Custom Shower Project Progress & Questions

[siearly]

Howdy all,

Thought I'd introduce myself and my project.

I've been browsing the forum and noticed some people are posting questions and discovering after the fact that they did something wrong so I decided I'd start a thread for my project and post what I'm going to do *before* I do it. Maybe I can avoid some mistakes.

I'm building a custom tile shower using the method described in Michael Byrne's book. I already have all the supplies from the Noble company so it's too late for me to switch to a Kerdi shower system.

Right now, the shower is studded with all the plumbing in place. I'm planning to install the pro slope tomorrow. However, the cut out in the pro slope for the shower drain is larger in diameter than my drain. I was going to fill the gap with deck mud. Is that the correct thing to do?

Thanks,

[Lazarus]

Deck mud will be just fine....I'd vacuum out the hole and spritz it with some Heinekin.....er, I mean some WATER before you load it up with mud. Also, be sure you have enough pipe exposed to properly attach the drain assembly.

[siearly]

Thanks for the reply Lazarus.

Today I installed the pro slope and filled the gap around the drain with deck mud. Given that the shower is so long, I also used the mud to slope the area at the ends. Here are some before and after pictures. This was my first attempt at making deck mud to hopfully I did it correctly.

[Lazarus]

Looks pretty good, Steve. I think you're on your way! Keep up the pitchers as you go along and we'll give you our (ahem) "professional" opinions....

[siearly]

Next I need to install the liner. I'm using the Noble company's Chloraloy. Other than stapling the perimiter around the top, should it be attached in any way to the floor like with glue?

[siearly]

I used the deck mud calculator to figure out what I will need for the layer on top of the pan liner. The calculator says to use 188 lbs of sand topping mix and 94 lbs of sand. This ratio seems counter to what I read in John's "how to make deck mud" where he says he buys 1 bag of sand topping mix and two bags of play sand. What is the correct rato?

p.s. I used one part sand topping mix to two parts play sand when I did the pre slope. Was this wrong? Should I tear it out and redo it?

Thanks,

[Lazarus]

No need to attach the liner to the floor. The mud will keep everything "down." Make sure you run the liner up 10" on the walls and staple there. Fold your corners and over the curb...only attach it on the outside of the curb.

[excalibur3000]

Steve,

I believe John was referring to using a couple bags of playsand in a total job, not necessarily mixed 1 bag sand toppping + 2 bags play sand. If you take a look at the picture below that statement he has a mixture of 80 lbs sand toppping + 50 lbs play sand. I used 2 parts topping mix to 1 part play sand (i.e. ~40 lbs of play sand per 80 lb bag of topping mix). Seems to have worked well.


Casey

on edit: P.s. - I had a problem that I had to tear some of my deck mud out over. It is not that tough to do, nor is it very expensive to replace. I think it is probably OK as long as it feels pretty sturdy once dried, but given the expense and effort you are going to put over top of it, I would redo it just for the peace of mind.

[siearly]

So I decided to tear out the mud since I mixed it with too much sand. It was increadibly easy. I also decided to remove the pro slope from the ends so I could put in a nice thick layer of mud which slopes to the edge of the existing pro slope. It is drying now. See the attached pictures.

[siearly]

So now I need to install the liner and then I understand I put down a 1 and 1/4" thick layer of mud (sloped) with wire reinforcement in the middle. Here are my thoughts on how to approach this.

Make 5/8" thick wood strips to lay down and use as thickness guides.

Trowel down the 5/8" layer of mud, remove the strips and fill their voids with mud.

Lay down the wire.

Lay down the strips on the wire.

Trowel down another 5/8" layer of mud, remove the strips and fill their voids with mud.

Since I have limited access to the shower and could not do the whole floor without walking on it, I figured I would do 1/2 the shower, let it dry and do the other half. I'd split it lengthwise at the drain.

Comments/thoughts/suggestions?

Thanks,

[siearly]

I installed the liner today. Pretty straight forward. Here are the results. First pic is the liner cut and ready to move to the shower. Others are after installation. I celebrated with a rum and coke.

I'm still looking for feedback on my approach to the next step-the mud base.

Thanks,

[cx]

Steve, it's not really necessary to install the reinforcing wire in the mud bed for a shower that size. Reinforcing wire is in the industry standards, but even if you have access to the correct kind of wire mesh, most of us don't use it in shower floors unless they are overly large.

You really want to do the entire mud bed at once, though, at a thickness of at least 1 1/2". That shower of yours should be no problem at all in that respect.

You want the entire outer perimeter to be level and you can just start at the back and keep making the perimeter level and sloping it to the drain at the same thickness. You can make a mark at the perimeter line if you like, but using the level should keep you at the correct height all around. Just keep backing out as you place the mud and you'll be fine.

That extra pan liner out onto the bathroom floor isn't necessary and could cause you grief, depending upon how you intend to finish that floor.

My opinion; worth price charged.

[siearly]

Great, thanks CX. You just saved me a lot of work messing with the wire.

[siearly]

I misspoke by saying the next step is the mud floor. I need to put the backer board on the walls first right? The mud floor locks the bases of the backer boards in?

Based on other postings I read when I ran searches, here is the plan and some questions:

line the walls with 4 mil plastic, fastening it with staples. Drape the bottom over the shower pan.

Install 3' x 5' x 1/2" Durrock on the walls using 1 1/4" corrosion resistant screws made for cement board. Drive the screws flush. No screws below the shower pan.

Question: The end walls are each 36" wide so if I stand a sheet of Durrock up, I won't need to cut it width wise. It would take one full sheet plus a partial sheet for each end. Is is okay to put them end-to-end?

Question: The wall with the shower door is just under 60" so I could put a slightly cut sheet on its side. It would take two full sheets plus a partial sheet. Again, is this okay?

Question: The back wall will need multiple sheets no matter how I slice it. I figure I'll just shoot for the configuration that minimizes cutting while staggering joints. Does it matter if some sheets are up down oriented while others are side to side?

Trim the plastic even with the bottom of the backer board.

Tape the joints with tape designed for cement board and latex modified thinset like Versabond.

Question: Do I tape the inside and outside corners? What about where the cement board meets drywall such as the ceiling or an abutting wall. Do I tape this? How?

[johnnyhomeowner]

doesnt matter how you stand them or turn them just so you dont have four corners metting at the same point.

tape and thinset all the seams
not sure about outside corners.......guess just like inside corners