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Steam shower ceiling with no slope?

9 years ago

Few weeks ago it was brought to my attention that our roughed in in 5x5 steam shower ceiling should be sloped and not flat. Contractor agreed to address. Tile guys are there to work today and carpenter has not been back. Now the contractor and tile guy have discussed and decided because we are using 6 inch tiles, this is a residential installation, etc, it is not necessary to slope the ceiling. My generator is a Thermasol Pro-240. We have approx. 8 foot ceilings. If there are any other parameters you need, please ask. They are coming in the morning to proceed, with flat ceiling, or delay until they can get the carpenter back. I am feeling pressure to allow them to proceed, and if it doesn't really make much difference, am inclined to do so as the project needs to continue for a variety of reasons. Thank you for any professional opinions. A cursory internet check suggests a 2" slope per foot of ceiling. Is this the recommended minimum if must slope?

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ladycfp
Original Author

9 years ago

Follow up: Tile contractor met with me and assured me he wanted me happy. He brought in his own carpenter and they devised a cathedral style ceiling that was vast improvement to what had been suggested. This not only enhanced the design, it afforded the function of minimizing the drip. We have yet to test it as unfortunately the tile guy is not running the entire project. Here is a picture to give an idea, still in progress obviously, but beautiful work, can't say enough good things about them and the experience.

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Comments (9)

Annie Deighnaugh
9 years ago
We wanted ours sloped, but it didn't happen. Framers said it was the tile guy, tile guy said it was the framers. We only have occasional dripping on our head so level ceiling hasn't been as big a problem as I feared.
live_wire_oak
9 years ago
It's that cold drip right in the middle of enjoying the warm steamy experience that will result from that non sloped ceiling. And it will be slower drying out. I'd make them do it correctly at this stage, no matter how eager that they are to move forward.
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The slope in my steam shower is a little steeper than the one Bill has pictured. It had to be because it was the slope of the cathedral ceiling itself. Unfortunately, drops of water fall from the grout in between the large (12x12) tiles - not ideal, but we live with it.
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I know the tile association (whatever it's called) says that steam shower ceilings should be sloped 2" per foot. There. I said it. Let's not go over that ad nauseum. I've read numerous people online who said they have flat ceilings in their steam shower and were never dripped on. However, that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of other people who have been "rained" on and regret having a flat ceiling in their steam shower. But I have yet to find a first hand report of this phenomenon by anyone online. In fact, here is an unscientific experiment suggesting that there is no need whatsoever to slope a residential steam shower ceiling. I've read several professionals say that sloping is only necessary in commercial steam showers that are always on. So I'm hoping to hear from people who have/have used steam showers with a flat ceiling. Did you have any condensation dripping on you? Enough to make you wish you had sloped the ceiling? Again, I don't want to hear about the theory of why you want to slope a ceiling. What I want to hear is from people with first hand experience. If you don't, please refrain :-)
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(rewriting as I didn’t see my post) Hi everyone thanks for sharing your very helpful thoughts. They used orange schluter kerdi board (pic below) everywhere inside the shower. They then added mud on the ceiling that covered it up (not sure why - level?) One thing that bothers me is that they added these 2 inch screws to hold up the tile and I thought that was weird. Those screws must be penetrating the vapor barrier, no? I can’t change the shower head. Is this orange board okay? What to do at this point? I think they need to replace the kerdi board that’s penetrated. But then again, how to tile it while maintaining a 2” slope per foot? Should they tile from the shower head away to the surrounding margins of the shower? Thanks!
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weedyacres
9 years ago
Like the others said, the drips are the issue. So it's a convenience thing, not a matter of not being waterproofed or something.

That said, if you asked for sloped, you should get sloped.
StoneTech
9 years ago
A slope is not essential for a residential install, but IS for a Commercial build.

Yeah, you'll get a few drops of water on you....can you deal with that?
jgopp
9 years ago
Sorry if I'm late to the party but here are my opinions...

Mine is sloped, but it still drips, not a ton but it does. It's probably a lot less than if it wasn't (I stayed in a hotel that had a flat ceiling steamer and it dripped like crazy). Also the one at my gym is even more dramatically sloped that mine, and guess what? It still drips.

Just kind of something you need to deal with. I've found the biggest problem with mine is that the ceiling holds onto drops of water for hours after a solid steam. I've gotten in the habit of using a long squeegee once the room has cooled down to clear off the ceiling. It helps keep it a lot cleaner overall.
Tracy Zeppenfeld
8 months ago
I know its 9 years later so tell me how is your steam shower working out with the vaulted ceiling? We are doing new construction with a steam shower looking for best practice.
S H
8 months ago
Don’t let them skip the slope. I didn’t catch that they didn’t slope ours until way too late. While the drips aren’t a big deal and infrequent, it doesn’t dry well and you have to squeegee the ceiling to avoid mold.
PRO
Creative Tile Eastern CT
8 months ago
@ Tracy Zeppenfeld If you have a professional tile setter the 2" slope will be planned for as it is a TCNA specification. The term waterproofing should not be used by a pro as vapor proofing is required for steam showers. Listen closely to discussions between GC and Tile Setter. You will learn a lot about their qualifications to build a steamer.

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