Hello, you will see that I'm new.
I am doing a complete renovation of our bathroom. It will be gutted and rebuilt new. I am working on a bill of materials. I am reading up on the subject, here and at Schluter's.

I plan on having a porcelain tile floor with Ditra under. The plan is to also have a tile base with Kerdi under. I will also install a one piece tub shower with its alcove. 2 of the 3 alcove walls are exterior, as are 2 of the 4 bathroom walls.

Would it be better to use any cement board instead of greenboard, anywhere in the room? I was thinking possibly the 3 walls of the alcove? This would be to prevent mold in this dead air space. The 2x6 alcove end wall will have the copper water pipes for the tub and toilet plus an ABS vent pipe.

I have an unfinished basement that is cool, humid, but well vented. Lots of condensation drips off the cold water pipes in the summer. I don't have any wood rot or mold because I vent and do not have gypsum present.

So to me, greenboard is like a minimum requirement that may not be good enough? I might have dripping pipes for extended periods, or at least a humid environment. My daughter likes a "steamy" extended shower and is not likely to use the fan. Any ideas gentlemen?

In places I do use greenboard, should I be using a deluxe waterproof mud? What type of tape?

To clarify. When I said greenboard, I meant to say bathroom drywall. I am not sure if the terms are interchangable?

There is no such product as bathroom drywall.
There is greenboard, humitek board and DensArmor Plus which are all acceptable products to use in a bathroom but not for use in any area thats going to get wet, IE: tub/shower or shower walls.

Each product has its pros and cons with regard to finishing, painting and the correct placement or elimination of poly vapour barriers. Which ever product you choose, always read the manufacturers installation specifications.

I personally use regular drywall for all walls except where moisture resistance is required for a shower area. Once regular drywall is primed and painted it is pretty well protected from any general moisture in the air of a bathroom.
A good exhaust fan is far more important than the use of so called moisture resistant drywall products.

You need insulated pipe wrap on the cold water supply lines if you want to stop the dripping.

Thank you. I will give that a try. I am installing some new plumbing runs right now and I'm down there a lot.

I will read up on the three products you have mentioned. I will try to figure out the pros and cons, and then make a decision.

I should have mentioned that for the shower area walls, the preference would be to use cement board with or without a topical waterproof membrane. Each method has specific installation requirements.
Other choices would be DensShield or regular drywall covered with Schluter Kerdi waterproof sheet membrane.

Hi Bluejay ,


In my 20 year career of remodeling bathrooms, I have concluded that the single biggest killer of bathrooms is the lack of a properly installed and vented exhaust fan or, if there is one, having it sit in the ceiling unused. If you think your daughter isn't going to use the fan, you might want to wire it so that it comes on with the light. An even better idea is to install a timer switch so the fan runs for 10 or 15 minutes after she leaves the bathroom.

I am going to install a decent fan, hopefully with a timer. Unfortunately I am allergic to pink insulation, which is in the attic. I should be pulling it out from above the bathroom and replace with another product.

It may be overkill but so far I think I will do the following. Install Fiberock aquatough, (or equivalent), in the whole room, and paint it with oil based gloss enamel paint.

We are wanting an acrylic fiberglass tub/shower with glass door. That will be very luxurious compared to what we have now.

I mentioned in one of the other posts, the extent of our ceramic tile will be the floor/baseboard. If I can do this properly we will be extremely satisfied.

Bluejay,,


I HATE working with insulation.

I am consolidating this project into the "tile for baseboard" thread. Please visit, thanks.
Tile for baseboard