Redguard the backside of drywall

Shouldn't be an issue other than the fact it's still drywall.

It should have been built using some form of cement board, not sheet rock!
And yes I know what Denshield is, I've also seen it fail.
There was also no need for using 5/8 on a wall.

jaketrades said:

I was hoping not to not lose depth in the shower niche by adding 1/2” backer board.

It’s currently 3 5/8” deep. Backer board and tile will leave me about 2 5/8”.

But I need to screw the backerboard to something so I’d need a 1/2” piece of plywood.

That leaves me with. 2” deep shower niche.


If I can glue a piece of backerboard to the backside of the sheetrock that would save me 1/2”.

Plan was to just slap 2x4s on the top and bottom and install backerboard to cover up wood studs and metal studs.

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Over thinking is the problem here.:biggrin2:
If you face the shower with backer board and tile also. the niche depth will still be 3 1/2", just stick the backer in with a few dabs of silicone first.

Haha thanks Neal!!

I spaced the niches vertically so after tile, backer board, and grout lines, I will have 6 full rows of 3 ” tall subway tile.

jaketrades said:

Haha thanks Neal!!

I spaced the niches vertically so after tile, backer board, and grout lines, I will have 6 full rows of 3 ” tall subway tile.

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If you use 3" material for the top and bottom of the hole you can screw the backer to the back of them before you put them and the drywall and the backer are not attached, so if anything happens to the drywall it can be worked on with out damage to the shower.

Your tile is 1/2" thick?? That's crazy. I just got done installing a shower with 3/8" thick tile and I thought that was crazy. The wall tile was actually thicker than the floor tile, and the floor tile was plenty hefty.


Anyway, you're not going to be losing any depth because anything you add to the back of the niche is going to be added to the front as well. So let's just say you're losing 1" (which is a little hard to believe, but close with thinset). Well, you're going to be adding the same backerboard and tile to the outside of the studs too, so the shelf depth is going to be exactly the same as it is now.