Building a Shower Floor From Scratch - Part 1 of 2 - With Shower Pan Membrane
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- čas přidán 6. 05. 2017
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Many people are pretty skilled at doing their own tile setting. Where they may need some help is when it comes to building a shower floor. Without some experience in doing specifically that, most people will never have learned the skills needed to successfully build their own shower floor. This video and Part 2 will take you through the process in detail. All is takes after that is the effort and patience to tackle the challenge on your own. I'm not saying it is easy, but it is a project that you will feel good about when you have completed it. Good luck! - Jak na to + styl
This is one of the few correct videos out there. I’ve seen so many “experts” give really bad info.
Thanks, R and I appreciate you watching.
After 16 years, it was time to replace my shower door and redo the shower floor. As I did the demo, I found that water had leaked in back of the shower wall and there was a nice glob of mold in the horrible dry pack job the installer did. Of course he put the liner on top of the subfloor and then the dry pack which was completely wet. Your method of putting a slope in the first dry pack under the pan liner makes perfect sense and is what I’m in the process of doing now. I have perfect confidence that my install will never fail thanks to your help! Thank you!
Good luck with your shower, David! Yes, much of doing constructions projects well is doing what makes sense. Adding a layer sloping to the drain for the pan to rest on makes sense. Thanks for watching and for you comments!
I know this was 3 years ago HOWEVER this is going to help us today!! Great video CZcams dad!!!🙂
You make a good point, Chas! I learned this method over 40 years ago and it is still as useful today as it ever was. There are certainly more options these days for shower floors, but this is a tried and true method. Good luck, CZcams son! Get to work! 🙂
I'm so relieved I've found this channel! Your so correct, Neonmax.
I wish you were my dad!! Haha! I can listen to you explain things all day. Thank you for your videos!
Thanks for your comment and for watching, Annie! Before forming that opinion, you may want to talk with my kids! They have had to listen to me all day, lots of days!
Just the way this guy shovels the mix from the box into the 5 gallon buckets at 5:26 shows he is a pro. Gorgeous, no spill and no mess!
The tricky part comes in when trying to carry the two buckets of dry pack through doorways over carpet while trying to get to the shower without dumping one, Eric! 😬 Thanks for watching!
With the help of your 2 part video I was able to lay my shower floor with ease and the confidence it would be correct. I just want to say thank you for taking the time to make great videos its much help needed to many do it yourselves like myself. My shower turned out perfect and I'll forever thank you!!!!
Thanks so much for your kind comments, Gibby! I have to say that you obviously have some great basic skills yourself because building your own shower floor is not a simple project! I generally tell people that their second shower floor will definitely be better than their first! Glad it worked out well for you. Thanks for watching and for taking the time to share with me your experiences!
I'm tackling my first tiled shower project and your video is the clearest and easiest to understand how to get it done. Thanks alot!
Glad to hear it, Dave! Good luck on your project and thanks for the comment!
Thank you Rusty for this 2 part video series. It let me know what I think I can do and what I may have to get a pro to do for me. The demo is what I think I will do as I'm on a time and money crunch. I LOVED YOUR VIDEOS! They made me feel I can do this project when I have time.
Hey thanks, A Boren! The demo is one of the best parts! Take on what you have time to do and don't be afraid to challenge yourself a little. Glad the videos were helpful and thanks again for taking the time to comment!
Good videos Dobbs, clear easy instructions, thumbs up ! The true test is how mine turns out.
FINALLY!!! Rusty, you are truly a GREAT teacher that understands how to speak at appropriate speed, giving your audience a comprehensive and thorough explanations of the most relevant terms, ideas, reasons, expectations, etc. You did an incredible job of editing your video to match your audio with your video, maximizing all teaching opportunities. I can't say enough how great you are at not only your trade, but also at teaching your trade via video to you youtube audience. All the best successes to you on your journey Rusty!! Your contribution here is incredible and you most certainly deserve every bit of the success that you procure from it!
Hey, TJ! Thanks so much for your very kind comments! I appreciate you watching and thanks for the encouragement! It means a lot!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I am excited to know how start my shower .
Thanks for watching, Linda! Good luck on your project!
This video is my bible to re-doing my parents tile shower. Someone screwed them in 2019. It destroyed the framing in the walls from all the water damage from the shower leaking. I'm a finish carpenter and don't know much about tile. Especially when it comes to the pan this video helped so much.
Thanks for watching, Josh! As a finish carpenter, you have all the basic skills necessary to pick up tile work as well. You just need a question or two answered along the way. Glad the video helped point you in the right direction!
Great video. Thank you for the taking the time to show and explain the steps!
Thanks, MrK! I appreciate you taking the time to watch.
Thanks. I found a video literally the same about 5 yrs ago when i did my shower. Now I’m helping my son, and frankly, I saw quite a few videos that seem like shortcuts or lack of understanding of water intrusion and mold, etc. so this is the first video that I give 5 of 5. Thank you.
Thanks for watching and for your comment! Good luck to you and your son on his shower remodel. Yeah, this process for building a shower floor is really pretty straightforward and reliable. Trying to take shortcuts on it is not a very good idea!
Thank you so much for sharing this, I am remodeling two baths, and you are the first to show how to do the shower floor.
Thanks for watching, LynJa! Good luck with your bath remodels!
Thanks Rusty! I sure appreciated your expertise! Made the job pretty easy!!
Glad it was helpful, Pat! Thanks for watching!
Brother if you're ever out in Arizona stop on bye I love you man you helped me out a lot with this video
You never know, Earl! I'm only one state over here in New Mexico. Glad the videos were helpful to you and I appreciate you watching and also your comments!
Thank you! This is perfect for helping me remodel my new(older) home! I wish you lived close I would have you here to help!
Good luck on your project, Tracy! New, older homes are the best!
First video I've seen done correctly! Dry Pak, Rubber, Dry Pak, tile!
Thanks for watching, William! Obviously, you know other people came up with these techniques long before I came along! 🙂 Just glad I was exposed to some tradesmen many years ago who took a lot of pride in their work and were willing to pass on some of their knowledge to me!
Thank You!!
Hey thank you so much for the video of the dry pack thing that was just awesome. It makes better sense to me to do it that way
Thanks for watching and your comments, Glass! Glad the videos were helpful!
Seen so many vids. This is the best. I also do brick in between the joists.
Thanks, Vlad! Yeah, bricks work the best!
Watched 4 different videos and Rusty's is by far the most comprehensive and clear. Thank you Rusty for explaining the overall process. I could not find another video that did!
you prolly dont care at all but does any of you know a tool to get back into an instagram account?
I was dumb lost the account password. I appreciate any help you can offer me.
@Justice Adriel Instablaster =)
@Benton Hugo Thanks for your reply. I got to the site through google and im waiting for the hacking stuff now.
I see it takes a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
@Benton Hugo It worked and I finally got access to my account again. I am so happy:D
Thanks so much you saved my account !
@Justice Adriel you are welcome :)
Two thumbs up. I'm gonna do my bathroom after I move to Florida.
Thanks, JJ! Good luck with your remodel!
Great Job..
Destruction during demo for my house was fun. Cleanup was not. Complete overhaul and rebuilding was fun! Getting inspections during permit phases because I didn't hire a contractor was not. (because I'm a 30 year old who prefers to learn instead of paying four times the material cost for someone to do it for me)
Loved your videos. Still watching some. The floating shelf one (the 'strongest floating shelf') started on this binge. Keep it up! :)
I'm in total agreement with your descriptions of the stuff that was fun and the things not so much, Josh! Also, at 30, trying to do as much as you can because you enjoy learning rather than paying reminds me of someone else I know! That attitude has mostly upside and will serve you well in the years to come. Everything I know about construction has come as a result of taking the same approach you are so I encourage you to keep it up as well! Thanks so much for commenting and giving me a little perspective on what you are doing. Glad you are finding helpful information in my videos!
Thank you for the brick tip i never thought of that
Great video. I've been watching videos for the last 2 hours and had basically been distracted by other things, but your video grabbed my attention back to the tv. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
Thanks, ASAP! I appreciate your comment!
Thank you!!! Great video!!!!
Thanks, strikermaxi! I appreciate your comment!
This is so helpful!!! Thank you for doing these :)
You're welcome, Belle! I appreciate you watching! 🙂
Outstanding instructional video, and you're a remarkably likable guy. Still working up confidence to do this.
I've worked professionally in training and development for many years, and this rivals some of the best instructional vids I've seen, especially for the budget you invested.
Thanks Sean! I enjoy making the videos and am glad you think they are good! I appreciate you taking the time to watch and comment!
Hey, Sean! I regularly tell my wife that I’m a remarkable, likeable guy and she rolls her eyes! Maybe I should change that to remarkably likeable! 🙄 Thanks for your kind words! Let me know if you have questions on the process. I have talked lots of folks through building their shower floors.
Thank you for this - super clear!
Glad to hear that, Victoria! Good luck if you are planning a project!
Thanks much. Most skilled mechanics like me could figure this out after watching your video.
I tend to agree with you, Chris. For people who have good skills with working with hand tools in a variety of trades, a project like this not that challenging if you know the steps. Thanks for watching!
This may be the first CZcams video I see someone using the right cement and drypack for shower floor. Thank God someone makes a video doing it right unlike that star tile handyman clown.
Thanks for watching, Alfred!
This video and your other more extensive shower with bench video has helped so much!!
Would love to pick your brain and maybe get some answers with what I'm trying to tackle !!
Glad the videos are helpful, Melissa! Feel free to email me at rusty@dobbsworkshop.com with pictures as needed. Would be happy to give you an opinion or two on what you are working on!
You need to do one thing. On a concrete floor with a preslope; at lease wet the old slab so it will not make you mud pack too dry and it fails. Best to bond with cement slury. 42 Years Journeyman
Thanks for watching and for the comment, Franklin.
Nice kicks!
Awesome job! Thanks
Thanks, Randy! I appreciate you watching!
Beautiful job. I used to do it that way for a long time.
Thanks, Tile Slay. So you have made the switch to Schluter-Kerdi products. If you have a chance, give me a rundown on what convinced you to do that. You know what the 'old timers' would say, right? In my case, I'm never quite sure how long I will continue working but I am winding down. Just never made sense for me to trade what I know and trust for a system that I'm sure is fine, but what I see about it, I don't really trust.
I was young and went to the class in about 2002. Ditra has been around and proven since the early 80s in Germany. If you’re a pro and shop at the tile companies it makes sense. If you’re shopping at a box store not so much. They want trained installers using their products and they are the only company that really has an installers back with warranties. I learned so much from the six times I have taken the the class. I’m about do for another. From ease to install to speeding the time in someone’s home. It’s perfect. You said 3 days to do your pan. I have a pan, walls and 100% water proof in about 5 hours. Water test the next day. I’ve even had two leak during water test. But that’s why you test. Easy repair and then move on to tiles. I give the home owner the cost difference. So you have less materials cost but more trips and a sore back. I give a better product in their home and make less on prep. Less hrs into it. So I can turn out a shower a basic shower per week. It also operates logically and comes from the concepts of true old timers. I hate that people refer to old timers as 1950-2000 those will be the darker days of tile. Tile showers did fail from lack of quality installers, slow and expensive. So the plumbers came to the rescue with making a giant plain white funnel to the drain. And because of the simple nature it worked. More people have fiberglass showers than tile showers.
And I guess it’s really about prospective that we use. It old timers with cement board? Or full properly done mud set? Or further back sand status method? Depends one what kind of building we are also looking to construct. Using cement board as old timers really is the smallest chunk of time in tile history and was never designed for use in showers. The skill level was low and it worked well good enough to get a few years out of it. And when did tile setters just take it on themselves to decide how long their job should last? We are getting paid to build a permanent structure in a home and it should last the test of time and be done with the best knowledge to date. If a home owner wants to tear it out, it should be because of style not that it failed. Just how I feel.
I use Festool sanders in my woodworking and know about the quality of German engineering and, by the way, those tools from Germany cost more as well. That's why I assumed Schluter's tile systems had more substance to them than meets the eye. With your training in the products, it sounds like you have developed an installation system that works for you and that you trust. I am not a fan of their displays in the big stores and can't imagine you are either. They present it to the DIY homeowners like it is as simple as 1, 2, 3! It is for you because you know the products inside and out. But for typical homeowners, it seems like too many things could go wrong in the installation process that they would have no background to even recognize what was happening. In another lifetime, you could probably convince me to give it a try!
I got seriously into construction in 1977 and you are right that particularly in new construction, tile installations were sometimes ridiculous. Mud showers were too expensive for anything but luxury new homes and higher end remodels so in a lot of cases I saw plumbers install drains and shower pans, sheetrockers rocked the showers and screwed into the pans at the bottom plate, tapers floated the joints, tile guys floated in shower floors against the sheetrock, curbs were 2x4s with sheetrock on them. I talked the main builder I worked for into letting me do a hybrid version of a mud shower, an idea that he liked. Since I also did the vinyl flooring and laminate countertops we made it work dollarwise. That was a long time ago for me! Oh yeah, on the sore back comment, I'm just glad I can still work hard enough to get a sore back! You'll understand what I mean a little better in about 20 years!
Great instructional video. Thank-you
Thanks, Peter! I appreciate you watching!
Hi Rusty. I have a question. I'll be pouring my first layer of drypack down on a wooden sub-floor. I've read I can go directly onto of the wood, but others have said to use a black paper to cover the sub-floor first. What is your take? Peter
Excellent description
Thanks, Jon! I appreciate you watching!
Nice video on this subject...oh yeah, you remind me of one man who used to narrate, "meanwhile back at the ranch, the Duke boys..."
Thanks for watching, Shawn! By the way, you know you going a ways back in history with your reference to the "Duke boys"! I suspect I do sound a bit like the narrator!
Rusty, you must be a born teacher of some kind. Excellent video and so helpful... thanks!
Thanks, Catherine! I appreciate your kind comment! Glad you enjoyed the video! Have I always liked expressing my opinion on many different topics... yes, that is probably a pretty good characterization!
Thank you very much!
Thanks for watching, Clark!
Damn that was a nice watch.
Thanks Josey! I appreciate you taking a look at my channel!
I saw a video from Starrtile that said you don't need a preslope. He also did a mockup and tested his opinion and it was very convincing. Isaac Ostrom also did a test on the dry pack where he mocks up a shower pan up the drypack stage then fills it with water, plugs the drain and lets the water drain through the drypack onto the bedliner and into the drains weep holes.
I would tend to agree that there are other approaches to building shower floors with drypack and liners that will work and maybe work really well without the exact steps I used in my videos. Sounds like the second video you reference is giving a visual illustration of how drypack is actually supposed to function. The specifics of what I do have evolved for me over time with tweaks and modifications being made through the years. It works for me and probably more importantly makes good 'common' sense to me as well. Thanks for watching and for your comment!
Well, I THOUGHT I was just going to do this myself. The video is great and instructions are clear, leaving me with a clear understanding that I have neither the skill nor patience for this. Want to come do my shower?
It takes a wise man to know his limitations before he starts something, Pramienjager! Unfortunately, I typically figure mine out after I’ve already gotten in over my head! Would love to do your shower for you, but as I tell most other CZcams folks, the travel and meal allowances alone would probably bust your budget! Thanks for your comment and for watching!
This is a great shower floor demonstration where Brett Favre gives some classy tips on how he gets things done :)
Hey Rick! Now Brett Favre is a new one on me! But my accent is more of a 'Texas Twang' than his southern drawl! Thanks for the comment!
thank you... I am doing a poured concrete curb, didn't know how to waterproof it. It didnt seem right to just glue the pvc liner on the concrete and put the mortar and tile on the plastic, your way makes more sense lol.
Glad you found it helpful, EJ. Yeah, I use a couple of methods for building curbs depending on the situation, but both work well. Good luck!
Have seen a lot of videos, but you really do a great job in explaining the process with great tips as well.
I worked as a tile setter for a very short stint while in school, though it was many years ago. So, there is a lot of old school technique that I wondered if it was outdated. It was all about wonderboard, taping seems, then hitting with thinset.
Well, I am not renovating my bathrooms now. Starting to research current approaches, I see they use a Redgaurd type thing often. sometimes just at the seems of the backer board, other times over the wonderboard, even the pan all the way to the drain. What are your thoughts on this?
Again, great video. It's impressive becasue knowing your typical DIY'r, you supply much information and approaches for getting a good product.
Thanks for the comment, BPRescue! Sounds like we both got started working with tile in the same way, but I was probably 30 years earlier than you based on the techniques you are describing! The "old school" techniques from my time were mud and lath walls, floated with a hawk and trowel!
I think the brush on waterproof membranes certainly have their place and I have used them occasionally on a case by case basis. My go to approach these days is 1/2" Hardiebacker on walls, tape and thinset seams, then brush on the membrane on the seams and corners only. I don't buy off on the full 'waterproof envelope' concept. On shower floors, maybe it's ok to coat the final dry pack like in my video with a membrane before tile but not as a replacement for the showerpan liner from my perspective.
great vid helped me alot wish i could post pics
Thanks, Jew Baca! Feel free to send pictures to info@dobbsworkshop.com. I appreciate you watching!
Good work amigo.
Thanks, Bryant! I appreciate you watching!
Hey Rusty great video thanks, I have a basement rough in and will be installing a shower. My question is regarding the drain. I have a drain pipe coming out of the concrete floor that rises about 6 inches. In this case would you just cut to pipe to install the drain flange as close to the existing floor as possible then use the portland cement / sand mix to build it up to the flange level?
Thanks again your video really helped me understand the process.
Yes, Jim. It sounds like you have it figured out. I like to get the flange down to where it is resting close or on the original slab. If you can chip out the slab around the drain pipe a little without damaging it to get the flange closer to the slab, I will do that sometimes. If not, do as you are thinking and install your first dry pack under the pan starting at the flange and float it out the the wall with about a 1/4" per foot rise. Then you are on your way! Good luck. Let me know if you have other questions!
Thanks Randy, I'm just about ready for my first layer of dry pack. Have you ever used the bagged pre mix or recommend the Portland Cement and Base Sand 4:1 you mix yourself as explained in your video. I was a bit confused at the store with the different "Type" ratings. Could you confirm if it's Quikrete Portland Cement Type 10 ? and is there a certain type of sand or Quikrete Base sand?. I was at Lowes and could not find the sand and was told to just use a the premix stuff. Thx
Hey Jim. No, I've never used the premixed stuff for a shower floor. I buy my cement and sand from Lowes as well. I checked a bag I still have and it says type I/II. It is also Quikrete Portland. The sand I use is also Quikrete brand and says it is a base sand for pavers. Personally, I would be fine with their stock portland cement they have on the pallets.The only pre-bagged sand I have purchased that I didn't care for was a little more coarse than I was used to. It still worked fine but I prefer a consistently fine sand. If it has larger pieces in it, those will tend to pop out as you are finish troweling the surface. Still not an issue, just more of a pain to work with. Don't hesitate to make a small form from 2x4's with a bottom on it, mix a small batch of mud to the proportions and pack it in really tight into the form to get a feel of what you are working with. Try screeding it and finish troweling it. Pull the form off the next day and check it out.
Rusty, I have worked in and around construction most of my life and love to see a true craftsman. One thing that I have never done is a shown floor installation. You make it simple. Some of the other videos show roofing paper and lath under the dry pack. Is there a reason that you don't?
Thanks for watching, Larry, and I'm glad you find the videos helpful. Yeah, the process is not complicated if you just take it a step at a time. The thing that has the biggest learning curve is figuring out how to work with the dry pack. I tell people their best shower floor will probably be their second one! 🙄 The roofing felt would be helpful in slowing down the drying out of the dry pack while you are working it, but I get this first layer placed in about an hour for a typical shower so that's not an issue. The lath would add some additional reinforcement for the dry pack. But that first layer of dry pack is to give you grade to be able to lay the shower pan on so water that reaches it will flow to the weep holes in the drain. That layer is confined by the bottom wall plates and brick step so the lath seems redundant to me. Maybe on a wood subfloor, but I have never done it. Good luck with your first shower floor!
@@RustyDobbs Thank you for the reply. Will send you photos upon completion.
My gawd was that an old Ryobi miter box? I remember using those for finish carpentry when I was a kid! I think it was the first miterbox with the actual metal turntable.
Yep, MFD Mike. I have no idea when I bought it, but probably at the same time as I bought my Senco SFN 2 finish nailer... maybe 1979 or so. The nailer has been retired but honestly haven't given a thought to replacing the miter box. NEVER a problem. It has not been abused but has been on lots of jobs and even casual use over that period of time is a ton of use! Thanks for reminding me how old I am, too!
Hey Rusty great videos. Do you have any vids on making the block curb you have there. I need some direction on that
Hey, Craig. Yes, check this one out at about the 4 minute mark. czcams.com/video/sGBhxDatqTg/video.html I'm not going into detail in the video, but I am showing the process of building the step. Just like setting brick. You can use the same mix for the dry pack floor, just mix it thinner to a typical brick mortar consistency.
I love just listening to you work, even if I weren't redoing my tile shower pan! So happy you demonstrated a brick curb! I got the pan done, and am replacing only the lower 6 inches of tile and tile backer (2 inch curb over drain + 3 inches of waterproof membrane over curb). But the remainder of the old wall tile that I want to save is set in a 2 inch thick shower wall. 1/2 inch gypsum board nailed to the stud wall, 1/2 cement board (with diamond lathe in corners), thin layer of white mortar material, and 3/4 inch of fat mud and diamond lathe, then tile. It is 2 inches from studwall to top of the tile. Can I just build up my wall with three layers of cement board? Should I I bite the bullet and learn how to mud the walls? I am also concerned about the seam where the old wall meets the new. I clearly cannot tape it, but was going to push as much thin set between the two as I could when I put thin set over the nail holes in the top one inch of the new backer board. I guess I will know how mudding the walls will go once I finish mudding the curb. I am just using Quickcrete type S masonry cement, maybe I should get something like Custom Float bedding mortar if I do the walls too. Wish me luck!
Thanks for watching, Vidalia and good luck on your project! Wow, that sounds like a very old school shower but you understand it well enough to keep doing what you are doing. Under the circumstances, I would not shy away from using the 3 layers of Hardiebacker to build back out your wall. I would just want to make sure I had long enough screws to run through all three layers and into the studs. Always predrill pilot holes in the Hardiebacker to eliminate cracking it. The seam is a tough one and I'm not sure there is a good answer. When combining old work with new, you just do what works at the time and makes good sense. I would probably run a bead of silicone caulk into the joint and move forward with the repair.
@@RustyDobbs Silicone a true miracles of modern age bathroom construction! Thanks so much for the advice and encouragement.
Good video, but I was looking for information on how to install a large custom shower base -- without a using a preformed plastic shower pan base.
Thanks for watching, Belle! Hope you find what you are looking for!
Great Job! I was wondering if you have to do any caulking around anything, like around the drain? Thanks
Yes, Troy. Caulking finishes off any tile job nicely and I use a siliconized acrylic caulk that matches the grout color and texture in all corners. Around the drain I also run a small bead of caulk between the floor tile and the metal drain cover… any places where the grout might tend to crack over time. Thanks for watching!
I am going to try and do my bathroom now, I think I can do it
Good luck, David! That's the attitude that will help you get it figured out!
Hi, what is then minimum thickness of the first and second layers of the cement base? I watched a video that stated it should be at least an inch thick.
I think that is probably a good minimum number for a shower floor build. I have used the same mix for non-shower purposes and have feathered it out to nothing to transition between different levels. I mixed it a little wetter than in the video so I could bring some moisture to the surface with the trowel and make it more like a cement finish. That example had some chipping away up to about 1/2" from the edge of the dry pack before it was solid. It was exposed mostly to foot traffic.
Great vid. I do shower installs as well. 🤘
Thanks, Adam, and I appreciate you watching!
Love the video and I understand the process. However, I need to put the shower on a wooden subfloor. What would be the process for a subfloor? Should I put send sort of barrier like tar paper down first to protect the subfloor? Thanks for the help. Alissa
Yes, Alissa, it would be a good idea to waterproof the area under the shower floor in some way. In theory, the shower pan should protect the subfloor from moisture but since you had a wooden subfloor I would want to protect it anyway. I would even consider using the 'brush on' waterproofing moisture membrane products that are on the market. The only other potential issue I would verify is that the structure under your subfloor is framed carry the weight of the mud shower floor in that location. Thanks for the comment and for watching!. Good luck with your project!
So I leave a 1/4 inch space between subfloor and drain before I pour the first preslope so it lines up flush after preslope?? Thank you!
Yes, Rob, if I am understanding you correctly. Ideally your preslope gives you positive drainage for any water that gets to the pan to make its way to the drain.
What are your thoughts on bonding your preslope drypack to the concrete with a thinset slurry? Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with this wonderful video.
I wouldn't have any objection to it, Aapl, but it's one of those things that may be overkill from my perspective so I wouldn't bother. My view is that once everything is in place in a shower remodel, including the outside bathroom floor tile, nothing is going anywhere, as in curb, layers of drypack, etc. Your idea wouldn't hurt anything, but probably wouldn't make any difference either. Thanks for watching and for your comments!
Thank you for the video. It is very informative and helpful. I might missed it, but how long should I wait after installing the first layer of drypack under the membrane? Same question for the second layer....how long should I wait before proceeding with the installation. Thank you again!
Thanks, William! It's a three day process for me. First layer on day one. Membrane and second layer on day two. Then tile on day three. Actually, then grout the floor on day four. You can finish out the shower walls after that. It's an extended process, but I've found you get the best results long term from building the shower this way. Good luck on your project!
Thanks Rusty for the video. I've seen another tiler on here that says there's never a need for the first layer (pre-slope, etc). I think I'm going to go the pre-slope route after watching this because there are parts of my subfloor that slope away from the drain (the joists create high points).
However, if I use a membrane like Redguard or Kerdi, over the cured drypack, would there still be a need for the preslope layer? Any insight is much appreciated.
Thanks, Kyle! In the span of my work history, the preslope is a relatively new idea. You've already picked up on the reason for doing it but, yes, shower floors have been done without preslopes that last many years as well. The waterproof membranes or Kerdi over drypack are newer methods still. I tend to stay with the older methods that I trust for customers. If I were experimenting on my own projects, I probably wouldn't be opposed to trying a membrane or Kerdi over drypack in which case I would not see a need for a preslope. But it wouldn't be too big of an inconvenience for me to redo it if I didn't like the result. It would be in someone else's home!
@@RustyDobbs thanks for the reply! I was actually in the process of laying down the preslope when you replied! I'm going with the "old school"/manufacturers recommendation of pre-slope/liner/bed.
Did you use the same mix to set your bricks. Should I do that first and let it dry for a day or two? Thanks
Yes and yes, Ahsun. Good questions! If I had some masonry cement available, I would throw a cup of it in the mix but it's not a big deal. But add more water to the mix for the bricks. Mix it about a thick milkshake consistency and then make like a bricklayer. Let it dry until the next day before proceeding. Good luck!
Thanks!
Hi Bob
Thanks for share useful information if possible plz make a list for material and tools needed for project.
I want to build the same shower but I don’t know where to buy the pan liner and how you attach the drain line and make to exact hole in liner ,
I have bath tub 5 feet long now I want to build walk in shower and remove the cast iron bath tub.
I want new shower 4 feet long.
Any help and idea will be highly appreciated.
Sorry I missed replying to your comment sooner, Prof! Two of the main materials that are needed are the shower drain and shower pan liner which are both manufactured by Oatey in this case and can be found on Amazon. Depending on where you live, home improvement centers will also have these items in stock plus the remainder of the materials and tools I used in the video. I used a couple of different sizes of flat trowels that are also easy to find in any store that carries construction materials. The sand I use is regular mortar sand or play sand and the cement I use is called Portland cement. The video is pretty self-explanatory as to what you do with these materials. When you are placing the liner in the shower floor, you can feel the hole in the shower drain and that's where you know to begin carefully cutting the hole. There are also instructions that come with the drain that shows you how to attach the drain to the liner or there are other CZcams videos that go into more detail. The main challenge you have it seems to me is in getting rid of your tub and potentially relocating the drain in the center of the area you want to be your shower. If you have a concrete slab, this makes that process a little more challenging so you may want to bring in a plumber to do that prep work for you. Anyway, that's a rough overview for you and I hope it's helpful.
This video is very informative. I am appreciative for your willingness to share your knowledge. However, I do have a question that I was hoping you could shed some light on. You mention leaving a tapered angle when installing first layer of dry pack underneath the liner, then you mention leaving a tapered angle on the second layer of dry pack as well. Are they both tapered, or is the top layer of dry pack only following the angle that is pre determined by the first layer of dry pack? Thank you again for your time and effort in sharing this information!
Thanks, Matthew! I’m always happy to pass on information I have picked up from others over the years. You are following what is happening with both dry packs and are probably even overthinking it a bit. The first layer is tapered just to get some slope for the liner to rest on to direct any water to the weep holes in the drain as needed. The top layer that the tile is set on is tapered for obvious reasons. You can think of the two layers as running parallel to each other in the end, but there’s no intention or specific purpose for that. Ideally you want to have about 1 1/2 to 2” minimum thickness on the top layer all the way from the walls to the drain across the whole floor to set your tile on. Hope that helps!
Good demo. A little tip to save the curb and not having to use brick. Wrap the wood curb in protecto wrap. Material they use to flash doors and windows. Wood will never penetrate the curb. Cheaper and less time consuming then installing bricks.
Good idea, renaissancemen1! I think that would probably do it. I have developed the approach I use with bricks over the years and have come to trust it to the point that I will likely never change. Have seen too many shower steps destroyed because of water causing the wood to swell and crack the tile. What a pain to fix it! Thanks for your comments!
Rusty Dobbs good man rusty I've seen some of these installer work in the day it wouldn't fly quality gone now its about how much they can make lazy workmenship
Wow this helped a lot! Could I use green board on the walls then redgard the base and walls?
Yes, Shazil, you can actually use any products designed for wet areas and there are lots of them these days. I just happen to like 1/2" Hardiebacker for my walls. Hope your project turns out well!
Thuggin in the pumas 👟😇
Super comfy
Yep, been wearing Pumas a long time, Smoov!
Love watching your videos! I’m going to be the best handyman Detroit MI, has to offer.
Subscribed! 😇 3 months later.
I have a question. I want to replace my tub with a shower. Ive noticed there is a huge void of concrete around the drain area. What do I do with that hole?
Typically, plumbers will box out the areas around drains coming through the slab before concrete is poured so they have some flexibility to move the drains around without busting out concrete when they are setting tubs, etc. Once you have your drain positioned where you want it, pack the dirt well around it three to four inches below the top of the slab. Then, mix up enough concrete to fill the void.
Great use of voiceover while showing the clips
Thanks, Roddy, I appreciate it!
Would I need to do all this if I was just going to retile my shower floor, and walls?
Probably so, Matt. Floors that are built like this usually come up in chunks when they are torn out. On this installation, you could not take off the tile alone without destroying the mud layer below.
Hey Rusty, I'll finally be doing the pan tomorrow but the guy at the big box store said I need to put thin set the floor first before the cement sand mix or I'll have issues. I say Dobbs didn't do I don't do it !!!. I was fairly sure you were working on a concrete floor in the video but I wanted to ask. You had also helped me before about the mix and I had a last question. Can play sand be used with the portland cement mix? the same guy told me play sand wont work properly. To be honest I walked out a bit confused this guy through me off a bit and has me second guessing. I need a Dobbs ruling on this one please. Cheers
Hey Jim. I'm sure the guy at the store appreciated being told that some CZcams guy named Dobbs had all the answers! I have heard a lot of things over the years, but thinset on the floor before mud is a new one. I'm sure there is some reason people would do that. I just can't think of a real compelling one right off hand. It certainly would not interfere with the mud placed on top of it. Let me put it this way. If I do another video on building a shower floor, it will turn out just like the ones you watched. Yes, it is the concrete slab that is under the shower floor in my video. I think maybe I used play sand one time before. I think it is a little more fine than the paver sand I typically use which has a little larger aggregate in it. To sum up in a couple of points what is most important in working with a dry pack floor: 1) Mix the sand and portland cement thoroughly in your mixing box. 2) Add enough water to assure the portland gets activated but not too much. 3) When you are placing the dry pack on your floor, make sure to pack it tightly against the wall, in the corners, at and around the drain and in the main floor fill area. That means use your fingertips, fist and trowels to compact the mud into place. Once you think you have compacted enough, if you can take your fingertip and press more than about 1/8" deep into the dry pack anywhere on the floor, then toss a little more material on those areas and pound a little more with your trowel. Then you can cut your floor to the final contour and finish trowel the surface. The strength of the dry pack floor is not in a thinset base or type of sand. It is in mixing it right and then compacting it solidly in place. Feel free to shoot me a picture or two of what you are doing to info@dobbsworkshop.com. I'll be working in the shop all weekend and should be able to get back with you if you run into problems. Good luck, Jim.
@@RustyDobbs Thinset on the floor first before drypack is for bonded application of the mortar bed. Or, you can apply a slip sheet or cleavage membrane of plastic sheeting or asphalt felt between the slab and mortar bed. These methods are employed, depending on the condition of the slab, so the shower floor will be less likely to crack in the future.
Thanks for making this video, this is one of the best out there for shower floor information and procedure and your workmanship is first rate
Can this work on a plywood floor bathroom? How would this be approached?
I have grown to consider the people at big box stores less and less. If they knew what they were doing they would be doing it not stocking shelves.
I will say the old school guys were dependable but all these young kids there today that think they have all the answers dont know a damn thing. Just clowns.
Thanks so much for this video, I've learned so much! Not sure if you check the comments on here still, but I have a question about the dry pack, I assume it's possible for it to be too dry? I did my best to mix it to match what I see in the video, it held together mostly when I squeezed it, and no water squeezed out, so I did the preslope. That was two days ago, and I just went to check it, and some parts seem solid, but others I was able to scrape it up like it was hard dry dirt, and light taps with a hammer makes it chunk up easily. I assume it's not supposed to be like that and I made it too dry?
Hey Matt! Let me share some things that will make more sense now that you have mixed and placed your first batch of dry pack. My initial reaction is that you probably did fine. Dry pack is not going to end up like concrete unless you intend for it to be, in which case you add more water and trowel it to bring moisture to the surface to make the portland in the mix trowel out to a smooth finish. It will still potentially crack primarily because it has no aggregate (rocks) in it. The singular purpose of dry pack is to give you a base that you can set tile on and that will allow water to work its way through to get to the weep holes in the drain as necessary. Hence, you use sand alone with the portland.
After two days, when dry pack is completely dried out, it is not going to look very good. The solid areas you see are places you packed a little tighter and had good moisture content and the dry hard “dirt” spots are places that did not get packed as well and/or the mix may have been drying out when you were packing it. Not a big deal but just something to pick up on for your next batch. And yes, taps with a hammer will sound hollow and you could easily break it all out in a short time. After all, it is not very thick and tapers down to the flange. Remember, the purpose of the preslope is only to support your liner and give you positive drainage to the weep holes. You could take it out and try again to get more practice. The most important batch is obviously your finished floor batch.
A few other thoughts I may not have emphasized in the video. 1) When you start placing a layer of dry pack, work steadily, don’t take breaks. Try to get it installed while the mixture is roughly the same degree of dampness. For example, the shower in this video took me about an hour and a half to place each layer. It’s a good upper body workout! 2) Don’t walk on an unprotected dry pack. The surface will break down easily and is not designed for foot traffic. 3) My normal routine is to do the preslope one day. The next day install the liner and place the finish floor dry pack. The next day install the floor tile. The next day grout it and the floor is ready to work on top of the next day. I like to get my floor tile set as soon as possible (like after about 24 hours) to protect the dry pack primarily from any inadvertent damage. The second dry pack cures a little slower because of the liner and I like to get my thinset and tile on it as soon as I can.
Finally, working with dry pack is all about feel and learning how the mixture works. Getting good with the trowels and the process makes a big difference. You can add more water to the mixture for a more solid base, but it becomes a pain to cut with the screed sticks if it is too wet and your floor will tend get ‘washboard’ waves in it as you work that are hard to get smoothed out.
It’s a great mix to learn to work with and don’t be afraid to use this mixture for other purposes besides a shower floor. You can adjust the water content to the needed purpose and get a solid chunk of concrete in a form if that’s what you want and lots of things inbetween! Good luck, Matt! Sounds to me like you are getting it. I do have a more recent couple of videos called “Building A Corner Shower Floor From Scratch” that covers the same topic but addresses a few other points as well.
@@RustyDobbs Thank you for your response, I feel much more confident about how I did!
so the shower pan goes on top of the cement? I thought it was the other way around..first the shower pan then the cement...how does the thinset adhere to that rubber pan...
Check out part 2 of the shower floor build and it will make sense... czcams.com/video/9vBwwsSTCXM/video.html
Im going to be doing a wet room on the second floor of my home. Im assuming I can use this process to essentially make a large shower pan? The room will be roughly 5'x6'. Id love any tips or advice or if this isnt the way to go what would be best?
Yep, Adam, I think you are on the right track or a right track. There are probably a number of approaches that would work for you but I would use this method because I am so familiar with it. A couple of things to keep in mind: Make sure the subfloor and floor joists can handle the weight you will be adding. I'm guessing about 700 lbs. minimum with the dry pack and tile installed. You can probably buy a shower pan on Amazon from Oatley that will cover the area with one piece or if not, then adhesive is available to overlap joints. I would not worry so much about the pre-slope step and concentrate more on getting a good, solid dry pack in place and nice floor slope to the drain. Larger floors like you are talking about can be a little tricky. Another option you may want to look at is Kerdi-Schluter products for your project. I am not a big fan primarily because of the expense of the Kerdi stuff, but the installation is easier and the products are very lightweight. Just some things to think about. Good luck with your project!
@@RustyDobbs Im actually expanding my bathroom into an unfinished space on the second floor. Right now the floor beams are a non load bearing 2x6 setup spanning two outside load bearing walls and one load bearing wall in the middle below it. I will be sistering 2x10's to the 2x6s to support the walk in shower that recalculated wil be 6'x5' and a 36"x5' soaking tub. The load bearing wall bellow it will be right about in the middle of the 9ft span tub on one side and walk in shower on the other.
Sounds like you have it well under control, Adam! Should be a fun project!
We had a shower totally replaced recently using 12” x 24” tiles for the walls and man made stone for the floor. We were so happy with how it turned out, until we showered in it. The second day we noticed that the edges around the floor were still wet the next day. We stopped using it for three days and it was sill wet but not as wet. What is wrong with this floor"
Sorry to hear about your experience, Gordon. Sounds like a drainage issue but don't have enough information to say for sure. If you want to shoot a couple of pictures and send them to me at info@dobbsworkshop.com, I'll be glad to give you a little better assessment.
Have never thought about using brick as a curb.
I always use brick as a base for the curb. I like tying it all together with metal lathe.
@@RustyDobbs Interesting.
OK, Mr. Dobbs, as I am applying your method on a job some questions arise in the process and these concern your brick border which is here, already in place with the pan liner glued to it along the inside and top. So I'm about to put on the steel lathing over the brick and pan liner. Can't I use regular mortar mix to embed in the lathing instead of thin set? And wouldn't that allow me to apply thin set and tile directly to the mortar without using backer board? Also, how much gap, or separation, is there between the pan liner-covered bricks and the steel lathing? Or to put it another way, how thick is the mortar around the brick border. From appearances at 2:01 in the video, it looks like the lathing is snug on the sides but a little above the top, maybe a quarter or half inch? Finally, how does one insure the edges of the steel lath don't pierce the pan liner? Thanks.
Thanks for your question, Joseph and, yes, I have used mortar kind of like you are suggesting before the Hardiebacker days. I used to build a form on the front and back of the step with at least 1/2" distance between the form and the brick with the lath floating in between. I made sure the forms were level front and back and giving me about 1/8" slope from the front form to the back for drainage back into the shower. Then, I poured it with a little richer dry pack mix and enough water mixed in to allow it to flow down the channels front and back of the step then screeded it across the top of the forms so that once it set up, I had a level concrete step with appropriate slope. It was a little tedious and had to get creative securing the forms but I was always happy with the finished product and all I had left to do was set the tile. For that style of step, I wanted at least 1/2" concrete encasing the step, all poured at the same time. On the lath against the pan, just let common sense direct you. If it concerns you, shim or trim the lath until it looks good to you. Sounds like you are making great progress! Good luck on the rest of the process!
@@RustyDobbs
thanks, I don't know how you can keep up with all the questions but I really appreciate the response. A form sounds like the answer I was looking for. And I am a festidious tinkerer so I think that might be my answer.
Sounded like you were working hard on your shower floor and would appreciate a little fuller explanation. I think you will be happy with the formed and poured shower step. Good job taking on that project, Joseph!
HOW DID YOU SECURE THE BRICK TO THE FLOOR?
Bed of mortar that the bricks are set in. Then bathroom floor tile is cut up against base of the curb from the outside and shower floor rests against the curb on the inside.
I've watched a number of shower pan videos and I can't figure out why it needs to be done in two separate layers. Why not just liner on the slab, then a sloped square of "dry-pack", and then tile?
Thanks!
Hello Alex. Many years ago, the idea of using just one layer of mud on the shower floor was the way it was done, but this pre-slope methodology has become more well-known in recent years, particularly through CZcams. So in answer to your question, it can be done that way. I personally like the idea of the two layers because I think it helps clear water from the shower floor better due to the slope that moves the water to the weep holes on the shower drain more effectively than a flat bottom to the shower.
Does anyone know the name and type of those shower tiles he was putting in?! thats exactly what I have been looking for!
It is called Dome Charcoal 2"x 2"s and can be found at Arizona Tile. Nice quality tile.
Hi Rusty. Wife and I are tackling tub to shower instal. First dry pack done. Only concern so far is I think my dry pack was a bit too dry. After slapping it well with a trowel, never could get it to look like finished concrete (wet look). After sitting overnight, we vacuumed the surface and some small patches broke away. Filled them in with fresh dry pack. Looks good to go. My question is, should I worry about the dry pack being too dry?
Thanks for the great video. Moving on to rubber pan and second dry pack today.
Jeff.
Great, Jeff, and thanks for telling me about your experience! You probably have already done the second dry pack and I’m sure you got a little bit better feel for working with it on your second mix. You’re well on your way, I can tell, just based on the questions that you’re asking. Working with dry pack is one of those things that you get better at the more you do it. Your results will also be more satisfactory to you the faster you get at working the floor into place and getting to your finished troweling before the material starts to dry out. My rule of thumb is that I like my dry pack just wet enough to set up the Portland cement. I think I said in the video that if you pick up a handful of the dry pack and squeeze it and see water, that’s too wet. That doesn’t mean that it won’t work just fine because it will still set up. It just means that is going to be more of a hassle to work with particularly when you are trying to cut it and shape the floor. It will be a little sticky on your trowels and sticks. So, in a perfect world your dry pack is mixed just perfectly and you get each layer in place in about an hour start to finish after mixing your dry pack on an average sized shower. When you mix it a little too wet, you’ll know it particularly in your case with your first experience of thinking you mixed it a little too dry. But as long as you have enough water in the mixture to cause the Portland cement to set up, your floor will do what it’s intended to do. Hope that explanation helps a little bit, but my guess is you already have a pretty good idea of what I’m explaining.
Thanks for your reply Rusty. You are correct. Second dry pack went perfectly. Backer board is up, taped, and red guarded. Application of wall tile in progress .
Very exciting to see it coming together.
Thanks again,
Jeff.
I'm seeing some installers place thin set on the slab prior to the first pre-slope. Should I add that step or is it not necessary? Also, when installing the backerboard, some installers are stating that the hardibacker should not touch the drypack/mortar bed as it would allow water contact and the water will mold or rot the lower 6-10 inches of backerboard. They place a thin spacer there to keep backerboard elevated by an 1/8th or so ... Any thoughts on that? Thx for sharing your wisdom, I hope that you are enjoying the good life, Rusty!
In the CZcams era, I tend not to knock an idea if it wouldn't do any harm and that would be my reaction to the thinset suggestion, Jeff. I would have a hard time convincing myself to do it. The preslope isn't going anywhere. I look at the floor as the most critical part of the shower and I want the drypack and grouted tile to extend under the Hardiebacker walls basically back to the studs with a positive slope back to the drain in my installations. In that case, whether the 1/2" Hardiebacker I use touches the floor or is elevated a little is not a big issue to me either way. Water flowing off the wall tile is going to hit a grouted tile floor that is going to send it to the drain. Maintaining the corner and floor caulk joints and grout joints is the maintenance that is needed thereafter. Hardiebacker is such a durable product, I don't think it would ever be a part of a problem if installed in the method we are talking about. Life is good, Jeff! Hope the same for you!
Do you have a list of all the material that is needed for the floor?
No, Kathy, not a published one. But it's pretty simple. A shower pan liner that is large enough to wrap up the wall about 12" after installation and a drain designed to work with the shower pan. Then it's sand and portland cement that can be both be purchased in bags from the typical home centers. I give the details on how they are mixed in the videos. I use bricks for the step and wrap it with a metal lath product that is also sold at the stores. I think the videos are pretty clear on how and when all the materials are used in the process. Hope that helps!
I thank you for uploading this video, but let me comment on something here if water gets to your steps like you called them you have a way bigger problem.
Gotta be an easier way to do this.i have done several. I do home remodel professionally and every time I do one I think there should be an easier way. . Maybe a make a form and then just pour some reinforced concrete... I mean cement finishers pour and pitch cement all day long.....
Yeah, ReCycle, I know what you mean but it's pretty hard to beat a tried and true method. The thing I like about the drypack is that you can cut and shape the floor so precisely if the mud is not too wet which makes it easy to set tile on it then. Pouring concrete for me would be a bigger challenge to keep 'wavey' spots from happening. I have resisted for a long time, but am going to be trying one of the Hydro Ban shower systems on my next project because it makes sense for this job. Curious to see how I feel about it after! Thanks for the comment!
How long does the first layer of dry pack take to cure before I can start the shower pan liner?
It is ok to start the next step the following day, Peyton.
Does this mix cure hard like a wet cement mix?
Yes and no. If it is compacted really well it will cure quite hard and you can even finish trowel it like wet cement if desired and if there is enough moisture at the surface. Because it doesn't contain aggregate, it will not be strong like wet cement when it dries. But it's primary purpose is to allow you to shape it precisely to build a shower floor that drains well with contours as needed. Tough to get that with wet cement mix. Then it needs a layer of thinset and tile installed on top to make it durable. Good question, TubeFinlay!
Hi Rusty! I made a shower curb out of bricks and it is anchored to the floor by thinset. When you lay the liner over the curb, how do you tack the liner down over the brick curb and to the concrete floor? Thanks so much !!
Hi Lauren! I don't really worry about attaching the liner down because I'm wrapping the curb with metal lath. You might check my latest video on building a corner shower floor where I pour a concrete curb over the bricks to give you another perspective and see if that gives you a little more insight or ideas.
Rusty Dobbs thank you so much! Yes that’s exactly what I did!! I’m so grateful for your videos!! I didn’t want to do a curb out of wood- all the men say that is where the most failures happen. I’m trying to make sure I cover every item I can to prevent failure but I am also maybe overthinking a bit. Your videos keep it simple and straightforward!
can I use s-type mortar for the base instead of mixing the cement and sand?
I haven't ever had a reason to try it, Steve. My guess is it would work fine but don't know for sure. My complaint might come based on how it worked being mixed on the dry side.
What software did you use to create the blueprint?
I use SketchUp to draw in then export mp4s that I use in Premiere Pro to create the videos.
Why do you use mortar instead of just making concrete? If you wanted to, could you just substitute the drypack layer using colored concrete and stamping a pattern into it?
Mike McKeen great idea. I’m gonna start doing that in all my showers.
renaissancemen1 I thought it might make for a cool option, but that's why I asked. I don't know if concrete is suitable for that kind of installation.
Hi Mike. Your idea has merit and I have seen it done on occasion but not in a residential shower. The dry pack concept is just the traditional way shower floors have been installed for decades. When done correctly, these types of shower floors can literally last for decades which is why most old time tile setters default to this method. Its the saying, "If it ain't broke..." in action. The advantages are that dry pack is easy to mix, cut and shape which then provides an ideal surface to set tile on.
Your idea would get the thumbs down from most old-time tile setters for a few reasons. First, wet concrete is difficult to shape when compared to dry pack. It is going to have some humps and bumps because of the moisture content and aggregate that are difficult to smooth out as compared to dry pack. Second, cracks are the downfall of shower floors. How many wet concrete pours of any size have you seen that do not crack somewhat over time? Third, because of the last concern and the properties of concrete in general, the concrete would need to be sealed to be used in a wet area like a shower. Unless you added a grit to the sealer, the floor would be slick to some degree. Stamping the concrete would help, but you would need to smooth out the edges left by the stamps because people are going to be walking and standing on the floor in bare feet with the floor wet. I would also be concerned that the grooves left by the stamping would hold water and not let the floor drain completely. The grooves also might be natural areas for the floor to crack.
I think the finished product of what you are suggesting would look cool and might work out perfectly well. There are just a lot of other factors to consider, too. Personally, my customer who wanted this would have to convince me to do it over my objections. Plus, I don't think I would warranty it. I recently had someone ask me on CZcams about using 12" marble tile on their shower floor that matched the wall tile. I said that it would look beautiful but suggested they run some water over a piece of the marble and rub their hand across it, then imagine that was their feet. They went with 2"x 2" shower floor tile, instead. Thanks for your question, Mike! Sorry for the long-winded response, but you got most of what I had to say on the topic.
i have a question about the step process. What material do you use over the mesh? Cement or the packing and then thin set? I see on the video you laid the floor tile first and the step last. I will be using this process for my home project this week . Your video really helped me. Thank you
Hi Stella. I cut and bend the mesh so that it kind of grips the step when I slip it in place. I like for the mesh on the inside of the step to be buried slightly in the final dry pack and for the shower floor tile to be set right up against the mesh. On the outside, I push pieces of tile against the mesh and coat the whole step with a layer of thinset. On the outside, the thinset will stick to the brick and secure the mesh to the step when it is dry. I then cut pieces of 1/2” Hardiebacker to wrap my step with and use thinset to secure it to the step and boxes and/or pieces of tile to hold the Hardiebacker in place until it dries. Thanks for watching and I hope the rest of your project goes well!
@@RustyDobbs excellent thank you. I'm noticing different types of bricks at stores. does it matter much from cement brick to red brick?
@@stellavisionmade-in-usa.9443 No, whatever size fits best for your needs should be fine.
@@RustyDobbs ok cool. thank you, i really appreciate this.. besides saving money, i find this very rewarding. When I took the tub out, i was intimated and thanks to people like you and youtube I feel less intimated. The cast iron was exploded on the inside from previous people using Liquid draino and stuff like that. I had to cut the limestone with a drill, making holes and going back and forth to get to the cast iron connections. about 3 feet of pipe I'm replacing it with pvc. what a project lol. But that really needed to be done. I'm sharing this because people have no idea how damaging using these products on an 1966 built home.. Thank you again kind soul (*L*)
any way . like the video.
Can you start this process on a plywood subfloor? This is for a 2nd floor shower remodel
Yes you can, Husker. The process is the same for a wood subfloor or concrete. The only thing you need to be aware of for a wood subfloor is that you are point loading the area of the shower floor with quite a bit of weight. I always like to check the floor joist situation of the area underneath the shower just to make sure I don’t need to beef up the structural integrity of that area a little bit.
One day I'm gonna build my own home, my onw fortress, my own kingdom.
Independence can go too far.
Just bought my first house . Paid cash . Fu%k a bank . Can’t wait to remodel!!