curbless shower linear drain questions
Dave Silva
6 years ago
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6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoDave Silva
6 years agoRelated Discussions
okay for curbless shower to use a shower pan with regular drain?
Comments (8)With a curbless shower, I see two issues you may be facing. If he is planning on using a traditional rubber liner, a pre-slope under the liner is required. This slope is a minimum if 1/4" per foot from the drain to the farthest wall. In this case, I assume that to be the entry. I fugure that to be about 2 3/4" higher at the entry than at the drain. The rubber or vinyl liner sits on this and a FINAL mudbed is then formed over the liner. As you can see, there will be issues with no curb and how you'll terminate the slope to a feather edge at the entry. I don't see how that can be done. The other issue is with the liner itself. I see no way to attach it to a mudbed that would have to end at a feather edge. These liners are designed to go UP the vertical walls about 6-8" and nailed into place. Having built these before, scrap the liner and use the Kerdi. It's a bulletproof install, you only need ONE mudbed as the material is bonded directly to the mud and you can generally extend the Kerdi six or eight inches into the bathroom for a bit more insurance. On one hand, yes...it's a bit more cost, but realistically, it's also a shower you'll probably never need to repair or replace. The Kerdi is under $1.40 sq/ft. Their drain will run about a hundred bucks. On the other hand, you only have the cost of one mudbed, you eleminate the vinyl liner, as Kerdi is completely waterproof, you can save by using standard drywall in the shower as opposed to cement board. This is what Schluter recommends. Bottom line is that you'll pay a little more but get a far superior shower. If your tile installer isn't comfortable or familiar with Kerdi, find one that is. Here is a link that might be useful: Kerdi Shower Handbook...See MoreBasic Curbless shower - linear drain - what it looks like?
Comments (7)"So there has to be space for a "pool" somewhere around the drain whether you use a center regular drain or a linear drain." Yes. No matter what your design, or what type of drain you install, there are pretty much two basic requirements: 1) the shower floor area needs to be sloped towards the drain at a min pitch of 1/4" per foot and a max of 1/2" per foot. 2) With the drain plugged and with a 2" standing depth of water over the drain, waterproofing needs to contain the pooled water from intruding in to the non-waterproofed areas of the house. "In the diagram I included above, if the linear drain were recessed to meet the 1/4 inch per foot of run, then it would be okay but that gets us back to seeing that a linear drain requires being recessed just like a regular drain. " Correct. For your depiction above with no changes to the drain elevation, let's say you install the drain "as is". The floor to the right of the drain that is in the shower would need to pitch to the drain at 1/4" per foot, so the floor tile at the right wall would be elevated 1-1/8" (4.5' times 1/4" per foot) above the drain. If the bathroom floor to the left of the drain was flat (as it is in the drawing), you'd have to install a 2" vertical curb at the bathroom doorway. Your wall-mounted toilet and vanity protect those items. You'd then have to waterproof the entire floor and run the waterproofing detail up the walls several inches. Let's say you want to keep your bathroom floor flat with no curb at the bathroom/bedroom door threshold. Here are a couple of examples of how you could account for the required 2" vertical. In new construction they are easy to accomplish, in remodeling maybe not so easy: 1) drop the floor in the shower 2" below the bathroom floor by shaving down or dropping the floor joists. Then reverse the direction of the floor slope in your shower so it slopes down from left-to-right. Your trench drain will now be at the right wall. With your bathroom floor "flat", you'll have a curbless entry at the bathroom/shower floor transition. The shower floor will slope down to the drain at a little under 1/2" per foot of slope, about 7/16th" per foot to achieve the 2" drop over the 4-1/2' or run. 2) Keep the drain where it is in the drawing and the slope as depicted, from right-to-left. Add a 2" curb at the shower entry. Not curbless, but a 2" curb. 3) A hybrid of the two previous examples. Add a 2" step up at the shower door entry, then have the floor slope away from the shower entry towards the right wall, with the trench drain on the right wall. You'll have a 2" step up but then the floor will slope down within the shower. One note: Even if you did a true curbless like in example #1, I extend waterproofing out of the shower and on to the bathroom floor for several feet. You need to account for not just the physical size of the potential pool of water, but also the wicking and capillary action that will pull water away from the pool....See MoreConverting center drain to linear drain in very small shower
Comments (8)moving fwd youll need a 2" drain rise and trap. depending on if this is a slab on grade, or wood structure will effect how easily thats achieved, post tension Condo slab even more tricky etc. When choosing linear drains one must very clearly understand A bonding flange linear drain VS. A Linear drain strainer and know how to select the proper drain and waterproofing. Id suggest focusing on a smart hiring decision start asking the tile pros on here HOW to hire the right tile crew rather than technical drain concerns....See More83” Shower Wall With Linear Shower Drain - One or Two Outlets?
Comments (14)We currently have one water source and have two shower heads that are 1.75 gpm and the water flow when both are running simultaneously is just fine. There doesn't seem to be any newer California Plumbing From the California Plumbing Code 2022 CPC (there doesn't seem to be any updates to these codes, to date): On page 62 section 408.2.2 - "Multiple Showerheads Serving One Shower" - it states: "When a shower is served by more than one showerhead, the combined flow rate of all showerheads and/or other shower outlets controlled BY A SINGLE VALVE shal not exceed 1.8 gallons (6.81 L) per minute at 80 psi, OR the shower shall be designed to allow only one shower outlet to be in operation at a time in Compliance with Chapter 5, Division 5.3 of the California Green Building Standards Code (CALGreen). Also, in the same 2022 California codes on page 490 - L 402.6.1 "Multiple Showerheads Serving One Shower Compartment", you will see information about allowing multiple valves separated by 1800 square inches of floor area. We have two separate and distinct valves and both of them are more than 1800 square inches apart. As I stated before, our plans have been reviewed and approved by our city building department and the plan is in compliance with both these codes. Thank you everyone for your input and opinions. Here, I've produced specific California plumbing codes. If you are seeing specific California plumbing codes that contradict the ones I've added to this comment thread please share....See MoreCreative Tile Eastern CT
6 years agoDave Silva
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