Kerdi vs. Divot Method

[ck0219]

Hello - My contractor built my shower with Hardi and RG but I'm left with a few problems.

1. He pierced the liner roughly 40x's along the curb and bench
2. His floor pitch is just 1/8 per inch instead of 1/4 inch
3. And the RG was applied too thinly

I would like to avoid a complete tear out. Kerdi has said I can use their retro drain and work over everything but I've also heard I could use the divot method.

My question: What are the relative lifespans or pro/cons of each approach? Would either method allow me to ignore the 1/8 inch pitch? And is either method beyond the reach of an amateur(tiled backsplashes)? (Kerdi is well documented but I haven't found the sort of step-by-step instruction for salvaging a job with a divot).

I'm putting down a 2 inch marble hexagon on the floor and subway tile along the wall with a single piece of solid surface atop the bench. Grateful for any advice. Thanks. Catherine

[jadnashua]

Plumbing code requires at LEAST 1/4"/foot...nothing you do now will correct that other than a tearout IMHO.

Actually tearing out the mudbed would be pretty fast and easy in the scheme of things. Then, you'd have a choice of either using the conversion drain or tear the drain out and use the regular Kerdi drain, which is a little less expensive. You wouldn't need to tear out the curb or bench though as long as they were installed with adequate pitch and are stable.

Even with the divot method, you'd still need adequate pitch to the drain first. Note, Kerdi works just fine over either their foam pan or a mudbed. Materials wise, the mudbed is more flexible and cheaper. Labor, a competent installer should be able to get the old mudbed out and a new one in in much less than a day. It needs to rest (cure) at least overnight before you can install the Kerdi, and that needs a day before you can flood test (don't skip that part!), then, you can tile. In the interim, above where the flood test would go, they could start tiling the walls, if they wanted. Only the flood test needs things to rest first...the walls and bench could start tiling as soon as the Kerdi was installed.

[Tool Guy - Kg]

Welcome to the forum, Catherine!

This forum is all about helping folks. Rarely do you hear people spout off and say something like, "Yikes, tear that all out!" We'd much rather tell you factual reasons why things work or don't work and how to fix them.

That being said, I'm holding my tongue for right now. So please allow me to ask a question on something I can't see in the picture: Look at the curb where it meets both walls. Is the area immediately above the curb Hardibacker or drywall? It looks like drywall in the picture. But does the Hardibacker board run all the way outside the shower, or does it stop short of the outside curb faces? If it stops short, how much short?