Glass in a steam shower

[koihito]

Have a project coming up that calls for Walker Zanger glass tile (about 4"x6") in a steamer. I have used Kerdi in all but one steam shower I've done (and that one was not built correctly )

Shluter tech. says the glass is to big for unmodified and modified will take 14 to 60 days to dry fully. Anyone have any suggestions?

[Houston Remodeler]

Nate,

We built this steamer with 6x12 WZ roku glass (excellent stuff) two years ago and not a crack or complaint.

We used 1/2" kerdi board seamed with kerdi band.

The tiles were set with 254 and 4XLT (we had some of both) and grouted with Spectralock.

[koihito]

How long did you let it dry before you grouted?

[Houston Remodeler]

Over the weekend.

As a test, we popped off a tile the next day. The 254 gave up its grip on the tile and held to the board . We could scrape away the 254 and adjust the tile. After 2 days popping off a tile took the foam with it. From Friday 4pm to Monday 10 am (it was a 170 mile drive) the tiles were well set.

As an aside, we buttered each tile individually instead of thinsetting the entire wall. This allowed each tile to be an island of thinset with none oozed in between. You can see the orange between the tiles.

[Houston Remodeler]

You can also see there are no L shaped tiles and all the protrusions came at a grout joint so the holes in the tiles are all half circles.

[koihito]

Nice, that is great info Paul. Thank You

[T_Hulse]

Very nice layout & planning, Paul, to avoid L cuts & drilled holes.

[Houston Remodeler]

It helps that we do our own plumbing

[tilelayer]

Paul, I like your idea did you burn the kerdi board with flat side of trowel to promote bond? I always burn the substrate when i backbutter with the teeth side of the trowel.

[Houston Remodeler]

No I didn't. Just made the thinset ever so slightly on the wet side as you can see in the pics. I pulled that sample tile right after it went onto the wall to show the technique. The debate at the time was over the k-board in steamers + glass + epoxy grout

[gueuzeman]

Pooky Steve did some large glass in a steamer a while back, he let it cu for a few weks, I think.
he did have to go back and repai a mis-drilled piece, and you could really tell the difference in the color of thinset.

.

[CSS]

You can use modified with Wedi. A lot more rigid than kredi board

[John Bridge]

Nate,

It would be interesting to see what Walker Zanger might have to say on the subject, not that you would have to follow it.

[koihito]

I would be interested in what they have to say as well, but they haven't called me back. Seems like I must be ticking people off; Laticrete, Custom, and WZ have failed to return multiple calls. Schluter's tech. dept. shows me love though

[koihito]

Robo,
Thats my issue, if Wedi is vaporproof and says go with modified, I can't see why Schulter is so adamant. Paul's experiment seems to demonstrate that modified can be used.