I've gutted our master bath, and it's time to plan for new shower. I want to do a barrier-free, curbless shower, so am considering either the Schluter system, or Wedi system. I'm leaning toward the Wedi, as the shower pan is 1 piece and is waterproof. Has anyone here used either? What was your experience? Any problems?
Bath remodel
- Thread starter tpierce
- Start date
Falcon67
Well-known member
Will try to follow this as it will come up for us soon.
TRWham
Well-known member
Contractor here. We will only use Schluter Ditra and Kerdi for tiled bathroom and shower projects anymore. Relatively easy to do correctly, and bullet proof when it is done correctly. You will need to achieve some drop to the shower drain, so either the room floor must be raised or the shower floor dropped.
Is this a slab on grade or raised foundation / second story? I just finished a remodel and the wife wanted to go that rout but I vero'd it because I'm on a raised foundation. That aside what are your plans for the enclosure or no enclosure. If you're going frameless it takes a insane amount of work getting everything perfectly square.
Falcon67
Well-known member
>You will need to achieve some drop to the shower drain
After watching a video on the Wedi, I was wondering about that. Our shower base is pretty big - about 3' x 6 1/2' and does have slope to the drain. Not sure how it was done over the slap, but the shower base is a hair below the rest of the bathroom floor which should make it easier to convert to a walk in.
After watching a video on the Wedi, I was wondering about that. Our shower base is pretty big - about 3' x 6 1/2' and does have slope to the drain. Not sure how it was done over the slap, but the shower base is a hair below the rest of the bathroom floor which should make it easier to convert to a walk in.
engineer2
Well-known member
Did the the Schluter system in our master bath and it has been trouble-free. This was a conventional "replace the tub with a shower" job. I did cut the Schuter curb down a couple of inches to the minumum allowed by code.
A curbless without a door requires a larger "wet area" since water can splash out 4-5 feet.
A curbless without a door requires a larger "wet area" since water can splash out 4-5 feet.
It's a 2nd floor bath. 2x8 floor joists w/3/4" ply sub-floor. With the Wedi, you drop the plywood between the joists using 2x nailers to set 3/4" below other sub-floor, then install pre-sloped shower pan into that recess. The floor is then water-proofed using their sheet waterproofing. The walls in the wet areas are covered with their wall sheathing which is water-proof. All seams and fasteners are then sealed. Ready for tile.
The shower is in a corner. it will 36"x60" with a center drain. It will have glass on 2 sides with a sliding door.
The shower is in a corner. it will 36"x60" with a center drain. It will have glass on 2 sides with a sliding door.
I just did our 4'x4' shower. I planned a curbless and even recessed the concrete 1'-1/2" in that area to allow enough room to build up. Shwoer drain in the center. At the last minute I decided against it. 3 reasons:
1. I wasn't confident 4'x4' was a large enough wet area to ensure water wouldn't escape.
2. I realized we wouldn't be able to have a bath mat outside the shower door because the glass door bottom gasket would have to touch the tile and wouldn't clear the mat.
3. The inspector couldn't give me a straight answer on how to meet code with a curbless. Him... "you need a 4 inch curb" Me..."I want an ADA accessible shower. Him..."hmmm, I'm not sure I'll have the other inspector get back to you." I know people do it all the time. I just didn't have the time to go through all the back and forth.
So, I decided to drop a low profile Kohler 4'x4' shower pan in the recessed area and ended up with about 1/2" curb. I never asked if it would meet code or not (maybe a bit risky). I had 100% confidence it would be waterproof (I was only about 95% confident in my tile work that it would be). It gave me enough curb for my shower door to clear a shower mat and although I haven't used the shower yet, I'm confident water won't be escaping out into the rest of the bathroom.
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info2x
Well-known member
I just did a normal tub in my place, but I used the Schluter system (Ditra floor, Kerdiboard walls). Expensive to be sure, but I found all of it easy to work with. I wouldn't use anything else on my projects from here on out.
aunsafe2015
Well-known member
What are the walls?
bugnut
ALLIANCE MEMBER
+1 to enginer2. Did 2nd floor master bath the "replace the tub with a shower", including reducing the curb height. Schulter on everything, used the kerdi shower st base, so drain didn't have to move, wife and I didn't want to stand on drain. Added corner bench and 2 niches in back of shower. Ten years later all is in good shape. Just found HD carries 3 pane slider that will fit, which provides a bigger opening and plan to install in the new year.
I have mentioned before all the help from "https://www.johnbridge.com/"
was invaluable
I have mentioned before all the help from "https://www.johnbridge.com/"
was invaluable
Used the Schluter products on several remodels very good stuff and would recommend it. Have no experience with the Wedi would imagine it's very similar. I have been using Mapei Aquadefense over the Kerdi, fasteners and backerboards under all tub/shower tile. Not much more investment in time or money but definitely makes it bombproof (eh, waterproof, lol). Good luck!
glentre
Well-known member
Make the shower floor flush with the bathroom floor at the door but slope it away from the door for drainage. Use a shower door with gasket on the bottom and hinges to allow it to swing inward. A shower walk-off mat outside the door will not be any problem if you open the door inward when finishing your shower.
Glen
Glen
FYI -- shower doors can swing in -- but it must be able to fully swing outward ..inward only swing doors are not to code. They also waste space if a typically sized bath.
If working with a large bathroom and doing a corresponding large shower -- doing the curbless has some merit. I'm not a fan -- with most showers an outward door is required -- I prefer a curb and towel bath mat
cupcakemike
Active member
- Joined
- May 5, 2018
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I dont know what the water resitance is of $20 bills but if you were to coat the entire shower area in them I'd venture to guess you'd be money ahead of using the kerdi/wedi systems 
Does anyone still do a good old fashioned "mud" pan these days?
Does anyone still do a good old fashioned "mud" pan these days?
FYI -
A nicer touch for the shower pan / base design is to place the drain under the shower head near the wall, not in the middle where you stand. That way you're not standing on the drain grate or a puddle of water! Also, depending on your tile format, there's drain sizes (trims) that will match your tile module.
A nicer touch for the shower pan / base design is to place the drain under the shower head near the wall, not in the middle where you stand. That way you're not standing on the drain grate or a puddle of water! Also, depending on your tile format, there's drain sizes (trims) that will match your tile module.
I dont know what the water resitance is of $20 bills but if you were to coat the entire shower area in them I'd venture to guess you'd be money ahead of using the kerdi/wedi systems
Does anyone still do a good old fashioned "mud" pan these days?
Fewer and fewer ... doing full mud floors is still common with the better builders around me ... not full bathrooms. I had a few guys (all related) that would only do full mud jobs -- the last retired few years ago. They did it because they liked to do tile and all worked until late 70's. Wish they were still around .... it was more expensive ... But, IMO well worth it. Watching them build a shower -- work of art. Everything was square and sized correctly for the intended tile.
glentre
Well-known member
You are correct. I should have said the ones I have seen swing both in and out. Our last vacation place had a dual swinging door with shower and bath floor flush and a mat in front of the door. I kept opening the door outward and it pushed the mat around until my wife walked in and pushed the door inward. Sometimes we think we know everything!
Glen
isb cornbinder
Well-known member
The wife of one of the neighbours called this PM. She said she was at a high end bath fixture store. She had her preschool grandson with her. Suddenly there was the plaintive cry of her grandson from the next display. "Mommy, I'm finished." While hoping for the best and expecting the worst she rushed to the next dry bathroom display. There it was, a best effort of OMG. The sales person did not say a word, but handed the grandmother a roll of bathroom tissue and a ZIPLOC bag.