Stone slab for shower floor?
Nothing Left to Say
9 years ago
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kudzu9
9 years agonumbersjunkie
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Curbless shower on below grade slab
Comments (9)First..do a moisture test on your existing slab. You want to see if moisture vapor is coming up into the basement from under the slab. Tape a 2' square sheet of poly on the floor and see if there is any moisture under it after 48 hours. If the moisture is significant, it might play into what type of membrane you use on the floor. Memebranes like Hydroban and Kerdi have similar properties when it comes to liquid moisture, yet differing properties when it comes to moisture vapor transmission. Significant moisture drive could actually lift and delaminate a topical membrane from the slab. If you have under-slab drainage or radon ventilation pipes, and foundation perimeter footing drains, you should be in fine shape. I'd make it a wet room, pretty much follow Bill's advice; -slope the entire floor to the drain. -topical membrane on the entire floor and up about 6" on all the walls, or just fully membrane all the walls. Fully membrane the shower walls. -ventilation. Don't skimp. This room will be cool and the basement itself is typically humid, so latent drying action will be less than in an upstairs bathroom. Do what you can to eliminate moisture vapor as it is generated. -I'd not insulate or heat the floor. You might have to balance relative humidity in the basement as a whole with a heat source in the bathroom. If you do have vapor drive into your basement, it might help to have something as simple as an IR bulb on a timer to help with the initial drying of the room. For a humid, slow-to-dry shower environment; A non-porous porcelain tile might be better than a porous natural stone tile. An epoxy type of grout might be better than a portland-based grout....See MoreShower waterproofing for cultured marble slab walls and pan?
Comments (3)I installed my solid surface shower walls over drywall, not even greenboard, and put the custom solid surface pan over the wood subfloor. If you leave an 1/8" between wall corners and pump them full of color matched silicone, it allows for panel movement without leaking. Another of the advantages of solid surface in the shower, besides lack of grout to maintain, is the labor and material savings of waterproofing. Plus the foolproofery....See MoreTub/Shower drain leak on concrete slab floor
Comments (1)Limited budget is fine until its no longer fine. Start saving and shower at the gym....See MoreCan I use my concrete slab as my shower floor?
Comments (59)Quite the thread. Unfortunately some important basic information seems to have been overlooked. I) Gypsum board has not been allowed in wet areas since 2006. 2) Schluter Kerdi membrane is not recommended over moisture resistant dry wall due to the waxy finish. They are ok with regular drywall. 3) Adhering membrane to taping compound and paint. Big no no. 4) Most Important - Drywall manufacturers do not want their products in a wet area period. USG makes drywall and a waterproof membrane far superior to Schluter Kerdi and they will not allow it installed over drywall in a wet area. Schluter and others say it's Ok. (Actually they are only saying they can adhere to it.) Funny how they think they can over ride what another product manufacturer states their products limitations are and consider it a acceptable substrate. What is getting overlooked here is possible condensation in the wall cavity itself. This can destroy the gypsum board from behind where cement board or a foam panel would not be affected. Perhaps a drip in the control valve, poor seal on the gasket or elsewhere will break that gypsum board down. Now you have no recourse as Schluter and others will say the shower system worked fine it's the wall which it is attached to that failed. mca330 I do hope none of these issues will occur on your project and all goes well. There are some such as myself that would have walked away or insisted all manufacturer instructions and proper methods involved in the shower assembly were followed. Best...See MoreNothing Left to Say
9 years agopalimpsest
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9 years agokudzu9
9 years agoLE
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9 years agomannye
9 years agobadgergal
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoNothing Left to Say
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