Charlie's first bathroom remodel - Project thread

[Davy]

You can use masking tape over the tile and mark the tape. Or, some felt markers stay on the tiles while cutting, then wash off with a little scrubbing or with a dab of acetone.

[cbaum]

CX, I've seen a couple videos of shower failures where the fleece on the kerdi drain basically disintegrated and separated from the plastic and caused issues. They pulled up the tile and the fleece/thinset just peeled right off the drain because it was wet. Just thinking through things.

[cx]

And you suspect putting AquaDefense over the Kerdi on the drain will prevent that?

[cbaum]

Another video by the guy shows him using a liquid waterproof membrane like Arden 8+9 or aqua seal on the entire shower pan and drain as well as targeting the kerdi seams. I doubt I'll do it, just trying to understand all the options.

The fleece separating from the drain seems like a design issue by schluter. And since I'm already committed to schluter system I'm stuck with what they have.

[cbaum]

Here's the video in question: https://youtu.be/tOcYK1npnpc

You can skip to 17:20 for the drain part. Just seems a little scary to see that fleece bond completely break down.

[cx]

Not sure just what he's got there in that video, Charlie, but all I can say is if you are gonna depend upon a liquid-applied direct bonded waterproofing membrane (ANSI A118.10) to create your shower receptor, why ever would you bother first applying a sheet-type direct bonded waterproofing membrane?

I've got only a couple Kerdi showers out there that are older than the age he describes the one he's tearing out and both are on SOG floors, so I couldn't testify that they're not leaking, and I'm not prepared to invite myself into the customer's home to tear one out as a test, but if that fleece is coming loose from the drain I'd expect to see the tiles start becoming loose in that area and at least start cracking the grout. No such problems have been observed to my knowledge and these customers would call me if such were the case.

I'm curious to know if Isaac has talked with Schluter about this pattern of failure he's seeing and what their response might have been.

Until that video today, I've not previously heard of any problems with the fleece layer separating from the Kerdi drains. That certainly doesn't mean it doesn't happen, just that it's not been reported here and we have been dealing with a whole lotta folks building a whole lotta Kerdi showers over the years.

You will, of course, do whatever makes you most comfortable in your project.

My opinion; worth price charged.

[Davy]

I agree. If I'm going to install a Kerdi shower, I'm going to follow Schluter's instructions to a T. If I plan to install a paint on pan liner, I'll follow those guidelines to a T but I wouldn't try mixing the two. We see this quite often here on the forum and I see it when I tear out showers. Maybe someone will explain it to me someday because I don't understand the logic behind it.

That said, I don't like the way the fleece let go of the Schluter drain in that video.

[cbaum]

Struggling to make my wet wall flat for kerdi board and large format tile. The whole wall seems a little bit... twisted?

Using a 4ft level its kind of a mess but it tapers so I am not sure how to true it up. At the very top and bottom the 4ft level is ok. But as I move to the middle there's a sizable gap...like 1/4" at the worst part right in the middle of the all. Not sure how to attack this. Wet shimming I think is out as the gaps are too big. But since it tapers, not sure a furring strip would do much either.

[ss3964spd]

Assuming the 2X's at the corner of the wet wall edge are the out of plumb
offenders. 1/2" is a lot. I have the exact same situation in my current bath remodel. To frustrating to fix so I decided to rebuild that corner with new studs, top and bottom plates too.

But you might be able to cut the nails holding that gang of 2X's to the top plate, move them out at the top, then re-fasten them. I'd use screws and pilot holes so they don't shift. Then shim elsewhere as needed.

[cbaum]

Thanks Dan! Big help. No question in this post, just a quick update. Got my wet shimmed kerdi board up today. Tons of wall prep but it came out ok. Cant complain. Left wall screws aren't fully in yet as I'm waiting for wet shim to cure.

Tons of help from this board got me here. Much appreciated. It's slow and tedious at times but it's fun. Except drywall. Drywall sucks.

[ss3964spd]

Can't complain about that corner, Charlie, not too shabby at all.

Best part about drywall is hanging it, because doing so means a lot of the really difficult work has been completed, and it's a massive visual change for not a lot of work in a relatively short amount of time.

But yeah, finishing it sucks. Always.

[cbaum]

So....I made my first mistake I think. Hanging drywall, my cutouts were perfect on my 11' sheet of drywall. Hung it, but I have a gap at one end that is as wide as 3/4", and the gap is too big to properly screw in the edge. I used large sheets to avoid butt joints which so far I have. My options?

1. Fill the gap with quick set compound and do the corner.

2. Cut the drywall 2-3' from the edge and put a new piece on there that fits nice and snug against the corner. Forces me to do a butt joint but at least I'll be able to fasten it properly and avoid filling a huuuge gap with compound.

Leaning toward #2 as I have extra drywall and some furring strips to use to back the butt joint.

[cx]

A photo would certainly help, Charlie, but if I understand the problem, adding a nailer at that end and taping and filling the gap would likely be easier. But I can't see the problem from here, eh?

[cbaum]

I stink at remembering to upload photos.

I don't know why they are always rotated here. They are oriented properly on my phone.

[ss3964spd]

I dunno, Charlie, the whole reason you used long sheets was to avoid joints. I feel like you'd be displeased with the hump you set out to avoid. I think it'll take about as long to make that sheet work as it would to just hang a new one.