Tile Shower Remodel Questions

roybfr · 07-30-2010, 12:04 AM

We are in the process of remodeling our master bath and I am in need of some suggestions on how to handle the shower. I have demoed the tile off the shower wall & floor and all but the last of the drywall is gone. The old walls were done in green backed drywall but it does not look like a sealer/barrier was used as the lower 1'-2' of the dry was pretty bad looking and pretty much crumbled off the wall. Since the stall is an odd side (57" wide) we are going to retile the floor and the walls.

Questions.
The insulation on outside wall looks ok but the backing has seen moisture at some point. Assume that replacing it is a no brainer since the wall is already open and it's not terribly expensive.

I am unsure about keeping or removing the current shower base. I have the tile off and looks to be something like hardiebacker but in ~2'x2' squares sitting on top of a mortar base. The outside of the base is makde from 1"x4" or 1"x6" on their sides with a metal flashing between them and the studs. They are in ok condition. Part of me wants to keep the base since we have not had leaking issues through the ceiling and the slope to the drain was good as we did not have standing water issues in the shower. But since a lot of my moisture issues were at the point where the base meets the walls and the fact we are going rebuild the curb to make it higher makes me want to break out the base and redo it. Just want to see if others feel this is the best route. I can snap a pic if that would help.

Thanks for any help. BTW the forums have been great for research on what to do, which items to use and how to do it.

Bud Cline · 07-31-2010, 03:43 PM

Quote:

The old walls were done in green backed drywall but it does not look like a sealer/barrier was used as the lower 1'-2' of the dry was pretty bad looking and pretty much crumbled off the wall.

Probably wasn't, there wasn't such a thing back then more than likely. Well there was but no one ever used it.

Quote:

Since the stall is an odd side (57" wide)

Not at all "odd", pretty typical actually.

Quote:

The insulation on outside wall looks ok but the backing has seen moisture at some point. Assume that replacing it is a no brainer since the wall is already open and it's not terribly expensive.

Good call!

Quote:

I am unsure about keeping or removing the current shower base. I have the tile off and looks to be something like hardiebacker but in ~2'x2' squares sitting on top of a mortar base. The outside of the base is makde from 1"x4" or 1"x6" on their sides with a metal flashing between them and the studs. They are in ok condition. Part of me wants to keep the base since we have not had leaking issues through the ceiling and the slope to the drain was good as we did not have standing water issues in the shower. But since a lot of my moisture issues were at the point where the base meets the walls and the fact we are going rebuild the curb to make it higher makes me want to break out the base and redo it. Just want to see if others feel this is the best route. I can snap a pic if that would help.

Not sure what you have there but if the receptor was built anything like the walls were assembled then it would be wise to start over there also.
I doubt you will be able to change the curb without redoing the entire shower floor receptor.

A picture would be dandy!