Philupthegastank:

Please excuse my bluntness, but every once in a while a person shows by the question(s) they ask that they're in or about to go in way over their heads. Such is the case here.

Hire a reputable general contractor and do as he says, please.

we already installed the first floor bathroom, we moved it from a room over the crawl space to a room closer to the middle of the house, with brand new toilet, sink and claw foot, ran all the new lines, and replaced all the old galvanized with copper, we just have never put in a tiled shower area of a bathroom, so i was just asking some questions.

Are you planning to do the work yourself or hire a tile installer to tile the shower? If hiring an installer, he can provide the waterproofing, which could be done in a variety of ways, often dependant on your area. IMO, there is no reason to hire a GC simply to install a shower, especially since your father is going to do the electrical and plumbing. Here, it is common to hot mop the shower pan for waterproofing and to float the walls with cement as the base for the tile (with a water barrier beneath). Some installers here use pre-fab pans and hardibacker on the walls coated with Redguard. In other areas, Kerdi is popular. Call a few tile installers in your area for estimates and see what they suggest. You can also get good advice on the John Bridge tile forum.

thanks for the reply jellytoast! We can do the plumbing, electric without too big of a problem, so i think the rest of the install we will hire out..

When we did our shower, our tile contractor arranged for the waterproofing (used a licensed hot mopper). He worked with our plumber to make sure that the rough plumbing would work for his installation. Good luck with project. Do check out the John Bridge forum if you get a chance.

Do NOT just put a waterproof membrane + Durock in for the shower floor. it needs proper slope and waterproofing.

I'd recommend that you use a pre-formed shower pan. If you want a tiled floor, then use the Kerdi pan. It's like sloped styrofoam that you cut to size and then tile over. If you don't want a tiled floor (some don't like to clean the grout), then you can buy an acrylic or solid surface prefab pan and then your slope and waterproofing are taken care of.

For the shower walls, you can either (1) put a vapor barrier on the studs and then cement board over that, then tile. Or (2) put cement board on the walls and then paint on a membrane like Redguard. Or (3) put cement board on the walls and then apply a fabric membrane like Kerdi. If you're tiling the floor, then you should kerdi the whole thing.

For the bathroom floor outside the shower, you first need a plywood subfloor (pine boards won't cut it as a substrate for tile). You can then put down cement board as an underlayment, but I prefer Ditra: much faster and easier install. Then tile over that.

I disagree with Trebruchet. Not knowing what you don't know isn't an indication that you can't learn. I once knew less than you do, and I learned it and executed well. Asking the questions before you jump in is the right way to start. After you have the info and know how to do it right, you can determine whether or not your skills are up to the task.

No reason you can't tile yourself, using the above methods.

thanks weedyacres!

Head over to john bridge tile forum. They will walk you thru a DIY or advise on construction details so you hire the right tile man for the job based on what they plan to do. There seem to be a lot of tilers out there that don't know their stuff. So beware before you hire.

Yes, YOU need to know what needs to be done to build a proper waterproof shower so that you will be knowledgeable enough to hire the right person to do the job for you. Sad, but true. Lots of people out there will build you a shower. Fewer of them will build you one that drains properly, does not grow mildew, and does not leak! Go to the John Bridges forum and learn how it is done whether you are doing it yourself or are hiring it done.

There are also lots of youtube videos re installation of Kerdi and Redguard.

Youtube can be usefulu but there are also a lot of idiots on there, internet stars and authorities with bad information. You don't know who these people are or if they are any good at what they do.

John Bridge forum is an excellent option. I put in a cast iron shower pan, or rather had my plumber put it in. Then I used cement board, in this case Durock, followed by a topical membrane called Hydroban as directed on the product. I did not use a plastic sheeting on the studs. You do not use the plastic when you use a topical membrane. Then I tiled, using a nice modified thinset by Laticrete, and porcelain tile for the walls. Easy.

The shower doors were planned ahead of time, and the reenforcing studs in place before the cement board was installed. All of the cement board was screwed in place and then thinset used to fill in the depressed screw heads. I taped the edges with fiberglass tape using thinset. After all was taped and dried then I used the Hydroban topical membrane.

I love my Kohler cast iron shower pan, no leaks or disappointment with the grout on the floor getting stains. I used laticrete epoxy grout on the walls, and their color matched silicone caulking for the change of planes and at the floor/shower pan junction.

Hope this helps.

Hydroban in the shower area where the cast iron shower pan is. As you notice, it is very consistent in color in the wet area of the shower. Unlike the blotchy color of the wall near the cabinetry which is not wet area, I just used some of the Hydroban up by painting in that area (it was not needed). You don't want blotchy coverage.
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Tile over the topical membrane:
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finished shower with doors hung. There is heavy wood blocking at the hing areas of the glass doors:

This is an alcove shower and is 36x60. I have the elaborate Hansgrohe rough-ins and fixtures. I have been very happy with them, but there are other systems that are quite good. I can access my valves from the other side, by pulling the cabinets seen in the first picture, I left a large opening in the drywall on that side of the wall, covered by the cabinets.

My GC sent me to a seminar today on Wedi (pronounced "wee-dee") board. I don't pretend to be an expert on any of this - but looks like an option that can save time on shower installation. Wedi is a light weight, but strong, foam type material.

Wedi can be used as shower pan (pre-sloped and pre-cut for drain) and for waterproofing the shower walls. Requires circular saw to cut the shower pan to correct size. Has a 10 year warrantee.

thanks for the info and the pictures!