Reed Bathroom project

[reedmwle]

Hello all!

I've been a big fan of this forum for a long time, but this is my first post. I've used lots of your suggestion for lots of my DIY projects. I have a bathroom project that I would love some expert thoughts on.

We recently added a 9 x 12 room to our master bedroom in hopes of making a master bath. When the project was completed we had a dry-walled room over a new crawl space with no plumbing. We are finally ready to make this room into a bathroom. Attached is a layout of the bathroom that I'm proposing.

The tub we bought is 65.5 in x 36 in. drop in. and I'd like to use the rest of the space to the left of the tub for a shower. My thought was to build a wall to the left of the tub and make an enclosed 48 in x 48 in shower using the Kerdi shower kit.

Ok....here are my questions.
-Behind the drywall, I have insulation with the vapor barrier paper. If I use the kerdi membrane on the drywall for the shower, will sandwiching 2 vapor barriers between drywall be bad? Should I tear down the drywall and use Kerdi-board?

-I would really like to have a curbless shower, is there a way for me to do this in a 48 in x 48 in space without getting water all over the floor?

-I would like to make a really neat shower in that space, something different perhaps....better than a 4 x4 shower with a glass door on the front?

Thank you for any help or suggestions,

Matt and Bec

[cx]

Welcome, Matt.

1. If you'd put a geographic location in your User Profile it would be easier to say just how serious that issue is likely to be, but in general it would be a very bad idea to have a vapor retarder behind gypsum drywall and a vapor barrier on the face of it with a shower on the inside.

Not necessarily, but you could.

2. Curbless isn't as much of a consideration as doorless in that regard. If you plan to have a door you'll want at least a small curb or hump to keep the door seal from dragging on the floor outside the shower. And that floor would, of course, need to be waterproofed.

I don't see any provisions in your photo for dropping the shower floor. How were you planning to build a curbless shower there?

3. OK with me.

My opinion; worth price charged.

[reedmwle]

Thank you for such a fast reply.

1. We live in Michigan, so winter's can get super cold. So I should remove the drywall and peel off the paper from the insulation before I put the membrane up?

2. I was thinking about using the Kerdi-Shower LS shower tray and using Kerdi Line. Putting the drain at the entrance Then adding more plywood to match heights in the remaining part of the bathroom. Would love not to have a door, but I think the 4 x 4 is too small and water would be everywhere?

Matt

[cx]

I've done a curbless, doorless shower that size, but it was recessed into a SOG foundation with a step down of about three inches, which helps some. Small entry opening and shower heads on each side wall. Customers still like it fine after twenty-some years.

If you do a line drain I'd recommend it be in the back of the shower away from the entry if your joists are running the right direction.

In any case, with any drain, I'd wanna at least drop the subflooring between the joists to make some room for a sloped floor to a drain. You would technically need a two inch drop from the entry to the drain, which you ain't got a prayer of getting without some work on your joist system. I'd very strongly recommend you bounce whatever plan you decide upon off your local code compliance official before you commit.

Your life with this project will be something in the neighborhood of a thousand times easier if you accept the reality that you didn't plan well enough to build a curbless shower at this stage.

My opinion; worth price charged.

[GraniteGirl]

Why not do a wet room? Then you don't have to worry about water getting everywhere

[Bodie Powers]

Originally Posted by granitegirl

Why not do a wet room? Then you don't have to worry about water getting everywhere

Not sure how that would solve anything...there still needs to be a 2" drop from curb top to drain top.

[GraniteGirl]

In theory, you could raise one half of the room to create the desired slope or raise and slope the entire floor.


Typed on my iPhone with sticky glue fingers

[Bodie Powers]

That's not a tiny bathroom.....1/4" per foot slope would make for a sizable hump the further away from the drain you put the curb. I think the best solution is to give up on a walk-in and build a conventional curb (or take a big leap and lower the joists beneath the shower).

[cx]

Originally Posted by Bodie

.there still needs to be a 2" drop from curb top to drain top.

I always point that out as well, Bodie, but when making a curbless entry, it ain't necessarily so, as we've discovered. It's really something Matt would need to take up with his local code compliance people.

It's been found to be pretty common thinking amongst the code compliance inspection community that the 2" requirement applies only to a shower with a curb because it says the curb must be that high above the drain. If there's no curb, they tend to think there is no such requirement.

No, it makes no sense at all to me, either, but that's the "thinking." Members of the ceramic tile technical community have tried to work out a standard with the plumbing technical community to no avail. The plumbing folks just don't seem to be interested.

Go figger.

My opinion; worth price charged.

[GraniteGirl]

Meant to add this picture as illustration to my last post

[reedmwle]

Thank goodness for this forum...I've learned so much.

I have a question regarding my bathroom shower niche. I'm using the schluter membrane over drywall and building my own shower pan. The boss (the mrs.)wants a shower niche in the "perfect" spot and of course it is an exterior wall. I bought a 12x12 kerdi board shower niche.

The wall in question is a south facing 2x4 exterior wall. So the wall consists of drywall, insulation, 2x4 frame, 3/4" plywood, 1.5 rigid foam on the exterior and vinyl siding on top of that. If I install the shower niche, the insulation in that part will be removed. Since I have rigid foam on the exterior and the kerdi niche has some r value, can I put the niche in the exterior wall?

Thank you for any help.

[Tiger Mountain Tile Inc]

You can do whatever you want but I'm not a big fan of niches on exterior walls just for this reason. Whatever foam you can put in there is good.

[cx]

A shower niche on an exterior wall in Michigan would not be my first choice, but you can certainly do that if you want.

My opinion; worth price charged.

[reedmwle]

Ok...I put the shower niche on the interior wall. Thank you for the advice.

I'm all ready to Kerdi the drywall inside the shower. We're hoping to put tile to the ceiling, do I have to use Kerdi all the way to the ceiling or can I stop above the shower head?

Thanks

[Tiger Mountain Tile Inc]

You can stop at the shower head if you want.