Tile a shower floor?

A shower pan. Get them at home depot.

Either float it with mud or get a kit.

I got the kit. Worked well

 

You mean a fibreglass tray ?

 

talking about one of these?

http://www.homedepot.com/Bath-Showe...Id=10051&catalogId=10053&superSkuId=202768344

 

Yup

 

That might be your best bet OP

 

You think that is a little cheaper than the ditra stuff?

 

Either way you go, just take your time and plan it out. You are most likely capable of doing either method. If you go with the screed, just make sure you follow the steps correctly, there's no room for membrane errors when trying to keep water out of areas it shouldn't be! Looking forward to seeing where you land.

 

I'm not sure on prices in US . should be a pretty straight forward comparison @ Home Depot though .

Keep in mind , you use Schluter Kerdi for on top of the pan , not Schluter Ditra .

 

Im a capenter, And we either do a mortar pan, with a membrane.. Or we have used a foam premade pan, fit to size of our shower...

The mortar pan is easy but can be screwed up verry easy too..

We lay one layer of mortar down sloped to the drain, just below were the membrane goes over the drain flange. Then lay the membrane making sure your corners are water proof and sealed corectly. Then lay your final layer of mortar down sloped correctly and making sure its smooth and flat.

(we like to use fiberglass fibers in our mortar mix to strengthen the mortar) Not necessary though....

 

I am not quite sure either, I just got the kit that my father in law suggested and followed the directions to a T.

Background: he has been professionally doing tile work for at least 20+ years

 

That's how my father in law does it.
I wanted to do it on my own. So I used the kit...

You beat me to the punch.

 

The hybrid system we use eliminated the rubber , with Schluter Kerdi over a sloped mortar bed to a Schluter drain .

The mortar bed under the tile is never wet with this way of doing it unlike the two bed / EPDM approach

 

Yeah, thats a good system and way of doing it. I know alot of guys/contractors are going that rout now.. .works well!

 

Wow...was gonna post the same question. Didn't think I'd find a thread on it already.

I'm in the process of redoing my bathroom too. Everything is out except for the floor, which will hopefully be done by the weekend. I want a tiled shower base but thought the mud base was too involved (for a first timer). I heard horror stories about the tile ready bases not sticking to the mortar base. There was flexing which caused the tiles to break/separate from the base. I'm still tossed as to which way to go. I'm looking into the decorative/color fiberglass bases, which may be easier for me to install but still doing research on what you guys mentioned above.

 

All of the showers I install are floated "mud" with scratch and plumb coat with bonded waterproofing over that (Liquid applied or Kerdi sheet). It is the best possible way to construct a shower IMO. However, it's labor intensive and floated walls require a practiced skillset.

The next best thing is like already mentioned ... Kerdi and a mortar base utilizing cement board as a backer on walls (drywall is approved by Schluter, but I have a personal bias against it).

I think Tile Redi bases are way over priced and they have an inherent downside of having to use epoxy to bond tile to them.

Check out the johnbridge.com forums ... Lots of good info and well moderated.

 

OMG that forum is great! Been reading it the last week or so.

I have a plumber coming this week to cap off a gas line that was running thru the bathroom for a dryer (gas and electric I do not touch) so I was going to pick his brain as well.

 

Interested in what he/ or she has to say!!

 

Decided to go with the schluter shower kit. Local shop has the 48x48 complete kit for under $450. Styrofoam pre formed pan, drain, enough Kerdi to cover the floor and walls, all the corner/seam Kerdi and the 6x4 front form to make the lip. Only problem is this....My shower is going to be 36x44. So i'm gonna have to cut the base to fit the shower. I know i cut equal ammounts off all sides to get the drain centered, but i think that will make my base unlevel. High on the 44" side and lower on the 36" side.

What the hell, I'll give it a try. Probably would have cost me $400 trying to figure out how to make a mud pan anyway.

Any comments on the Kit I'm getting? Im kinda worried about cutting the perfectly square pan into a rectangle, but i have to.

Here's a link to the kit if anyone is interested. It says $420 here, but im not sure of shipping. I'm getting it from a local guy a little more than that, but he's local. Support the local economy! http://www.tile-experts.com/proddetail.asp?prod=KK122%2FE

 

Isn't the Schluter base styrofoam ?