Custom Shower Curb

nelsonc2121

Hey everyone, I'm remodeling my master bath, and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for making/purchasing a custom corner shower curb.

My house has a crawlspace underneath, and the whole house is hardwood floors, except for the bathrooms; they sit on a 6 inch cement slab, with the original (1946) small black and white tile on the floor. We've decided to put new tile over this old tile; the old stuff is too tough to remove. The old shower was a cheap pre-fabbed corner unit, and to put in the drain, the previous owners made a hole in the concrete to run the drain under the house. The location of the hole and drain makes it tough to do anything but a custom shower base.

Does anyone have any suggestions on materials for making a curb for the shower, and what to make it out of? Do I just secure it to the walls, or drill some securing holes in the floor? Is there a semi-circular piece I could custom order to put in the corner? I was thinking of a couple of 2x4s in a neo-corner design? Also, with the tile on top of the concrete, what should the layering be like for the shower pan/membrane?

This is my first post on the site, thanks for the help!

Bud Cline

You sound to me like the kind of person that should buy a pre-made shower receptor. Install it, then if you want to tile the walls go for it.

I can see you don't have the patience or the [want-to] to build your own shower receptor from scratch. You are already suggesting some bad ideas that won't work and you haven't yet researched the subject fully.

Seriously, save yourself a lot of trouble and look at the one piece shower receptors and we can help you from there.

You also don't want to "put new tile over the old tile". That's a bad idea.

nelsonc2121

Come on Bud, no one likes to get profiled! There's a difference between having the patience and want-to to remove my old tile before installing new, and taking a sledge and hammer chisel to a floor that doesn't need to come up!

Seriously though, the floor is in good condition and is flat, won't it be possible to put a layer of thinset on top of the tile and lay over it? I used to lay tile and hardwood floors part time in college, and I remember doing it (rarely) back then. I'm not claiming to be any kind of jack-of-all-trades, the guy I worked for turned me loose on the floors and open spaces, and he did the tricky stuff.

Do you know any suppliers for pre-made shower bases? I tried looking online, but there didn't seem to be much to offer. Although, you thinking I sound like 'that kind of guy' has kind of lit a fire under me, I'd sure appreciate advice on doing my own curb!

Bud Cline

Sounded like a done deal from where I sit.

Ah-h-h-h-h! There's the excuse I was looking for. Everyone has their own reasons to justify their intentions.

Sounds definitive! Must be no way to move the drain? Or-is-there?

That right there is what qualifies you for a prefab. There's nothing wrong with prefabs and no way to take short cuts.

See what I mean? No research so far.

Makin' it up as you go is never a good thing when it comes to building showers.

Nope, you don't have a clue!

If you use a pre-made you won't need to worry about "layering".

SERIOUSLY, I am trying to help. Sorry for slapping you around a little but after almost 35 years of building showers from the ground up and ten years of dealing with DIY's on the Internet I do tend to "profile" people. I can read you like a book based on your comments so far.

A self-made shower receptor isn't for you.

A resounding NO!!!

It's hard not to trip over them things these days.

Every mainstream plumbing fixture manufacturer has some pre-made shower bases available as far as I know. Then there are all the companies that do nothing else.

Hey I know! Take a look at the "Tile-Ready" products. They have several pre-made bases that you can tile yourself if you want to go that route.

He he he! Am I good or what?

Keep talkin' and convince me you are up to the task.

We can slip you into a Schluter Systems custom for a song but it still requires some "want-to"!

oh'mike

Here is useful info---shower pans, shower bases, bathrooms, showers, barrier free, ADA, bathroom remodeling, bathroom renovation

You came for knowledge --not judgment--Ask away--Mike--

Bud Cline

Tuff Love!

My good friend Harry in Canada has a great website. Here's the old fashion way to build a shower receptor. You asked about layering here it is.
http://www.ontariotile.com/preslope.html

Here's one of the State-Of-The -Art methods.
http://www.schluter.com/media/brochu...ndbook2008.pdf

Here's some more State-Of-The-Art methods and products.
http://www.noblecompany.com/Technica...0/Default.aspx

Here's a start with the pre made pans.
http://www.google.com/products?hl=en...ed=0CDcQrQQwAA

oh'mike

Now you are cooking!!!!!!!!!Great info Bud--

Bud Cline

There's plenty of stuff out there. I looked at the Tile Ready website but didn't see any corner pans. I think they have them but their website kinda sucks and I got annoyed.

http://www.tileready.com

nelsonc2121

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions everyone. For the judgemental, the first research I had done was for a pre-fabbed shower base. BUT, with the drain already located about 8" (square) out from the corner of the shower, and the small size of my bathroom really only allowing a radial shower, I have yet to find a pre-made shower pan that can fit my needs. Coincidentally, I looked at the Tile-Redi site this afternoon, but didn't find anything close to what I needed.

I'll choose not to give a rebuttal for my criticism line by line for the sake of everyone's time, and leave this space for the people who are here to help the more novice.

Bud Cline

...and after all I've done for you!!!LMAO

If moving the drain is a major challenge then the information at "Ontario" is the only way for you to go to be able to accommodate the funk.

You're Welcome.

nelsonc2121

So assume this was a corner shower in a basement, and you wanted to make your own curb. How would you secure it? Like I said before, the space isn't really big enough to have a big shower, the outside edge of the pan can only come out about 36" from the corner. Yes, I know the shower is small .

R&D Tile

Over a slab?, I would use concrete pavers or make it out of concrete and cover it with the kerdi system, but now we're talking about a whole new ballgame for ya to work on.

Bud Cline

Agreed! Concrete pavers installed with brick mortar is the thing to do but refusal to relocate the drain is going to create some serious pitch problems when it comes to forming the slope. Now the better-bet is using the KERDI system but the mandatory KERDI Drain may not fit that close to the corner.

I suppose the Ontario method could still be used with the Noble CIS membrane and a standard clamping drain instead of the standard pan liner material and then the CIS could be fashioned over the curb and pre slope.

nelsonc2121

I think I've been so stubborn about this because I don't want to crawl under the house to find out where the joist is, but it'll be a lot easier to put the kind of shower in that I want if move the drain. A minute task if you look at the means I was willing to take to get around it. Which leads me to the to the next set of questions. Is a small jackhammer overkill for the new hole? what should I use to fill the old hole? I can attach a picture if it would help.

oh'mike

Pictures are nice.