shower Project(s) (UPDATE - Uh Oh... Shower leak)

[LIJetsFan]

Hey - My name is Steve.

Wel, I've browsed these forums for a while and I'm in th emiddle of one of those whole house renovations - living in it, dust, the wife, everyone knows the story... GC'ing it myself with some helping friends.

Anyway, with ALL the stress and tension I decided a while back not to do the bathroom tile myself and let a friend of mine / Carpenter, whom I trust take care of it... Another sub, that does Sheetrock and he seem to both be on the same page that you Green board the bathroom and Durock the shower area....

Sheetrock gets boomed in tomorrow - I'm thinking of taking over and telling them just to Green Board the Master.....NO DUROCK!! No plastic membrane - Gotta ask about preslope - But, I feel like I'd like it Kerdied.....

Does Green board / Durock sound right?


If I do it myself I'm thinking kerdi over Green board and then Kerdi shower - but the drain won't line up - and it's neo - guiess I can fudge that with mud..


Then the rest of the bathroom, DITRA instead of a mud job???????? The floor is 3/4 ply and they wanted to mud it.


I guess if people say JUST Green Board / Durock in shower and plastic membrane is fine I'll calm down and attack the other 1000 project I have?????

[muley]

Calm yourself, take a breath. Personally, I am no fan of green board in general. If I were remodeling the bathroom I would put drywall everywhere right through the shower and use the Kerdi system in the shower and done. If you use the Kerdi system there is no pre-slope, as you only slope one time, and durrock is not necessary or recommended. We did 11 bathrooms last year, and none of them had greenboard in them.

[TileArt1]

Hi Steve,

You need to decide if your going to Kerdi the shower or not. If you are - do not hang durock. If not, hang the durock with a vapor barrier and be sure to check out the liberry for proper steps. (Such as not butting seams together, etc.) If you use durock in the shower, greenboard should be fine on the other walls (non-wet areas). You can also use regular drywall for the rest - it's cheaper than greenboard.
You might want to check the Deflecto in the blue bar above for your floor. In my opinion, Ditra is the way to go. Just a personal preference.

[chuck stevenson]

Roger,

Checked out your web site. Absolutely georgeous work!

Thans for sharing.

[TileArt1]

Thank you very much, Chuck!
It's all really duct tape and mirrors.

[LIJetsFan]

Tks for the replys But I can't calm down ; )

Why are they both telling me NO VAPOR BARRIER?????


These guys are both supposed to be pretty good and they just want to Durock....

I know the Kerdi has it's own preslope but considering mine is neo and the drain is already in place I figured I could cut the Kerdi floor and make up the differnence with mud...


****
At this point (tonight) my decision is to let the "Professionals" do it how they want - Durock Shower, no Vapor barrier and Green board everywhere else..

OR... Just tell them to Green board the whole thing and I'll turn this thread into my project thread and call the Kerdi people.....

I'll be doing it mostly nights and weekends and Hope I could do it on just a few weeks complete....

[ddmoit]

Steve,

Regardless of the tile and grout that you choose, water will eventually make it to the Durock. Durock is designed to stand up to water - it will be fine.

But - and this is a big but - Durock is not a moisture barrier. Water will pass through it. Without a moisture barrier, anything behind the Durock that can be ruined by water will be ruined by water!

If your guys don't realize this, I wouldn't let them work in your home.

[John Bridge]

Hi Steve, Welcome aboard.

What Dan said. That, and the pan liner has to be in before the cement board is installed. That, and the studs should be notched to recieve the buildup of the pan. That, and the floor needs to be pre-sloped before the liner goes in. That, and . . .

Tell them to sheetrock everything but the shower, and leave the shower alone. This will give you time to think things out. Do NOT let them hang cement board without the foregoing having been done.

[Splinter]

Originally Posted by Steve

At this point (tonight) my decision is to let the "Professionals" do it how they want

A real professional will listen to the concerns of the homeowner and research a proper answer. And here the proper answer is A VAPOR BARRIER IS REQUIRED BEHIND DUROCK...

Steve, put the hold on the shower for now until you make a final decision about what method to use in this showers construction. I say Kerdi.. (Hmmm, I always say Kerdi ) The drain position doesnt matter, you'd have to do a mud slope for the Kerdi drain anyway.

[trecile]

And you can use Kerdi with a mud floor to fit your neo-angle shower. That's the way all Kerdi showers were done before they came out with the tray.

[LIJetsFan]

OK... Does this sound crazy.. I'll have a about a week to better prepare for this while they sheetrock.

So, I'm going to tell them to sheetrock the whole bathroom. (not even Green Board )....

Then I'm going to call Kerdi and attempt to make a 42'' X 48'' neo corner shower with shelves.

Then I'm going to secure the floor and caulk the perimeter.

Then I'll make a curb out of 2x4's and start kerding the walls - make slope - kerdi floor and corners... TILE!


Oh - also -If I use Ditra over 3/4 ply is it ok to screw bolts through it to secure the claw tub? I guess you have to.

tks

[ddmoit]

I think I would tell your guys not to tape or mud any drywall that will have Kerdi installed on it. Mark it off with a Sharpie if you have to.

[sandbagger]

Why are they both telling me NO VAPOR BARRIER?????

uhhhh.... because they don't know how to build showers?

seriously. I'm sure your friends are good at what they do, but building a shower is not something a good GC would ever hire out to a carpenter and/or sheetrocker and neither should you. Not if you want to stay friends with these guys.

The beauty of the Kerdi - and I don't know if it was mentioned - is that it serves as both a vapor barrier and a water barrier. A real 2-fer. yes, go ahead with plain drywall throughout - just as long as you're prepared to do the Kerdi method. (highly recommended, btw)

[LIJetsFan]

Right away reading some threads, I get the feeling my 3/4 subfloor could use another 1/2'' on top..... THEN DITRA?

They were going to do a mud job before.

I'm hoping I can add that later after the sheetrock is in... with Kerdi in the corners I'm thinking it shouldn't matter.

[LIJetsFan]

Hmmm.. Also should they sheetrock all the way to the floor?

And then if I add another layer of subfloor is that ok - another 1/2''?

I'm reading NOT to tape. And Try to use full boards to avoid seems.

hmm, ok.


ADD: Just watched one of the shower videos on the Kerdi site... It didn't look like he glued the Kerdi drain in place???? Just set it in morter.