building custom shower base

wombosi

hi all,
i'm building a custom shower stall, with a built-up pre-sloped bed, waterproof membrane, etc...

my neighbor (the customer) is wondering about alternatives to tile on the walls. in other words, what is the absolute cheapest way of waterproofing the walls yet still be durable and able to clean it?

the floor will be ceramic tile.

also, we might build a small corner seat into the shower. i will pitch it a few degrees to shed water (it will be all the way in the back of the shower which is 29" X 5' so will hardly get any spray on it). is it en ough to simply frame up the seat with 2X4s and cover it with durock, or would you guys also wrap the seat in the waterproof membrane?

as for the walls - is there some sort of essentially thick plastic "roll-out" kind of thing, much like in the pre-fab shower stalls?

thanks a lot.

oh'mike

Here is some good reading--Shower Construction Info (a collection of posts) - Ceramic Tile Advice Forums - John Bridge Ceramic Tile



Leaking seats are all to common--The only way to fix one is to rip out the work and start over.

This might be a good time to check out the Schluter site.

Why are you doing a fancy hand packed base and the looking for a cheap wall treatment??

If cheap is the game --look at plastic shower kits.

Bud Cline

schmolze,

You don't know enough and haven't done enough research yet to start this project. You're asking for trouble with the current plan of attack.

Probably using Denshield. When you approach a job looking for the "absolute cheapest way to do things" expect problems in the future.

Please don't do that.

Look at a shower bench called "Better Bench". http://www.innoviscorp.com

Nonsense, don't count on that!

You don't want to do that! Use the Denshield wallboard.

That's what you need to use. It's quick, easy, and unsophisticated.

wombosi

thanks for the replies guys.
i've built a custom shower before with hand packed base, full tile floor and walls.

we're doing this because of size constraints and not being able to fit even a 38" neo angle in the space as we would like to.

i ask about wall options simply to see if there is anything cheaper than ceramic tile. i'll check the links...

i think i'll pass on the bench.