HELP! Kerdi shower curb mistake/"jolly" trim

[carsonsmom]

Have been reading up on alot of stuff the last month on here. Had a friend who is a contractor install the schluter system in our basement. For some reason she installed the pebble tiles on the floor and decided I should finish. I am a avid diyer and a girl! I completed the tile work last weekend and started to grout w/ the epoxy grout by Mapei yesterday. For some reason I didn't notice until yesterday that I did the curb wrong. I didn't put the "jolly trim" by schulter out far enough to meet up w/ the tiles on the front and back of the curb. I could've just shot myself.
She is too busy w/ harvest and working to come take a peek, but I'm guessing I'm just stuck w/ what I have. If I take off the tiles on top of the curb i could risk wrecking the kerdi membrane correct? The tiles would have to be recut which would be easy but I'd have to chisel/sand off the mortar somehow



. Let me know if you think this is possible or to just leave it as is and try to grout it up with the mapei epoxy grout. It is a basement shower for our daughter, not seen by many but just bums me out, I was pretty proud of my work until that point.
Have the day off today and was planning on finishing it up today.

[Houston Remodeler]

LeAnn,

If your kerdi was installed properly, then the tiles are cosmetic and thus, if you can live with the look, it will be fine grouted.

1- does the top of the curb have a 1/4" per foot slope to the inside of the shower?

2- Taking off the top tiles and resetting them would be a good first choice.

3- redoing the entire curb would be better choice #2

[Tool Guy - Kg]

Hi LeAnn,

The answer to a few question would help us understand how well the tiles on top of the curb are bonded.

1) What did you use for setting material for these tiles? Getting specific is very helpful.
2) Did you spread the mortar and press the dry tiles onto the mortar or did you also spread some mortar onto the backs of the tiles and press them in place?
3) Do you know what "burning" a coat of thinset with the flat side of the trowel is and did you do it to either the Kerdi side or the backs of the tiles?
4) How long did you wait between spreading the mortar and pressing the tiles in place?
5) By any chance, was it hot or very dry while you were working?

[carsonsmom]

I used TEC thin set plus mortar, came in 50lb bag. 3/8" trowel(?)if that is correct terminology. I spread the thinset on kerdi membrane first, notched it. Cut my tiles to incorrectly fit the jolly.... I did spread extra thinset on tiles since being the curb and all. I don't recall how much time had passed between mixing the mortar up and laying those tiles obviously. It was not hot or cold in basement, maybe 65degrees, no humidity ie. dehumidifier running.

CabotandRowe. I did not install the curb/kerdi membrane so can't really answer the slope question, could ask my contractor I guess.

I just need to know if I take off the tiles on the top, scrape off the mortar and try not to "wreck" the membrane is that a feasible option. I know it would go back on the "right" way then. If I grout it as is, it seems the grout wouldn't set up as I would want it to, ascetically that is. Sucks that I didn't catch it right away, didn't pay attention til grout time and then noticed "how in the heck am I supposed to do that" oh probably because you screwed it up.

[bbcamp]

Since your tiles have been in place for 2 to 4 days, you have to assume that the thinset has cured sufficiently enough to tear the Kerdi if you tried to pry the tiles off. In that case, the way to remove the tile is to break it apart by chipping at the center with a hammer and cold chisel. Essentially, you will be pulverizing the tile and thinset so the little pieces can be picked off more easily. Some thinset will remain. Grind that off with a mason's rub stone, stopping when you start to see some orange showing through. What thinset is still there won't be a problem.

This will be tedious work, so don't get in a hurry. If you do manage to tear the Kerdi, you can patch it if there is enough room for a 2" overlap, or you can smear some Kerdi-fix over the tear.

[Houston Remodeler]

You can try gently smashing the top tiles. Use enough force to break the tiles and the bond below, but not hit so hard as to damage the substrate which should be kerdi over drywall or kerdi over CBU. Use a normal metal hammer.

Once the tiles have a few cracks, pop off the pieces without tearing into the kerdi. Remaining thinset can be ground down or scraped down. Let us know if there is any damage to the kerdi. A few pics would help.

[ceramictec]

I'm sorry to say but that doesn't look that good. I would remove it.

I would not have used the Jolly on the curb and used the Rondec.
also if you do it again you can align the tile on top to the tile on the curb face.

[carsonsmom]

Thanks everyone, never claimed to be a professional but since it is a basement shower, I made it still esthetically pleasing and left it alone. Grouting is all done, just ran enough grout along the curb and jolly to cover the tiles. If it isn't waterproof then I guess I learned my lesson.

Thank you all for your input, it is nice to know that people have somewhere to look for this kind of info.
LeAnn

[alfaman]

i like your tile choices though...was wondering if you used a kerdi pan with your install

are the tiles travertine or porcelain?....