Tiling a Shower thinset question

Dangchores · 03-01-2012, 11:12 AM

I have searched for a plain ol straight up answer:

I know to use thinset on my Durock walls...as advised by the guy at Lowe's, I bought Mapei Ultraflex for the Shower walls/floor and Ultraflex2 for the Non Shower floor. Both bags state not for use in areas of Prolonged water immersion.....Tell me What I need to know about "prolonged"...please...

Then I started reading some more while the first layer of my mortar shower pan sets up...Help!! Now I read about ANSI .1, .4, .11, etc. and haven't a clue....gonna do 12" ceramic walls and 2" floor and ceiling

I have done 2 ceramic tile kitchens, 2 bathroom ceramic floors, a sunroom and front porch with slate....but never a shower.

JazMan · 03-01-2012, 12:52 PM

Hi,

Showers can be difficult to do correctly, even for some who consider themselves handymen who build dozens of them. More later.

Prolonged, would be a project such as a fountain or a pool. A shower does not quality as prolonged, but I would not use those products for the shower floor anyway. If not build perfectly a shower floor can stay wet for a long time which might cause a failure.

I assume you meant you bought Ultraflex 1 & 2. These products meet A118.11 which is a high standard in general. These products will bond well to EGP, exterior grade plywood underlayment. Ultraflex 3 is a better product and will work for prolonged wet areas, but a Big Box is not gonna carry the higher quality products. Does your Lowes carry Ultrabond? When mixed with their latex additive it would be a very good choice. What other brands and specific products can you find near you? Where are you anyway?

Back to building a waterproof shower. Do you wanna go over the steps you've taken so far? What are you doing for waterproofing?

Jaz

Dangchores · 03-01-2012, 01:11 PM

I live in the Arkansas Ozarks...40 minutes from Lowe's and an hour from the Homely Depot in the opposite direction.

So far, I removed a fiberglass enclosure down to the studs. I reinsulated the walls and did a 6mil vapor barrier on the outside walls. I have Durock placed on the top half and the first layer of mortar shower pan setting up as we speak.

For the pan, I laid 3/4" marine plywood on top of the concrete foundation to solve for a 10"x10" repair hole discovered at tearout. Total floor area is 31"x48". I laid 15" paper, mesh, and about 1" of sand top at the drain sloped to about 1 1/2" at the furthest corners.

My next step is to lay the membrane extended 6" up the sides and over the front edge. On top of this I will lay 1 1/4" sand top from the drain to about 1 3/4" for slope, then add the durock to within 1/2" of the floor. I should silicone seal all edges and corners and I should be ready to tile?

EDIT: I mis typed...I will finish the cement board prior to adding the finish layer to the floor.

JazMan · 03-01-2012, 04:04 PM

Hi,

Quote:

I reinsulated the walls and did a 6mil vapor barrier on the outside walls.

How about the interior wall?

Quote:

I have Durock placed on the top half

By this did you mean to say the Durock for the walls is resting on the pre-slope? Does your edit refer to this? So there is no Durock on the walls yet?

Quote:

For the pan, I laid 3/4" marine plywood on top of the concrete foundation to solve for a 10"x10" repair hole discovered at tearout.

Putting plywood on a slab is a very bad thing to do. Take it out of there. Start over.

We can continue when you're on track to doing this right. You might even consider building a Kerdi shower instead, http://picasaweb.google.com/10143435...fRiB3ADcyJ6Ybw

Jaz