Hey guys, hope you’re having a great day. Today, Sal and I are going to share some tips
on the Schluter shower system. Sal’s going to be talking about when to use the Schluter
shower pan versus a mud pan, and I’m going to give you some tips on Schluter KERDI-BOARD
and how that makes your shower surround 100% waterproof. Let’s dive into Sal’s portion
right now. Okay, so I do another video with Jeff Patterson
of Home Repair Tutor. I’m going to talk about Schluter shower systems. So for my part,
I’m just going to try and clarify the difference between a foam tray by Schluter or when you
would use a mud. Give some details and some reasons why the foam tray would be more desirable
or better suited than say a mud, which will both work but one has advantages over the
other. So that’s what I’m going to talk about. Jeff is going to talk about some other
components of the Schluter system and to help clarify some information about that. So don’t
forget to subscribe to both my channel and Jeff’s channel and leave your comments in
the comment section below. And also don’t forget to visit my online store, dibsmart.com,
where we have all kinds of tile-related products, especially tools and stuff like that. Thank
you. Okay, so Schluter makes a great shower waterproofing
system. It’s what is known as a seal system, and in my opinion, I think it’s better than
a traditional system with a vinyl liner. So when installing the shower floor for a Schluter
system, you got a couple of options. They make shower trays. This is actually a two-part
shower tray. This is basically for a tub conversion. If you take out the tub and want to put a
stand-up shower, so they make this part right here.
Pretend you didn’t see that. So this one here is for a tub conversion,
I was saying. So you basically take out your tub, and then you can put this in as your
shower floor. And it’s all sloped correctly, and it’s got a spot for the drain here.
It has different components, and I’ll talk about that in a moment.
With these trays, I’m not going to go into details on how to install it; just when you
would install… use the shower tray as opposed to a mud shower floor.
So these are great because, like I said, they’re all premade. They’re pre-sloped. They got
a hole for the drain. Everything is there for you. It comes with a membrane to make
it waterproof. And then other components, which Jeff is going to talk about, is the
KERDI-BAND and the KERDI-BOARD or the KERDI membrane. But Jeff’s going to talk about
it. So the question is: When do you use a shower
tray and when do you use mud? So if you don’t know how to do mud, then the shower tray is
a good option. But it’s not always the best option. The reason I say that is because when
you use one of these trays, before you put it down, you got to make sure our subfloor
is flat and level and strong enough to support tile. Now that’s often the case, and often
it’s not the case. You’re going to have to make that determination. If it’s not
flat and it’s not level, you’re going to need to make a flat level before you install
your tray. The other good thing about these is you can
get them in different sizes. This one has, like I said, one for a tub conversion with
the drain on the side. But you can get them in different sizes, square sizes, with the
drain in the middle. And if you cannot get the right size, you can cut them to the right
size, or you can extend them. These can work in most situations, but not
always. So the other option is mud, which is basically sand and Portland cement in a
ratio of 4 or 5 to 1. Four parts sand, one part cement, mixed to a fairly dry consistency.
Now let’s say your subfloor is completely out of whack. It’s strong, it can support
tile, but it’s completely out of whack. It’s out of level, and it’s not in good
condition in the sense that you can’t install your tray over it. What you can do then is
install mud, which is, like I said, the other option to this here.
Mud is not restricted by size, shape, or drain location. You can make the mud fit to anything.
So if this doesn’t work, mud is an option. There’s always an option to get your shower
floor done for your shower. And in conjunction, the mud or the tray, you need a shower and
the drain. And this is what makes the Schluter shower system work. It’s what they call
a bonding flange which goes inserted here on the tray. And by the way, this can be installed
before or after the tray depending on whether you got access to the plumbing from below.
If you have access to the plumbing, then you can connect your pipe to the drain after it’s
installed. You can do it that way. If you don’t have access, then there’s an option
to install the drain before the tray goes in with these standoffs. I’m not going to
go into those details. I’m just really talking about when you will use a tray as opposed
to mud. Different areas of the country either are
going to use ABS, or they’re going to use PVC. So you have to know which one you’re
going to use. You can’t connect an ABS tray, which this is, to a PVC pipe and vice versa.
So you need to get the correct tray for your type of plumbing. This in fact is the wrong
kind because in my area here we use PVC. And how I ended up with an ABS tray, I don’t
know. I’m actually going to turn this one in and get a PVC one. But the tray comes complete
with the bonding flange, the drain grate, and all the components you need.
So what makes this system great as opposed to a vinyl liner is that everything is bonded
together. And the bonding flange is called the bonding flange because when you install
your waterproofing membrane, it goes over the drain and is bonded to the drain so everything
is completely water-tight, and there’s no mechanical connections. So this is a great
system. So for your shower floor, you can either use foam tray… cut it to size; extended
or bigger work. The thing is if you have to cut this, this is all pitched towards the
drain. You can’t see it on here, but it’s actually all pitched so that the water will
go to the drain. So that’s basically the reasons why you would either use one or the
other. So Jeff’s going to talk about the studs in the shower; he’s going to talk
about the banding, which is a critical part of the system; and the KERDI-FIX.
So don’t forget to subscribe to my channel and to Jeff’s channel. Leave your comments
in the comment section below. And don’t forget to check out my online store, dibsmart.com,
where we sell all kinds of tile tools and tile-related products. See you next time.
All right, so now you know, thanks to Sal, when you should be using a Schluter shower
pan and when a mud pan is best. Now I’m going to be giving you some quick tips on
how to properly install the KERDI-BOARD system that goes with the Schluter shower pan.
We really like KERDI-BOARD because it’s strong; it’s lightweight, meaning it’s
easy to handle; and it’s also easy to cut—you just use a utility knife. You can also build
with it. So whether it’s a custom shower niche or a bench like Sal is building here,
you can use KERDI-BOARD for both of those things. The other nice attribute of KERDI-BOARD
is the fact that it’s got foam in it, so there’s an R value associated with that.
You can apply your Roxul or other insulation to your stud walls, and you can put foam board—in
this case, KERDI-BOARD, over top of it and you’re going to get extra R value.
Sal and I wanted to share with you an extra tip here on how to install KERDI-BOARD to
uneven stud walls, and that’s called wet shimming. So as you can see in this clip,
Sal is applying fast-setting LHT mortar to the studs. Now LHT stands for large and heavy
tile mortar, and you want to use this because it will help you get the stud walls nice and
plumb behind the KERDI-BOARD. So apply the LHT mortar to all the studs, then you position
your KERDI-BOARD over top of it. You ensure that the KERDI-BOARD is plumb using a level.
And then you just tack it in place, not the entire way, using screws. So you just want
the screw to go into the KERDI-BOARD and into the stud enough to hold it in place. You don’t
want to screw to go the entire way into the stud wall because that would defeat the purpose
of the wet shimming. Once the LHT mortar is dry, then you can use your screws and washers
to set the KERDI-BOARD per the Schluter handbook. Another really great tip is the fact that
you can use DITRA to bump out KERDI-BOARD for tile mosaics. So let’s say your tile
mosaic is a little bit thinner than the field tile, you can add a layer of DITRA to the
Schluter KERDI-BOARD, and that will make your field tile flush with the tile mosaic. So
you can also use 3/16” KERDI-BOARD for this. KERDI-BOARD is directly installed over the
studs. You don’t have to put cement board or drywall behind it. And if you are going
to be using blocking, you need to add the blocking to the walls before you set your
KERDI-BOARD to the studs. Studs need to be 16” on center for ½”
KERDI-BOARD or 24” on center for ¾” KERDI-BOARD. You should only be using KERDI-BOARD approved
screws and washers. The screws must go ¾” into the wood stud though to ensure that the
KERDI-BOARD is appropriately mounted to the wall.
Seams at the studs, you can use screws and washers to fasten both panel edges. That way
you can save a little bit of money on the screws and the washers. The maximum on center
spacing for screws and washers is 12”. As you can see here, the boards are installed
first then the shower pan goes in. KERDI-BOARD seams should be sealed with KERDI-BAND. They
should overlap the seam by 2”. You need to use unmodified thinset or Schluter ALL-SET
to do this. The 2” overlap is needed to ensure appropriate water-proofing. And you
want to use either a ¼” x 3/16” trowel or a KERDI trowel for the thinset. All the
notches should face one direction. Then you can embed the KERDI-BAND using either a drywall
knife or the KERDI-BOARD trowel. You want to make sure that you remove all air pockets
underneath the KERDI-BAND in between the thinset. And then you want to also seal the screws
and washers with KERDI-BAND as well. KERDI-SEAL can be used for the mixing valve.
I personally like this option because it just provides you with some reassurance that the
mixing valve is going to be completely waterproofed, or at least that area. You can also use the
PS for the shower head or your tub spout. KERDI-FIX is also appropriate for this area.
And sometimes KERDI-FIX is a bit more convenient. As I said earlier in the video, you can make
custom benches with 2” KERDI-BOARD like Sal is doing here. It’s a really great option
because you’re eliminating wood and screws inside a shower, which obviously gets moist
and wet. So you don’t have to worry about rot or metal corroding. And the nice thing
about KERDI-BOARD if you’re using it to build a custom shower niche, like Steve is
doing here, is you can build a niche to any size and shape. And it’s going to be completely
waterproof. We also like KERDI-BOARD for showers where
you have to waterproof around the windows. You can see that’s what Steve is doing here.
It’s not ideal. You want to take the window out if you can, but sometimes you just can’t
do that. And that’s where using KERDI-BOARD, KERDI-BAND, and KERDI-FIX really come in handy.
Lots of really great tips in today’s video. Now keep in mind, if you need tools and different
materials for tile setting, check out Sal’s website at dibsmart.com. That is a phenomenal
place to get things like T-lock and tile spacers, tile cutters, you name it. Dibsmart.com has
it. Also if you want help with remodeling a shower or maybe a complete master bathroom
remodel, you should check out bathroomrepairtutor.com because that’s where Steve and I have all
of our complete video tutorials. And they’re phenomenal. They’ve helped out a ton of
different people with bathroom remodeling projects. And we know it could help you out
as well. So check out bathroomrepairtutor.com. That’s it for today. Thanks so much for
watching the video. If you’ve got any questions, let us know in the comments, and well see
you in the next one. Take care.