So what’s one of the fastest ways to waterproof a shower? Well, in our opinion it’s the
WEDI method using WEDI building panels. Now that’s not the only option out there, but
if you want to learn how to waterproof a shower fast and easily and do it to make it rock
solid, then WEDI is a great option for you. So today we’re going to show you how to
use the WEDI Tub Surround Kit to waterproof a shower surround, and in the end it’s going
to be a lot easier for you to do after you watch our tips and tricks. So make sure you
watch the video the whole way through because we’re going to have other information for
you at the end that might be very helpful. This is the WEDI Tub Surround Kit, and what
it entails is five sheets of the board—3x5 sheets. So this is enough to do a typical
tub surround with an 8 ft ceiling. It gives you five tubes of the sealant for everything.
And it gives you the washers and screws—100 of each. So this will give you more than enough
to waterproof your tub surround. Another option that you can also purchase—this
is in addition to the Tub Surround Kit—is a premade niche. This one is 16” x 22”
premade niche. And then this is if you wanted to tile a shelf, you can do that. But in our
scenario, we’re actually just going to install it this way, just a kind of elongated shelf.
Now it does say 16” x 22” but that’s actually the full dimension of the actual
unit. The actual inside dimension is 12” x 18”. So keep that in mind when you purchase
this that you’re not actually getting space for your niche at 16”. You’re actually
getting 12” x 18”. Before you install the niche, you’ll want
to plan the tile layout of the tub surround or the shower surround. In this case, we mounted
the niche about 24 to 30 inches above the tub—that’s a standard height for a niche.
And we made the tiles be split evenly with the height of the niche. As you see here,
Steve made an L-notch for the tiles above and below the niche. And this is what it looked
like when it was finished. So as you can see here, we planned that out to make sure the
grout joint was right in the middle of the niche.
The next step is to cut the studs if you have a similar configuration. We used a circular
saw first, then a Sawzall. And make sure that the stud wall is not load-bearing before you
do this. That’s very, very important. But we’re cutting out the studs so that we can
fit in the niche. What Steve is doing here is adding a 2x4 using two 3 inch deck screws
per 2x4 to mount it in place. So he’s got his 2x4 above and below the existing structure,
places the niche in it to make sure that it’s centered, and then taps in 2x4s in this direction
instead of the traditional direction so that he can put in his backer board right next
to the prefabricated niche. So again, just using two 3 inch deck screws per stud for
the installation makes for a solid installation. So there you go. Now you give yourself a little
bit of wiggle room when you do this, and make sure that the niche is actually centered.
The next step is to tack ¼ inch pieces of plywood to that back wall. Now we’re using
a roofing nailer. You don’t have to use a roofing nailer. You can just use 2 inch
deck screws. And the reason why we’re tacking this ¼ plywood to the stud walls so that
we can drop the panel over the tub lip. After you do that, you want to apply a nice bead
of WEDI joint sealant to the tub lip so that you then drop that WEDI panel over it. Now
you’re going to have to notch out for the tub lip as you can see here in the corner.
But you’ll drop that panel over and then mark the position of the studs on the panel
and also the location of the niche on the panel. That way you’ll be able to cut out
for it. But that’s what Steve is doing here. And then he applies his first screw six inches
above the tub lip so that that lip doesn’t blow out and adversely affect the tile job.
Then you place your screws and washers every 8 to 12 inches after that.
We used a Fine Multimaster oscillating multi-tool to cut out the niche; it makes it so much
easier and faster. But you can use a utility knife as well. So as you can see here, Steve
is just cutting that to size, applying a WEDI joint sealant on top of the panel. So you
want to do this for every single WEDI building panel. This will seal the gap or the seam.
There’s also one additional step we’ll go over here in a second. But you place your
second panel over top of the first one, and then you pinch them together using screws
and washers. Again, you want a screw and washer every 8 to 12 inches on center on the studs
as Steve is doing. And then you can rough cut the rest of that shower niche location.
So that’s what Steve is doing here for the top panel.
Then you place the prefabricated niche in there, and then you just use it as a template
to cut out more of the building panel to have a perfect fit. And that’s really easy to
do with that Multimaster. Then apply the WEDI joint sealant to all the exposed blue material
of the WEDI building panel, place your niche in that recess, and then use a screw and a
washer for every corner, like Steve is doing here; it makes it a nice, solid installation.
That niche isn’t going anywhere. Then again, apply your screws and washers every 8 to 12
inches for that second panel. Apply WEDI joint sealant on top of it. And then we had to add
a little piece of WEDI building panel to complete that main wall.
The nice thing about WEDI building panels is the ability to cut them using a utility
knife. Steve’s cutting out this panel for the plumbing wall. He’s placing this panel
over top of the tub spout, pounding it mark an indentation on the back, and then cutting
out the location of the spout with a spade bit. He did the exact same thing for the mixing
valve, but just cut that out using a utility knife.
We’re using the iBox mixing valve, and it comes with a black bracket which you want
to be flush with the studs so that when you put your WEDI panel over top of it, it will
set the location of the tile to be within a min-max zone. So Steve is applying the joint
sealant to the corner there, and also to the top of the tub lip or the tub lip itself.
He’s also applying joint sealant to that black bracket on the iBox and then compressing
the WEDI building panel into all of that joint sealant to make a nice, watertight seal for
the shower. Then he’s installing his screws and washers every 8 to 12 inches, just like
he did for the main wall. Steve repeated this process on the back wall. The WEDI joint sealant
goes in the corner again and on top of the tub lip because we’ll be placing the WEDI
panel on top of the tub lip, not over it. And that’s what we did for the plumbing
wall as well. So compress it, put the first screw 6 inches above the tub, and then if
you have to, you can cut the panel while it’s in place to get a nice, tight fit with the
existing drywall. By the way, we’re using half inch WEDI building panel obviously so
it matches up and is nice and flush with that drywall.
Steve had to cut out some existing drywall with the Multimaster to fit that panel in
place. Again, he just pounded or indented the back of it with the shower arm and then
cut out that hole using a spade bit. He dry fit it. Again, had to make some minor cuts
with a utility knife. Applied joint sealant to the top of that first panel and in the
corner. And then place that second WEDI panel over top of the first and then just evenly
spaced out the screws. After we completed the front plumbing wall,
we went back to the back wall and added a section of panel. Now we had a little sliver
of WEDI that needed to meet up with that second piece. And we added the joint sealant to it
instead of the top of that second piece of WEDI building panel and then screwed it in
place. So the nice thing about WEDI is you can custom
fit it to any size and shape. Because our tub flange outside of the tub where it meets
up with the drywall sticks out a little bit, we created a dado there. And Steve applied
some WEDI joint sealant to that tub flange where it met up with the drywall and then
placed a WEDI over top of that. And that created a nice, tight seal. And then he just screwed
it in place using a few screws and washers. Now on the front plumbing wall, we had to
actually split the WEDI in half, apply a generous amount of the joint sealant to the tub flange,
and then just float that WEDI over top of it; we actually didn’t screw it in place.
Then we added another joint seal between the WEDI and the tub. So we did that for both
the front and the back of the tub for a watertight seal.
Once all the panels are in place, apply WEDI joint sealant to all of the corners. In the
corner, you want to add a lot of joint sealant; be very, very generous with it. That’s going
to be a spot where you’ll also want to flatten it out using the WEDI corner trowel. This
is only a few bucks; it’s well worth it. It make a nice, tight seam. And then apply
the joint sealant to all seams, especially around that niche. And then you smooth it
out using a 3 inch putty knife. And so that will give you a nice, watertight seal between
all of the WEDI panels. And then apply joint sealant to the screws and washers. If you
missed any of the screws and washers, go back and get them. If you created a hole in the
WEDI that went the whole way through the WEDI building panel, you’ll also want to fill
that with joint sealant. Then where the WEDI panel meets the tub lip,
fill in that gap with the joint sealant and then smooth it out using your putty knife.
That will create a watertight seal between the WEDI building panel and the tub, so do
that for the back and the front wall. Remember, on the main wall we didn’t have to do this;
we’ll go over that in a second. And then we apply WEDI joint sealant over top of the
Hansgrohe iBox for additional waterproofing. And then where your shower arm sticks out,
you want to create a little horseshoe or circular joint seal around that to prevent water from
going behind this area. So do the same thing for the tub spout. Create just a little dam
using the joint sealant. And that way, if any water gets behind the tile, it won’t
go behind the wall. So again, for that main wall we just supplied
an additional bead of WEDI joint sealant between the tub and the panel and then smooth it out
using a putty knife. So a really good idea is to make sure that that area next to the
tub is watertight using the joint sealant. Now you can apply WEDI joint sealant between
the building panel and the drywall section. We just didn’t do it in this case because
it’s on the back wall. But you can do that if you want.
So this is what our WEDI looked like after we were done. It only took us a few hours
to do this, and that included making a video tutorial, so it’s super quick. And we know
that all the tile is waterproof behind. It’s all waterproof behind this travertine tile
on the shower. So, really great project if you’re waterproofing a shower.
So that’s how you waterproof a shower using the WEDI method. Now if you’re interested
in WEDI and want to learn more about it, you can check it out over on bathroomrepairtutor.com
and then visit our online store. So we do sell WEDI, and the reason why is we’ve used
it on several projects. It’s rock solid. It comes with a 10-year warranty. And many,
many other installers respect that process. So we wanted to make it available to you and
also help you pick out the right materials for whatever shower you’re building. And
that’s one of the things we do over on our online store. Before you buy WEDI or any of
the other materials, you send us an email, you tell us a little bit about your shower
that you’re building. Maybe you send us some pictures, and then we put together a
list of the materials we think could help you out and actually cut down on the cost
as well. So you can check that out over on bathroomrepairtutor.com.
And also, if you want one of our free online courses, you can click right here to get that.
And that’ll help you build a shower a lot easier, faster, and better. So again, you
can click right here to check out both bathroomrepairtutor.com and our free online course.
That’s it for today. Hopefully this video helped you out. And we’ll talk to you soon.
Take care.