Newb tiling above shower

[RMack]

This is my first post although I have been reading this board thoroughly as I do belong to other boards and dont want to get flamed right away

I just took on a bathroom job (new room above my garage) and think I have worked myself into a situation. I have a couple of questions that I had trouble finding the answer to by searching. I have a 1-piece fiberglass shower unit that I wish to tile above, and around the front edge.

1. I made a mistake by installing the first piece of Durock wrong. I was initially going to use mastic until reading this board, now the back wall piece has the smooth side out.......is this a problem I can overcome? I hate to remove it as the other (correctly) installed pieces overlap the edges and it is all glued/screwed in place. Can I skim coat it first or put a sealer of some sort prior to thinset? I did install a 6 mil vapor barrier behind the durock and used proper screws.

2. The transition from the durock to sheetrock (outside of the wet area) is level as I used 1/2 board on both. I used the proper mesh tape for the durock, and taped the durock to sheetrock seam. I am mudding up to the transition seam. Once smooth, can I use thinset on the sheetrock after priming/painting? This will be for the small decorative trim tiles outside of the shower door. Is there a better prep for sheetrock than priming/painting for thinset?

I hope I explained my situation and thanks in advance for any advice.

[muskymike]

Hi Ron, welcome! You will be fine with the Durock backwards. You can use thinset on it and on the primed dry wall. Just use some sand paper on the painted areas to rough it up.

[Houston Remodeler]

Ron,

Just to be sure.... you have a shower unit where the walls are fiberglass pretty high up the walls, say to the shower head height or higher?

[RMack]

Yes, the fiberglass shower unit is about shower head hieght. Thanks for the reply, now on to mudding sheetrock....

Does the durock to sheetrock transition sound ok?

[Houston Remodeler]

treat it like a normal drywall to drywall seam

[RMack]

Now that I am finished with the sheetrock I am ready for the tile. I plan to use redguard on the areas where I do not have a moisture barrier (I read on this forum not to use both)......since I will have plenty left over can I redguard the floor?

I will be getting the tile from Lowes, the redguard and thinset from HD. The tiles will be basic 12 X 12 ceramic and 3" bull nose. What is the best thinset to use from HD? I would like to use the same thinset for the area above the fiberglass shower and the floor.

Is it ok to also use the 3" bull nose for a baseboard?

Thanks!