Curbless shower using large tiles? photo
Where would you begin the slope in the floor toward the linear drain? Trying to avoid an awkward transition and don’t want a visible threshold where the shower begins. The framer has not started and I thought it would only be “a couple” of joists to drop, but I can ask him to do more to make the tile slope easier (joists are 2x12 running left to right).
Comments (21)
PROmyricarchitect
5 years agoAlso am worried about the large tiles and slipping so picked a coarse tile that feels like sandpaper (in pic, front tile. Is so much roughness going to make the floor a nightmare to clean? The 2nd tile beyond is a slightly smoother version but still has some “tooth”, that is meant for some of the vertical surfaces like the shower walls & tub skirt...
jmm1837
5 years agoRelated Discussions
Wedi shower pan for a curbless shower?
Comments (8)We are in the process of interviewing several potential contractors. After these screening interviews, we will ask for bids from the 2 or 3 contractors who are most knowledgeable and compatible with us and our project. We know what we want for most parts of this bathroom, but we are still trying to understand the best way to design an accessible shower. We want to add it now as we rework our main floor so that we can eventually "age in place". The four contractors we have spoken to so far have looked at the joists, sub-floor and open access from below; and all confirm that we can readily recess the floor under the shower. They differ, however, in how they would handle the shower pan and drain for this curbless accessible shower. A couple of them have suggested the Wedi system with a linear drain. Another talked about the Schluter system, and a fourth contractor said his tile man only does a traditional mud base with a central drain. They all said that floor in the main part of the bathroom could be level and the sloping would all occur within the 4' x 4' shower (1/4" per foot). Most would put waterproofing under the whole floor, but one typically extends the waterproofing just a foot or two beyond the shower entrance. Are there reasons to go with the traditional mud base vs the Wedi (or other foam type backer)?...See MoreNeed Opinions on Grout Water Stains Outside of Curbless Shower
Comments (12)Mongoct/Live Wire Oak, Thanks for the replies. Here's a photo I took right after the hot mop was done. You see it terminates at the outer half wall surface with a 'lip' maybe 1" tall (I didn't measure it so just guessing). So that centered tile in the entry sits above that and during a normal shower the water line (water that splashes over the drain to the door) doesn't go past about halfway the thickness of those half walls or doesn't go past the glass door that's centered between those half walls. So if I understand what you're saying about the capillary break, the tiler should've physically separated the thinset/mud under the entry area tile by creating a physical divider barrier to separate it from the thinset/mud under the rest of the tiles on the bathroom floor? I'm picturing a thin vertical layer of sealant (or membrane) from the bottom of the tile surface through thinset all the way through the mud down to meet the hot mop 'lip'? That would then form a barrier and force the water that gets under the tile to stay in the pan and go back towards the drain. I'm still trying to get a feel for how much water could be sitting under my bathroom floor (worst case) or if it's limited to a few areas of damp thinset due to wicking that are showing up as dark grout spots (best case?). Relative to the amount of water that seems to be making it down the drain, how much water are we talking about that could be wicking out through the thinset/mud/grout? 10%? 20%? 50%? How long does it take for the water that eventually sits on the concrete slab to evaporate or absorb into the slab itself? And what damage would this cause long term assuming the water never makes it to any wood?...See MoreCutting large format tile down for shower floor?
Comments (12)abbycat- Linear drains can be expensive, because, like a lot of fixtures for the bath, they are, in my opinion, overpriced, and, also, installers sometimes add more to their normal charges. However, you can also do them less expensively with the right products and installer. I did a lot of research to find a reasonably priced linear drain, and finally settled on the Luxe brand. They are very solidly made and precisely manufactured. After shopping all around for price, I found it online at HomeDepot (!) for $214 for the 26" wide model, which was substantially lower than any other place (elsewhere online it was in the $340-$400 range). And it was way cheaper than a number of other brands I looked at, some of which approached $800. An install for a linear drain should not, again in my opinion, cost any more than a regular drain. You use a pretty standard shower drain base (with the linear drain and the plumbing for the p-trap is the same. (The drain base is a PVC fitting about 8" in diameter which seals the place where the drain penetrates the shower membrane.) For a linear drain, the mortar bed for the tile is a slightly sloping, flat plane to the drain, so that's basically easier to form than the standard bed which has to be sloped in from all directions to the drain. And tile laying is easy because, since the mortar bed is flat, you can use any format tile without having to worry about the slope you have with a regular drain, so no fancy tile cutting is involved. The only thing that is challenging is making sure the linear drain hole is precisely placed in the middle of the end you are choosing so that the linear drain is perfectly symmetrical between the walls. And, when the mortar bed is laid, there needs to be a removable form (such as a 2 X 4) inserted so there is a place for the drain to be set in. I did the plumbing, and my tile guy was experienced enough with linear drains that he didn't charge more to do it. However, I think linear drains are still slightly out of the ordinary, and it gives installers a chance to charge more because the drain seems more complicated and exotic. Shower drain base...See MoreSolid surface shower pan in curbless shower?
Comments (2)Solid surface pans come in standard sizes, and they may not match your dimensions. I also don't know if there are any solid pans that can be just dropped in to a floor recess. Most I've seen are designed to be installed on top of a cement or wood floor and then you run your floor tile up to the outer edge of the curb. If it was dropped down into a recess you need to ensure there is a flat vertical edge to meet the floor tile. Schuter can be purchased slightly larger than needed (in either dimension), and then cut to fit an odd-sized area. Its very flexible, and works well if your contractor knows how to install it. Maybe you could just stick with Schluter and use larger format tile to reduce the grout lines. For larger tile it is usually easier to use a linear drain on one side/back/front, since the slope is only in one direction. However, you already have a center drain, so I guess that is not an option. Bruce...See Moremasterbathroom909
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agokudzu9
5 years ago
PROMint tile Minneapolis
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago- PRO
myricarchitect
5 years ago - PRO
myricarchitect
5 years ago kudzu9
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago- PRO
myricarchitect
4 years ago - PRO
myricarchitect
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
Thanks felizlady! The electrical plan was done separately. There will be 2 ceiling fixtures in the center of the room, 4 recessed lights the shower area, and some led accent lighting (added a 6’ wide niche above the tub, that will be lit, & under the wall mounted vanity).
The vanity has mini 8” towel bars for the sides like these:
- PRO
myricarchitect
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoIt Isn’t done yet just the tile phase, not camera ready/still construction zone. Existing room out-of-square in many ways. No finish electric or plumbing in yet, this is just daylight.
The 24” x 24” floor tiles could have gone straight through the shower (for anyone wanting to do a floor like that) there was no need to switch to 2x2s except for personal preference. We used a pre-sloped wedge base inside the shower for the most part, then sloped the rest of the bath floor in that direction. The tile isn’t slippery but prefer grout lines under foot. All 24” x 24” tile
seemed like a no-man’s land of floor with no definition of where the bathroom ended & where the shower began.I’ve already asked the manufacturer if I can switch out the tiled-over drain grate for a more “honest“ & visible metal one, the answer seems to be “yes” it’s an easy switcheroo later on.
Tile layout plan, grid lines continued up walls to ceiling. - PRO
myricarchitect
4 years agoWorld’s tallest recessed medicine cabinet experiment. Didn‘t want to give up having mirrors to the ceiling but wanted to hide our stuff & conceal the electric outlets inside. Will only put shelves in the bottom section. Ordered these 2 tall cabinets online sight-unseen, they are surprisingly well made & mirrored inside. Could not convince the manufacturer to install elect outlets inside, will be doing that ourselves,
scottie mom
4 years ago- PRO
myricarchitect
4 years agoThank you kudzu9, the work is being done by an electrician, he roughed in for the outlets and we had to drill a hole through the side wall of the cabinet. We are using a simple surface mounted GFCI duplex receptacle in a utilitarian box mounted to the side wall. This is the box I found that seems to fit the best, it is meant for kitchen under cabinet outlets:
There were other manufacturers (Robern, Century etc) offering surface mounted electric outlets in their medicine cabs but I wanted a taller cabinet.
- PRO
myricarchitect
4 years agoThe cabinet manufacturer (Sidler) offers electric inside some of their cabinets. It was not available for the cabinets I bought and Sidler did not want to do anything custom (said they would consider it for a large contract like a hotel, but not for 2 cabinets). They said if I drilled a hole in the side for wiring it would void the cabinet warranty which is understandable. Pic showing where we drilled through. I was not willing to cut out a big hole and try to do a flush receptacle recessed into the wall.
felizlady