Hey guys! I've been reading through this forum and have come to realize that I may not have the right ideas for doing my shower. But thankfully I'm here now and we are only at the Studs still.
Now the original plan was to use cement board with a shower pan membrane. My question is can the cement board be used as the backing all the way down to the floor in order to support the mortar bed, Anyways I have a few pics of where we are at right now and would really appreciate any help or advice/suggestions, I've spent over 3000 on the plumbing for the shower so I really want to do this right the first time. The tile is 12x12 honed/filled travertine, Glass block wall and glass block insert on end wall. will be adding a corner bench as well. Ceiling will be tile as well with rainfall shower. 3 body jets. So it seems I will have a lot of water running through it. Thanks so much for your input. Stan.

Framing looks good.Two observations: The curb,I find it too high with those cripple studs.Three 2x4's would do. The drain,I would put it in the centre so that the slope of the mortar bed will be more gradual while keeping the perimeter level.With the drain where it is the slope will be steeper there.Looks like it could get near the centre without notching another joist.

I would entertain the idea of using Schluter's Kerdi system here.The drain and the membrane.With this system there is less work to install the substrates...the mortar bed and the backerboard,less work for framing too...and the substrate will be completely waterproofed directly on its surface.

The traditional methods allow the substrates to get saturated.To build a shower using traditional methods by-the-book takes longer too.

A shower where the surface directly under the tile is protected by a membrane is a better shower.

www.schluter.com

I totally agree with Ron. With the money you've spent already, you should make sure you have the best substrate and shower system available. Kerdi is the way to go here.

http://www.schluter.com/4625.aspx

I just installed my first schluter shower system this last week. It was pretty easy. I am a novice with tile work and I had no real problems.

Of course I will see on Wednesday when I use the shower for the first time if I did it right.

Hi Stan,

Two observations: the joist that has been notched on the top to handle the trap arm for the shower drain and bored on the lower edge for the copper supply has been weakened considerably. I would investigate beefing up that joist before proceeding.

Also, the body spray loop ideally should have another set of Tee's in the midsection, ie: to make a "figure 8" style loop. This will improve flow through the three body sprays and equalize the pressure at the fixtures.

Nice work so far Stan .... and you've got some good advice from the guys here.

Suers ... you should send a photo of the finished work.

Hey! Thanks so much for the replies, I'm thinking Kerdi is the way I'm going to go. I've placed the drain in that position because it is in line with the ceiling watertile, the floor isn't nailed down around the drain yet, do you think I should still move it? Also was hoping to do a figure 8 loop for the wall jets but I couldn't find a 4 way coupler. I have a higher curb for two reasons (and I may be an idiot for thinking) there will be no shower door just a walk in and it worked out for the dimensions of the glass block. Well back to work, I'll post as we progress this week. Thanks again.

If your thinking Kerdi then you should be using the complete system including their drain.

Stan

You don't need a 4 way fitting...just cut in a Tee on each side of the body spray loop, and then connect those two new Tee's with a piece of pipe.

Also, is that 2" pipe running to the trap? That will be important, especially if your body spray system has a high output valve. Does that joist feel "springy" in the area where it was cut?

Randall is correct...you should have a Kerdi drain rather than that clamping drain.

Gotcha about the glass block on the curb.
It's going to be as high as the ceiling then?

I think it'd be a good idea to drive 3 1/2 " screws in the sole plates at the two shower walls and into the joist in question to consolidate that area.The plate at the curb and the opposing wall 3 ft over on the other side.I'm thinking the sole plates and the walls will strengthen that span of joist.

It is a two inch drain, I will be getting the kerdi drain as well, another question, do i kerdi the entire walls or just as high as the membrane would have went up to before, I have both cementboard and denshield in my house right now so I could use either and return the latter.
The glass block will not run to the ceiling, we put in a bulkhead to accomodate the ceiling spray tile, however the top of the glass block wall runs level with the glass block insert on the end wall. I will discuss the strength of the joist with my carpenter tomorrow. Thanks again guys you are a wealth of info.
Stan

Today we bought the new kerdi shower drain and the kerdi membranes, I have installed cement board on the lower half of the shower but decided to use greenboard on the top figuring i would be waterproofing the entire shower anyway, i decided to use cementboard on the bottom because i wanted to use it as support for the mortar bed, would you need to do the ceiling in kerdi as well considering i Do have a ceiling water tile, also how do you waterproof around the cut outs for the valves etc, do you cut the kerdi flush and use silicone or a liquid waterproofing (redgard) or do you fold the kerdi in as best you can?

Hey Guys, Well I've used your advice and kerdi'd the entire shower, we are about ready for tile, I have 2 questions for you guys,
1. With travertine, does it matter if you use grey or white thin-set?
2. there are 3 circles we may have to cut for the the shower valves, one or more may fall in the center of a tile, which is the best method for cutting a circle in stone?
I've attached a few pics of progress. More to follow, thanks alot! Any comments are appreciated!

I have always used white thinset for travertine. The gray can "bleed" through over time. I also used a carbide drill bit for holes. You can use a ring of plumber's putty around the hole and put some water in the ring to keep down the dust and the heat generated by the drilling. Go slow, and just enough pressure to cut. Push too hard and you'll break the travertine.

Nice work with the Kerdi!
I'll put together a page for you for all your photos after the work is done.
Don't spend too much time working with the shower though ... I'd like to think you air traffic controllers have lots of rest.

Hey guys,

I added a couple of benches, (an afterthought) I know I should have probably used kerdi on them, but I was out and so was home depot, they only had the 104sqft roll, which was way too much, Funny thing, to buy 2 rolls of 54 sqft is cheaper than buying one roll of 104sqft...odd. Anyway, the benches were constructed using pressure treated 2x4's and cement board, all surfaces were treated prior to and after installation with redgard, 4 coats, we did have to drill holes through the kerdi for the screws, which were filled with silicone prior to screwing. I think we are about set to tile, I've attached a pic of the thin set and additive I intend on using, my question is, is the additive ok to use when applying over kerdi or should I just use the thinset as is.

Thanks again for all the help, you've been invaluable. And Harry, Don't worry I sleep at work, well only when I have less than 10 airplanes in my airspace!!

You're doing a good job ... by far better than much of the professional work I see sometimes.
BUT ... I have to say this because other people are watching your progress here. Pressure treated wood is a bad choice because of the moisture content which causes it to shrink considerably as it dries out. Having said that, you should now use a soft joint (instead of grout) where the seat meets the walls to allow for the future movement that will take place. Silconized grout or regular silicon will work fine for this. If there is no slope on the bench (I can't tell from the photo) then create a slope with mortar before or as you install the tile.

When installing tile over Kerdi especially larger tiles ... use unmodified thinset mortar.

I'm looking forward to seeing the end results.

Thanks Harry, so by adding the admix the mortar now is considered modified thinset?

We have sloped the benches, and per your advice will use silicone where the bench meets the wall, thanks again!

Yes, adding the admix basically turns your thinset to modified. Not recommended for Kerdi, and will void the Kerdi warranty.

Just noticed on your recent pics of the Kerdi installation that you don't have Kerdi wrapping over the front of your curb and that looks like DenShied on the front. Even though there will be a glass door or shower curtain this front edge still gets wet. This is where I see most failures due to water damage.

If you haven't already done it I highly recommend that the curb gets completely waterproofed.

Nice work by the way.

Thanks guys for the quick replies, the open side of the shower is going to be a glass block wall the kerdi was overlapped down on the other side curb, the board was put up after because it going to a painted finish, hopefully this will be ok.

Hey Guys!

Just wanted to update the progress, Walls are up and we are doing the floor today, in a couple of days the glass block should be up as well. I will be using a non sanded grout, clear silicone in all the plane changes, bench etc. I'll be using Custom's Stone Specific Honed Travertine sealer, this is the order i plan on doing it, grout, sealer, silicone. Is this the proper order? Any comments/ critiques are much appreciated.
Stan

man that looks great...what a great source for info....this site is the best I have ever come across....

Hey guys!

More progress, floor went down, and we completed the glass block(that was a lot more work than I thought it would be!!!) Today we are laying the 3/8 plywood over 5/8OSB and ditra for the main floors. I'm using versabond between ditra and plywood, would the admix modifier be good to add to this as well(I've already got a jug)or will the versabond be fine on it's own. Will be using unmodified between the ditra and 12x12 travertine. I have a suntouch floor heat pad that will lay under the ditra as well.I can't tell you how much this site has helped along the way!!

Just a few more update pics....on to the floor..

Nice job, puts a lot of so called "pros" work to shame.

Well guys, finally finished her off, just wanted to say thanks for all the help, this site is an invaluable tool and I will recommend it to anyone doing any reno's.

Here are some final pics...




















And finally a little stitched shot, don't mind how it doesn't line up perfectly.





Thanks again!

Stan

Stan it looks great. You should be proud.

Wow!

Could you come over and finish my shower?

good work stan

Excellent work Stan!