PC's Bathroom Renovations

[PC7060]

Thanks for the compliment Pete, I learned a lot following your thread. I liked the Kerdi / Wonderboard combo you used on your shower, but it sure was a lot of work. The KB is very easy to work with and was great when I was building the niche. No water worries there, I'm definitively a convert.



Be interesting to see how the Durock competitor product does when it hits the market, could really use some competition to reduce the cost of the KB.

[PC7060]

The mud floor looks great. Checked it this am, it's warm to the touch and curing nicely. Very smooth with no loose particles.



Didn't take much water to get the dry mix ready ready to pack. Mrs PC compared the wet mix to brown sugar, about the same consistency and balls up nicely while maintaining the grainy texture.

Since the mix is not really wet and doesn't flow like normal concrete, its important to really pack it in to get all of the air voids out of the bed. I used a 12" mag float to pack the mud and a 10" fine blade trowel to get a clean finish before I covered it with plastic.

[PC7060]

Working on the permanent curb for the shower and ran across a issue associated with the out of plumb floor. The temp curb was cut to correct for the 3/16" per foot out of level floor so the slope to the center drain on the shower bed is correct at 1/4" per foot. However, while the temp curb is perfectly level, it makes the shower look out of level since the reveal from the front is off so much.



I had considered cutting the permanent curb with the same correction but now think it would be better to maintain the full height to maintain an even visual reference. The curb will have a 1/4" slope towards the shower for proper drainage.



The shower glass would need to be cut to adjust for the slope of the curb but I'm guessing that's not an issue.

Question to the pros: when you run to this situation, do you make the curb level? Yes, no or it depends?

[cx]

Even I'm not willing to read back through sixty pages to find out why we don't just level the floor, PC. Maybe you could enlighten us again, that appearing the most correct remedy.

[PC7060]

Originally Posted by CX

why we don't just level the floor, PC. Maybe you could enlighten us again, that appearing the most correct remedy.

Correcting the side to side slope would have resulted in a 1" offset in the subfloor right in the doorway to the bathroom so I focused on flat in that axis. Did level the floor front to back.

[Pete1972]

I'd consider leveling the bathroom floor and dealing with the change at the door by ripping down a threshold piece accordingly. Trust me....my upstairs bathroom is exactly as yours; 1" out over 5 feet and would have been visible at the door. I left it because it was flat and the entire upstairs is out of level. Now I hate it though; I wish I had made the correction and had the threshold adjustment at the door. In my defense I didn't catch it being out of level until the sub flooring was down because the old floor was a mud job that was set level over the sloped floor (also didn't know about SLC's at the time).

If you don't want to deal with that I'd still level the curb. Your toilet will hide a good deal of the visual height difference in the curb and your glass guys will hate you a lot less.

[PC7060]

Mocked up a couple options with the curb (including running it by Mrs. PC. ) and I'm going to build the curb to be level. The visual offset in the reveal will be mitigated by the larger reveal and the reduced line of sight with the toilet and counter installed (Edit: what Pete said) .

Edit: just saw your comment Pete, leveling subfloor is out at this point so it looks like we are in agreement on the level curb.

Code require 2" drop from finished curb top to top of drain.

1. I'm planning use granite for the curb top, what is the standard thickness in that application? 1 1/4"?

2. What do you used to board the granite to the Kerdi wrapped curb? I'm leaning towards kerdi fix.

PS: The kerdi board curb I built up from four layers of 5/8" is very stiff, much better than the single 2" foam.

[Pete1972]

1.) Yep.

2.) Thinset. Set the granite just as you would a very large tile (which it is).

Good call on leveling the curb.

[cx]

Yep, good call there on the curb. As a second choice, of course.

1. Whatever you can get holt of.

2. What Pete said.

My opinion; worth price charged.

[Lakee911]

Count me in for leveling the floor...l had same issue and I'm glad I fixed it. Barring that, make curb level.

[PC7060]

Thanks all, level curb it is.

[RJCarney]

Pc

Typically granite slab is usually in either 2cm or 3cm (approx 3/4 and 1 1/8) inch thickness.

Project is looking good!

[mullet]

Yeah PC lookin good dude.

[PC7060]

Plumbed in the shower last night and did the cut/dry fit of the Kerdi Board curb. I will be setting the curb later today. The curb will be set to the mud bed using thinset and set to plywood floor/ kerdi board wall using KFix.

I'll also be applying the Kerdi/Kerdi band to the mud bed and joints to complete the water proofing of the floor.

Question: Do you cover the exposed foam edge top edge of the curb with kerdi?



Thanks,

[mullet]

Yes.