Kerdi shower

[Crowejordan]

I am having a Kerdi shower installed and think the mix valve seal was installed backwards and that the corners aren’t that great. Any thoughts? Am I over reacting?

Thanks

 

[Jadnashua]

First off, what thinset did you use? IT looks REALLY grainy. Schluter calls for the use of a premium unmodified. One of the differences between the price leader, cheap stuff and premium is how fine the sand is, and the amount of actual cement in the mix. A premium one will be much finer texture. A cheap one is MUCH harder to get to work as it's got bigger grains of sand and nowhere near as much cement in it.

Second, yes, your corners may be an issue. The seams will work if the two layers are intimately attached with the required overlap (nominal 2"). You have a couple of options.
1. Carefully cut the bubble out, then add another layer of KerdiBand to cover it with at least a 2" span each side of the hole you created.
2. Carefully cut that bubble, and use some KerdiFix sealant underneath and around the top to create a good seal.

The valve seal should be okay. What you may have an issue with is the depth of how the valve is mounted. It must be between the min/max allowed once the finished wall is up for the trim to fit.

I'd check over at www.johnbridge.com where there's lots of tiling pros and many of them use Kerdi...lots of years of experience.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Crowejordan]

First off, what thinset did you use? IT looks REALLY grainy. Schluter calls for the use of a premium unmodified. One of the differences between the price leader, cheap stuff and premium is how fine the sand is, and the amount of actual cement in the mix. A premium one will be much finer texture. A cheap one is MUCH harder to get to work as it's got bigger grains of sand and nowhere near as much cement in it.

Second, yes, your corners may be an issue. The seams will work if the two layers are intimately attached with the required overlap (nominal 2"). You have a couple of options.
1. Carefully cut the bubble out, then add another layer of KerdiBand to cover it with at least a 2" span each side of the hole you created.
2. Carefully cut that bubble, and use some KerdiFix sealant underneath and around the top to create a good seal.

The valve seal should be okay. What you may have an issue with is the depth of how the valve is mounted. It must be between the min/max allowed once the finished wall is up for the trim to fit.

I'd check over at www.johnbridge.com where there's lots of tiling pros and many of them use Kerdi...lots of years of experience.

We used Kerabond thinset. The seal might need to be carefully cut out and a new one installed correctly. You are correct, there isnt going to be room for the trim piece.

The floor pan is also an issue. You can see the trowel marks under the membrane and feel them and air pockets where the tile did not adhere. I would say that the membrane didn't get pressed hard enough when pushing excess thinset out.

Thanks for the suggestions!

I have tried to register on Johnbridge.com... It is a great forum with a lot of good information. However, it isn't letting me register. I have emailed them to see what the issue is.

 

[Crowejordan]

 

[Jadnashua]

It looks like the thinset may have been a bit too stiff or, you didn't get it covered before it started to setup.

There was a note on their site today that said they had a glitch...it might be okay by now. Doesn't happen often.