Tile Shower (Start to Finish)
It is not my intent to provide a course in how to re-tile your shower within this small document. My aim, rather, is to show you in words and pictures how we build showers using lath and cement mortar. If you would like to build your own shower, we'll help. Repair to our free tile advice board and get all the help you'll need. http:/johnbridge.com/vbulletin/index.php
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1 An existing cultured marble shower must be torn out due to a faulty shower pan. The owners have opted for a new ceramic tile shower in its place.
2 The glass and the wall panels (along with the sheetrock behind them) are removed, exposing the wood framing which can then be checked for termite and dry rot damage.
3 The shower floor is removed, exposing the shower pan, which for some inexplicable reason was cut during installation. A large rectangle of material was removed from the middle of the pan, and another rectangular piece was installed on top of it.
Additionally, the pan material was not brought up the walls far enough. Nor was it wrapped over the top of the curb. There is no way this installation could ever have held water. The shower leaked from the first day of its use.
4 The new shower pan is installed (correctly), walls are closed in with sheetrock, and metal lath is attached. The shower is now ready for the mud work.
5 The mortar (mud) is applied to a thickness of about 1/2 inch. Since the sheets of lath are overlapped, there are no joints in this shower. It is a monolith.
6 The mortar is smoothed and made perfectly straight and even. The walls are now ready for the actual tile installation. The tiles will be attached with another form of mortar called "thin set."
7 Wall tiles are installed. When this is completed, the walls will be grouted.
8 Wall tiles completely installed. Curb is tiled also.
9 Walls are grouted. Grouting is accomplished by smearing the entire surface with grout and then washing with a sponge, leaving grout only in the joints.
10 Shower floor is installed. This shower receives 2x2 inch porcelain mosaics over cement mortar. The floor is sloped toward the drain at a rate of about 1/4 inch per foot.
11 Completed floor, ready for grout.
12 Shower is complete. Showers built in this fashion will last virtually forever. For all practical purposes they are "bullet-proof."
I once observed an old house being demolished. All that was left was the concrete slab and the mud shower standing alone where the bathroom had been. The shower had stood and functioned for over 60 years until the wrecking ball finally brought it down.
13 The owners chose to have the bathroom floor tiled as well.
Flash! For information on my new method of shower building (Schluter Kerdi method), please read my article on Kerdi Showers.
Check out our free tile advice forums.
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