If you are going to have an access panel then thats ok.

There's really no reason to have shut offs on shower valves. Most homes are not set up to hide valves behind ugly access panels. You just happen to be lucky.

If I may ask this question again...

How is granite typically installed? Does it overhang any or not? So, it goes on last, on top of thinset, does the tile on the wall come down to the top of the seat base and the edge of the granite goes against the tiled wall?

Thank you.

It'll be much easier if you finish tiling the walls around the bench as well as the face of the bench. Then let the company that's selling you the granite come out and make a template to make the slab.

It's possible that the walls where the granite sits will not be at a perfect 90 degree angle, hence the need for the template. You can determine how much of the seat you want to overhang the front of the bench and they can round off the front of the seat to accommodate the overhang.

So, I tile the wall above the bench all the way down to the top of the bench? Then the vertical edges of the slab will go against the face of the tile? What will be used to seal the edges of the slab against the tile?

It really shouldn't need to be 'sealed', as such. The bench should be waterproofed before the granite is put on. However, for aesthetic purposes, you could use a color-matched caulk, as long as it's silicone based, or use clear silicone.

The only downside to using clear silicone on a horizontal surface is that it has a tendency to trap water behind it, and therefore contribute to mold growth. Having the waterproofing layer of the bench top sloped down toward the drain may keep this from happening, but you may still have to replace the silicone every couple of years if it starts to look bad.

It's been a while since my last post, doing a little at a time.

Question- I've read where you should *not* use joint compound before putting the kerdi, does the thinset handle filling any gaps?



Question- what to use to fill the gaps around the showerbase?

Oh, here are my 2 access panels-



They are in the back of the walk-in closet, so not a big deal.

You can prefill the gaps with thinset or just fill them while your installing the Kerdi.

the reason you want to tile first and then pop in the granite is that the bench should be a bit sloped. Tiling on top of the granite would mean every tile has to be a bit tapered. It's doable, but time consuming. I have found that a 1 inch overhang on the granite looks good. If need be you can shape the granite with a grinder and diamond wheel to get a perfect fit.

I usually grout the corners of the bench and then apply a thin layer of translucent white silicone over the grout to keep it from cracking.

OK- here is my next question-

I have this niche that I bought, I'm not sure that it's going to mount with a very flat surface between the edge and the surrounding drywall. I am going to use kerdi, so need to know the best way to do this. When I push it against the drywall, it appears to be about 1/16th of an inch thick.... Do I "cut a recess" into the drywall? Do I cut the drywall out from behind the edges and build the wood up enough to have a flush surface? Perhaps buying the preformed niche was a mistake?