About to start my built-in shower in my basement and have done a lot of reading. Now I have a few questions to clear up.

1. I have a cement subfloor - should I use a felt slip sheet between the subfloor and the preslope or just bond the two together with thinset?

2. Do I need a plastic sheeting or vapor barrier behind the tiled walls or will the cement board/thinset/tile act as enough of a moisture barrier so that I won't need anything else?

3. Ive read some how-to's saying to put wire mesh over cement board to help thinset hold tile to the wall, but Ive also read that thinset can be directly applied to cement board or backer board and then tile placed over that. Whats my best route?

1. Use thinset to bond the preslope to the slab.

2. Tile, grout, thinset, and cement board do nothing to stop water. They can only slow it down. You will need either plastic on the studs behind the cement board (4 mil minimum, 6 mil preferred), or a surface applied membrane on the cement board. You can use a liquid membrane like Laticrete Hydroban, or a sheet membrane like Schluter Kerdi. There are other products available if you want to shop around. Each product has its own specs to follow, so decide on a method/product before you start buying supplies.

3. You won't need any wire mesh over the cement board, just put tile directly to it. The only place you would potentially use wire mesh in your shower is over the curb, and that's only if you're doing a traditional shower with a liner. In that case, it's a must.

There are many pictures and tutorials on this site to guide you through your shower building process. Do some reading before you start working. If you have any questions about what you've read, we're here to help.

Ive read everything and thats WHY I have questions - ha!

Thanks for the responses, I planned to put poly sheet behind my hardi-backer anyway so you just confirmed my approach. Thanks!