Your Works In Progress Or Finished Pics

[Ron]

Nice work!! Great design too.

I'm still working on 3 bathrooms in a big, very modern house. Can't wait to get "populated " photos once these rooms are finished. The owners selected some really unique finishes.

[Ron]

Curbless shower over hydronic pipes. The customer bought a 12x12 drain online but I don't know what brand it is. Unfortunately, it was a clamping drain so I had to do two mortar beds. Used Kerdi over the first mortar bed and clamped it, then seated the drain body into the mortar bed in the valley. I prefer drains with flanges.

The previous contractor who had started some work had laid the mortar beds for two showers over a pan liner but it was all wrong. Luckily it came out easy in big pieces. Five easy pieces

[Higher Standard Tile]

John very nice work Post some more pictures if you can.
And where in VA are you located? Like Laz said just start a new thread in the Pro Hangout and give us a brief intro. Welcome!

Ron your work is looking nice too. The glass shower pan and column is really nice.

Originally Posted by TileTim

Isaac, excellent work for the snowbirds - notice how most of them go with earth tone colors? must be a MN thing.
The OCD ex tile guy in me is looking at the glass in the niche - is it to the right by about 1/2" ?? (not quite center) not judging.

Tim good catch, I wish I could blame it on a my camera being off center
Yes it was a layout mistake- And when I caught it the guys had it grouted already and the unit was rented for the next day.

So hopefully some strategically placed shampoo and conditioner bottles can help until we fix it when we go back to do the floors.

Originally Posted by Nelson

Isaac, got some details on that ceiling light in the shower? Is it LED in a recessed can? I've been keeping my eyes out for more of a surface type globe for a recessed can. Anybody?

Sorry that was the existing light and I didn't pay much attention to it.

[Ron]

Hi Isaac,

The shower looks great even with the niche tiles off-center a bit.

It's a lot of work in condos; just the logistics of it. Done a few myself, with reluctance. My Scottish plumber friend (best plumber I ever met) always prepped the old bathtub drain with a copper pipe laid towards the center and then fitted with a brass clamping drain with a square chrome screw-in grate assembly. I would prepare a mortar bed and leave a valley around the first flange of the drain. Then I'd lay Kerdi membrane and clamp it and then I'd screw in the drain assy and set in in a rapid-set patching mortar. It made for a 2 to 2-1/2" max mud bed at the perimeter in a 30x60 application.

Here's a photo. Wish I had "during" pics to show the drain process.




Can someone rotate the photo? Using my iPhone.

[Ron]

Turns out I prepare most showers just like you do, Isaac. Kerdi on floor with a Kerdi drain, HydroBan on walls. Used to do it with 9235 but in late 2008 discovered HydroBan. Couple of weeks ago a lady asked me to install Kerdi membrane in her shower since her contractor didn't want to do it. I hadn't done it in years. It took me about 8 hours to do it!! I was worn out from it ...a three-wall simple shower, 28x58.

Here's a typical waterproofing job (except for the Mapelath and cables; that was odd but I had a good reason for it).

[Ron]

Here's that condo job (with grout; first time for single-component grout). Working in condos sucks ...unless it's a ground floor unit maybe.

[Higher Standard Tile]

Nice showers Ron, yes working in condos is a challenge. And if you do good work the neighbors find out and you never get out of the building.

I like your niches that span the entire back wall.

Some pictures of the drain set up you are talking about would be good. Not sure if I completely understand it.

Most of the tub to shower conversions we do the drain location has to stay where the tub drain was because they don't allow us to chip the concrete to center the drain. It makes it challenging at times to get the correct slope and keep the perimeter level.

We usually time it so the drypack has time to cure and then we hydroban everything with fabric at changes of plane. If we don't have time for the drypack to cure enough for Hydroban we use Kerdi or Noble Seal on the shower floor and Hydroban on the walls and wrapping over the sheet membrane like in one of your pictures.

We have used-

Hydroban with a Hydroban drain.


Hydroban with a Kerdi Drain. I am loyal Laticrete fan but I like the Kerdi Drain better The smaller size looks better in a typical shower and it is a great design.


Kerdi with a Kerdi Drain.


Noble Seal with a Kerdi Drain


One time we had a Hydroban drain installed but the schedule didn't allow for Hydroban so used Kerdi with it. Sika Flex was used at the connection to the drain flange since there is no fleece on the Hydroban drain.


And sometimes the GC has a conventional clamping shower drain already installed so we do the divot method with Hydroban.

[mullet]

Isaac, what thinset did you use on the bottom pic?

[jondon]

First mud job for JD Tile, mud shower and tub. Before and after. 4 inch tiles originally. Dropped in to visit with customer after everything was painted and back in order.

[Jrehanek]

I have lots of pics of this bath, most are with a wide angle lens so the perspective gets a bit weird. In any case, you can see the mosaic around the tub in this one.

They didn't make a 1x1 mosaic that matched the wall tile, so we had to cut them. Hand set, one at a time by eye and hand. They're set on kerdi board that I scored and broke to form the curve. I don't use the board much, makes a good knee pad though. Schluter guy all the way though.

[Higher Standard Tile]

Originally Posted by Chuck

Isaac, what thinset did you use on the bottom pic?

It has been awhile but if I remember correctly I set the shower floor with Laticrete 253 Rapid. The walls were probably 4XLT.

If I do a full Kerdi Shower I use Laticrete 272 which is a really nice unmodified.

But I don't do too many full Kerdi showers, its a good product I just don't like installing it.

Nice finished product Jon.

And the other John thanks for sharing more pics. 1 x 1 by hand sounds like fun.

[mullet]

Thanks, I was thinking (scary) that if you painted all of the Kerdi with Hydro that you could get away with modified thinset.

[Ron]

Here where I live, that whole unmodified/modified issue with Schluter has been resolved by using a German mortar that has different curing properties and is approved by Schluter. The marketing term is "self-drying technology". Great mortar; one lightweight, anti-sag thin-set for walls and one "full-contact" medium bed mortar for floors that has excellent anti-slump quality even when mixed wet.

http://en.kiesel.com/fileadmin/kiese...ight%20can.pdf

http://en.kiesel.com/fileadmin/kiese...rTec%20Can.pdf

[Ron]

I think that Dave Gobis used to import thin-sets from Kiesel many years ago, if I recall correctly.

[Ron]

Wow John... cutting 1x1's and setting them individually? Now that's a dedicated craftsman!