[Jim F]

This is a small bathroom, no room to put a bathtub in, at least not a standard size bathtub. Overall 89" x 54" that would be minus the closet which is 38" by 19".

Shower space is 38 by 34.5 to the finished wall. I really do not want to give up that closet space.

I have begun exposing the shower flange to remove this fiberglass shower which has a failed floor. I need to replace it with is something with a strong floor. We have an adult daughter with autism. She has a condition known as proprioception whereas she sometimes needs to jump and stomp to orient herself in the space that she's in. Kind of hard to describe the condition, that's the best I can do. The takeaway is she has damaged this shower floor and to replace it with the same would result in the same end results.

I had a bathroom modeler come out to give me an estimate. I was hoping for some remodeling suggestions from him but he was really only qualified to sell me a rather expensive shower system with a man-made stone floor of a proprietary material that only they sell. They would finish this stone shower receptor with some sort of wall panels similar to the Vycryl that they sell commercially I think. They needed to replace everything including the plumbing behind the walls so they could guarantee their product for life but the end result would have been $8,500. And that's just to replace the shower.

If I want to get really ambitious once I remove the shower I may redesign the whole space with a walk-in shower and make the entire floor of drain space. That would really solve the problems of her spelling water out of the shower which she often does and sometimes overflows the toilet but probably more ambitious than I have a budget for this project. But I'm keeping my options open for now. The end I may just replace the shower.

So I guess at this point principally what I'm looking for is shower suggestions, particularly shower floor suggestions. I really don't want to build a mud floor it may be within my skill set. I do have experience with tiling etc., but it's a lot of work and I'm not a young man anymore so I may just order a strong solid shower receptor and tile the walls around that.

 

[Old Thomas]

I have a 32” square shower that I built using a Swanstone (Corian like material) base set in a bed of mortar. After a knee and hip replacement I used a shower stool in it and it didn’t hurt anything, and I am a big guy. There was barely enough room to sit and rotate but it was my only choice since the other bathroom is upstairs. The floor is very solid and the base is a standard part. Set in mortar over a solid floor, it is solid.

 

[Jim F]

32 square is sort of on the small side, I hope to be able to use all the space I have available.

 

[Dansbell]

I have used both Schluter and Wedi shower floor systems. They are similar concepts with different applications. Both are basically a waterproof high density foam core pan that can be directly tiled to. They are both extremely easy to work with. The material cost is certainly higher than a mud pan but the labor is significantly less.
They are easy to cut and fit and have several configurations for drain and slope location.

 

[Jim F]

I have used both Schluter and Wedi shower floor systems.

Wedi looks to be more expensive, is it of higher quality than Schluter?

 

[Dansbell]

I have used both systems but not in the last year. As I recall the overall price was very comparable. With Wedi you use fewer items. There is no seam tape or special corners with Wedi; you use Polyurethane to make joints. You do have to make sure your cuts are much tighter with Wedi. Wedi requires your joints to be in compression and squeeze out the polyurathane when you make them. Schluter has seam tape that can cover a joint and specialty corners that are designed to eliminate leaks. I have done training with both systems and I think Wedi is faster since you don't have to seam tape all the joints. There is probably a trade off if you are paying for labor. Schlute is probably marketed to the Homeowner or do it your self project a little more. Wedi is thought of as being less forgiving; but the reality is you need to pay close attention to the instructions with both products and follow the directions precisely. Both products provide a waterproof envelope if applied as designed. I have seen case studies of failures with both when the directions were not followed correctly; but that will be true of any system. Both offer waranties if done correctly. I am bot certain if they both offer warranties when they are self installed but I think that is true. Both products have applications where one will do better than another. I will probably use Wedi if I can on my next bath remodel because of its simplicity.