Master Bathroom Tiling

Oh what fun it is to spend a beautiful day inside tiling.  No, but seriously when it is all done and over with I will be elated. One because I will have completed a task the professionals say that amateurs should not do, and also that I can take a shower.  I can't tell you how many things of cologne I have gone through in the last two months, LOL. Just teasing.

So anyway, I got the shower walls, ceiling and inside walls done and also got the shower curb and floor tiled. The easiest tiling part I have had so far was the shower floor it only took me about an hour to tile.  So all that is left to do with the shower is grout. But that comes later, first I must continue my bathroom remodel by  tiling the bathroom floor. 

Well I actually gave you a hint as to what I found when trying to start the bathroom floor, do you remember?  Yup MOLD...  When I pulled the tile boarder from around the wall OMG to my nightmare mold had set in... Who BUILT THIS HOUSE the CAT in the HAT?  Things just don't add up.

So here I am with more work ahead of me. No only do I still have to tile, grout I now have to go back to the demolition stage (this was not in the plan).  I got my handy tape measure, a utility knife, a Dremel and had to run back to the store, yup LOWE'S.  I wonder if anyone from Lowe's corporate will see this blog and donate some materials to complete projects. lol  Hey where is that landscape guy that is always asking people if they need help.  I so would put him to work.    Thanks to my brother I purchased the mold resistance sheet rock of green board as we call it. 

Ok back to the bathroom.  Let's start this demo process.  I used my tape measure and marked the wall at 32 inches, snapped a chalk line and using a straight ruler I cut the wall using my utility knife. I put blue painter's tape on the chalk line to make sure I did not damage the wallpaper any further than what I planned on doing. ( I don't know why when I am going to paint it)

Let's Make A Hole:

This is what every kid dreams of doing making a hole in the wall but this time on purpose. The little kid inside of me jumps up and down as take a swing at the wall... KAPAOW!!!! Crash.  Hole made. Since I scored the Sheetrock ahead of time the impact snapped the rest of the sheet rock at the line. 

Now to continue. I know what you are thinking... He should pull out the vanity.  NOPE not going through that hassle of pulling it out. The plan is to cut the sheet rock right on the stud beside the vanity and butt the new piece tightly against it. 
So let's continue ripping out the wall. 

Dang toilet in the way.  I had to remove the tank but only after I turned off the water supply to the tank and drained the toilet. Okay tank removed. It's always funny to me taking pictures of the toilet. Yes, everyone has to go but somethings should remain private.. I know I'm weird.  The mold was not so bad around this wall but as I neared the shower my fear was creeping up thinking I may have to remove every wall. But the mold seemed to have stopped at the 14 inch mark and no remain mold was on the sheet rock so I continued. Though the area near the shower entrance was molded  it was not as bad as the right hand side of the shower.  OMG never seen so much damage. Did the builder think that "oh the wood would just soak up the water," Duh!  Yeah it will and continue and mold will set up in the walls.  Well thankfully I had on gloves and a dust mask, but I can't stop thinking how many spores went into my lungs.  Well Thank God I am still breathing   :-)

Now to rebuild what I destroyed. I score the green board that I bought from Lowe's for 8.75 and using drywall screws secure it to the studs. The tape is just to remind me that I will need to use drywall tape and mud to cover the seams.  It's just painters tape it will come off easily enough.  If you look carefully in the pictures you will notice that the existing bathroom floor is still intact. Yup the withe diamond tile. That is correct because I was not planning to break it up, but instead tile over the existing tile.  How do you say I do this or can I do this? 

Yes you can, though may people don't think it is a good idea to tile over because it will make the floor higher than normal, but it can be done and that is what I plan to do.  So the green board is up and what will I do now. Well I have two choices I can cover the seams well and sand and paint or I can prep the walls to hold tile. Now why did i choose green broad? Because it's a bathroom and usually bathrooms deal with water or moisture so I wanted to minimize any damage or mold growth this time around.  So after prepping the board to support tile and repel moisture at the same time I am ready to get started in tiling the wall up to the 32 inch mark.  Oh you can buy a solution that you can roll onto the Sheetrock from LOWE'S, sorry I forget the name of it right now maybe I will remember shortly, but you can also tile on top of the green board as is.  The mortar will need to be thick and not contain much moisture.  If the mortar or thin-set is to wet the tile will not adhere to the sheet rock and it will also damage the green board itself. Spread a think layer of thin-set onto the green board to give it a rough textured surface. This is a very very thin coat of the thin-set and should dry in as little as 15 minutes. Make sure the entire area is covered with this thin layer, this will also act as a barrier to prevent any moisture from deteriorating the protective surface and also act as a surface the thick layer of thin-set can adhere to the tile.  Again, I did not use spacers on the tiles on the wall. Since the tiles are 12x12 I used spacers (actually pieces of tile  leftover to make sure the bottom row sat at the right height).

Tiling Over Tile:

Now here is the part you been waiting for. That's right tile over the existing tile. First, you should check the clearance of the toilet and the door since the floor will be raised by about 3/8 of an inch when complete. If your door does not have the clearance you will need to shave the door down or trim off the bottom of the door. If you do not want to do this then break out the sledge hammer once more and break up the existing floor.  If the floor is going to raise your toilet above the flange you may have to purchase a closet flange (yup you can get it from Lowe's for about 5.00)  or you can do like me and purchase an extra thick wax ring for the toilet (2.45 @ Lowe's). 

Remove the toilet, grab your gloves because this is going to be nasty. Unbolt the toilet from the floor, I had to rock mine from one side to the next as it had lock-nuts and needed some additional pressure to remove the nuts.  Be careful not to break the toilet or you will be spending an extra 170.00 to replace.  After the toilet is removed using paper towels remove the wax from the bottom of the toilet and the flange and discard. Place a rag in the sewer line so sewer gas will not fill the house. Now time to prep the floor.

Depending on your existing tile you may need to sand it using a belt sander  to score the surface, but you definitely want to remove all debris and any wax on the floor surface. So get your dollars out and go to the store and by a stripper. Ok bad joke.  But seriously purchase a good stripping compound to strip the wax off the surface of the floor.  Since my floor had no wax and no cracks and was in good shape I just needed to sweep and use the Swiffer wet mop on the floor to clean it. 

I made up some more thin-set and spread a thin layer across the floor using the 1/4 inch notch trowel. You want to make small trowel lines in the thin-set at least two sizes smaller than the tile you are going to be placing down. This will give a textured surface for the floor to adhere to.  Let the thin-set setup over night or at least a day without walking on it or getting it wet.  The next day we can begin to tile.  Make up more thin-set and spread it on the area you are going to work with. 

Now remember, I said in the previous entry that laying out the tile was important. It will save you time and energy and allow you to plan where you need to make cuts in the tile. Nothing worse than stopping in the middle and going to make additional cuts on the tile saw.  You will thank yourself later if you do a correct layout and cut all the tiles prior to placing them down.  Work from the corner of the bathroom or if you have a large bathroom work from the center outwards. This leaves you an escape route so you wont get yourself hemmed in when tiling.

Now just like making toast, butter that tile making sure it has good coverage.  The threshold is easy to finish you can either use a thicker marble threshold or you can use the mortar to make a new threshold as I did on my floor. I was not about to spend 14.00 on a 5 foot piece of marble when I only needed 15 inches or so.   Remember notch lines should be in the opposite direction of the ones on floor.  Once you have done this, stay off the tile for at least 16 hours.

 After the tile is set you can use a damp rag to clean up the mortar that got on the tiles.  This just takes some elbow grease. Make sure the mortar is has not squeezed between the tiles, if it has take a slotted (flat head) screwdriver and clean out the access. This will allow for the grout to have an even coat through the floor.

Grouting-Oh what Joy:

Grouting is the stage where you know your project has almost come to an end and you can breathe a sigh of relief.  Make sure you choose your grout wisely: sanded or un-sanded grout. Sanded grout is great for grout lines thicker than 3/8 inch and up un-sanded is great for less than 1/4 inch. But either way you will need to seal the grout lines to protect against water, stains and mold.   Now they have sealers you can use after your grout but this is like triple your effort. These usually have you grouting, cleaning off the grout and tracing the grout lines with the product or using an aerosol can to spray on the sealer.  So forget that didn't I tell you that I am lazy.  Well I did some research and there is a product called Grout Boost that is used instead of water to mix the grout. It protects, seals all at the same time so no need to use those other sealers. This does it all in one.  Make sure you pick the one you need depending on the grout you chose (sanded / un-sanded).   Make sure you follow the manufactures instructions of the grout you use.  Some sets up in as less than 12 hours others may take 24 hours. 

Cleaning the tile is time consuming and can make your arms sore, but use a damp sponge and clean water to clean up the residue from the grout.  Also you will need a clean towel to buff the tiles of any additional residue. Here's is a tip ( too bad I didn't have one to use but if you do use it) use a car buffer and buff the tiles this will save you a bunch of time and energy. 

 Whew I am finally done there are only a few things I need to tidy up but for the most part my bathroom tiling is complete.   :-)

Now on to my next project whatever that may be.  Here are some shots of the bathroom as it is today and I will place up the final picture this evening.

 

2011 Master Bathroom Project - Tiling

Well its time to start tiling the shower. The plan is this, tile the shower and then tile the bathroom floor, so lets begin.  The further I go into this project the more I find out. I already know what the next project will be or should say several projects: rewiring house, insulate the walls in the house, build a better patio, install a NIC Closet. Maybe I should let you vote on what to do next.

Anyway, tiling is a fun adventure especially if you have not done it before.  If you have any skill in using a table saw, baking and making toast you should be able to tile. It's not really rocket science and doesn't take much skill but you will need some things to help ease the process.  Just like baking a cake its necessary to have everything ready. If you know the pattern of your tile i suggest you start laying it out and then  label the tiles into what position they are to go. This will speed up the process some as you won't waste any time by trying to match each piece as you go.  Yup, I figured that out after the first row.


The thing I used was a ledger board (this is just a piece of wood screwed into the wall), it should be the length of the wall.  Install these first before you tile. they should be placed the height of the first tile row from the bottom of the wall. For instance I used 12x12 tile so the top of my ledger board was 12 inches. Make sure you check the board to make sure its perfectly level.   Whats the purpose of this?  One, it allows you to make a straight row. Two, it allows you to have support for tiling vertically. Three, it allows you to maintain a space for the bottom row of tile.  The ledger board I used I made from buying a 2 inch board  @ 1/2 in thick I got from the place where they should know me by name.  Yup, LOWE'S.  Maybe I should buy stock or start my own web show about Lowe's.   I bought three 42 inch boards and cut them to the length I needed, 36 inches, yes it's a small shower.

Next mix the thin-set:
The thin set, the glue that holds it all together.  It's important that you follow directions on the bag.  Nope I followed them to a T( who came up with that saying anyway). I did not use an additive in the thin set, as i purchased the MAPEI mortar with Polymer so all I did was add cool water.  Its important to say at this point only make up the amount you need. The thin set (mortar) begins to setup pretty quickly and you don't want to end up with a bucket of rocks.  Add water first and then add the thin set powder. Grab your drill and your paddle bit (yup got mine from Lowe's for 5.00, tip go to the paint department, no need to buy the 14.00 paddle when the 5.00 one will work just as well). I started off with about a 3 gallon bucket and filled it with 2 quarts of water and added the powder (flour) and mixed together adding more thinset as needed to make meet the desired thickness.  What is the thickness?  It should be like pancake batter just a little thicker.

Take the bucket, grab the trowel and on to tiling. Make sure you have the right tool for the job. Your trowel teeth should be appropriate for the size tile you are using. If you are not sure do like I did and ask someone at the tile store. No need to guess and have tiles popping off the wall.

Ok, we are ready to begin.

Tiling the Shower:

The ledger board was removed
only after tiles were set.

Simple enough, place mortar on wall first making sure the area that you are working with will be fully covered, I did 4 foot sections at a time. Start from the corner.  Using the notch trowel, hold it at a 45 degree angle and notch out the thin-set on the wall. Using the same trowel start buttering that tile.  LOL I know it sounds funny but remember I said if you can make toast you can tile well this is what I meant.  Like toast you need to add butter to make it all the better so on the back of the tile place an ample amount of thin-set on the tile using the notch trowel. Make sure the lines from the notch trowel are the opposite direction of the ones on the wall. (Vertical lines = horizontal lines on tile).  Simple right.  Place the tile, wiggled it  into place and repeat.  Easy Huh? Yup.

Now if you have perfectly square walls ( I DID NOT) you can pre-cut your tiles using a tile saw.  DO NOT buy the cheap tile cutter you will waste so much time and may ruin your tile.  Instead ask some one to borrow theirs or buy one. My friend Jennifer and her husband Allen allowed me to borrow theirs... borrowing allows you to rekindle friendships and fellowship some too.  Thanks Jennifer and Allen for allowing me to borrow your saw.   Ok, Shout out's over for now.   :-)  

Once you have the tiles cut you just repeat the pattern and continue. The tricky parts of tiling a shower is the Valves and the shower head.  Now most people will cut the tile in half and then notch out the edges of each one to make the hole. Now you can try using a hole saw to cut a hole (I tried it, but didn't go so well) but us can also use the tile saw. Making a circle on a tile saw on the edge of a tile is simple it just takes time.  Make sure you draw your half circle patter on the tile first then make straight cuts about 1/2 inch between each cut, when finished take an object and tap on the cut pieces and they will fall away. Use the saw and clean up the jagged edges.

When I reached the head of the shower I make two vertical cuts in the tile and slid the tile under the head.  I know you are saying why didn't i remove the shower spout before. Answer; it was secured in place really tight and I did not want to fight with it so I left it connected (yup I got lazy).  So anyway,  I cut a vertical rectangle out of my tile, I kept the piece I cut out, and slid the tile under the spout and replaced the cut out with the saved piece. 

Save Room for Soap:

Ah the soap dish or rack, It doesn't matter what it is but you should take into account during the planning stage where you want to place the soap dish. You will have to mortar this in to make sure it is secured to the wall, but you will also need to notch out tiles on the tile saw to fit the tile over the soap dish. This is not hard to do at all. If your thin-set was thick enough it should support the soap dish without using tape to secure it to the wall. (I didn't use tape here, but when working on the outside trim and inside trim tape was necessary. 

Tile Spacing:
I chose not to use spacers on my tile in this project. Grout lines are nice but the smaller the line nicer the look or at least to me it does. But don't take my word for it I am just an amateur. Make sure you determine the spacing of your tile before you start though, this will make it easier on you in the long run. 

Now on my shower I decided that I am going to tile the entire thing, YUP that means the ceiling too.  How did I do that... the main question is how the heck did i get the tiles to stay up there while they were setting up?  After the first tile fell and hit me in the head I decided I would try to use a support beam. I had a long wood beam left so I placed the tile and set the beam underneath the tile adding pressure to the tile.    Another thing is to make sure your thin-set is at a good thickness this will ensure that the tiles will hold more securely to the ceiling. Butter the ceiling and the tile ensuring the tile is fully covered. Press the tile in  place and hold it for a few minutes then move onto the next one.  It's easier if you cover the area of the ceiling you are working on with thin-set.  Note you will want to cover the bottom of the shower with a tarp or like I used roofing felt.  You don't want the thin-set on the shower floor yet. NOT YET.  

Shower Floor:

So the walls and ceiling are done. All the cuts fit well.  Well some i had to do twice. I knew I should have checked my measurements twice.  Well the part that will go quickly is the tile floor. I hope you chose the mesh backed tile to do the floor and not large tiles. If not you may want to rethink your choice.   working from the corner I troweled out the thin-set in the shower floor and laid the first mat.  Do not press the mat into the thin-set so where it squeezes through tiles. Repeat.  Repeat, Repeat! Ah the dreaded drain.  I thought this out really well. Why get a cicrular drain that just makes for more precise cuts, so I got a square drain. Made it really easy. I sued the left over portions of the tile mats that i had to cut and placed these around the drain.  Viola after 3 days of tiling the shower is done.  All i have to do now is grout.  But wait my project is not done. 

When prepping to tile the bathroom floor I found MOLD on the sheet rock on in the bathroom seemed like I keep finding stuff.

2011 Master Bathroom Project

This project was brought forth from necessity instead of just a want to modernize and update my bathroom. In late 2009 I came home to a soppy wet hallway and  bedroom floor. I thought it was a leak caused by the air conditioning unit, yup that has happened once before.  But this time it was because of the shower. After listening to a few people and getting advice I re-grouted the shower and this seemed to solve the problem, at least temporarily.   In the spring of 2011, it leaked again and this time mold had setup on the carpet. This time I had a plan, I knew the shower pan had failed so I needed to redo the shower.  I had called a few places, got some references from friends of general contractors that can do the work for me. The most expensive quote I received was $7345.00, oh that was just to do the tile not the demolition of the old shower and to tile the bathroom floor as well.  Please note I was going to do all the demo myself, buy all the materials and rebuild the shower walls, I just wanted them to tile.  

The least expensive quote was $2800.00.  All well in good if you have 2800.00 sitting around in your account and I did not want to finance the project so plan B, yup DO IT MYSELF!!!!!

THIS NOT A WEEKEND PROJECT: Well mine wasn't/hasn't been/ isn't.

In the beginning there was a shower:
This is the standard shower built prior to 1970, chicken wire and cement and mortar. My shower had approximately 4 inches of cement and about 3/8 inch of thinset. Also there is not vapor barrier nor insulation in the walls of this shower.  The shower width is about 3 feet 6 inches from wall to wall (Yeah its small). There is no sub floor but the shower is directly set on the house's foundation so I will be working from a concrete floor. Are you thinking about the drain yet?  Well you should, I did.

I used a hammer to start tearing away at the walls but quickly realized the all important sledge hammer. I used a 5lb sledge hammer, which made the job go quicker, because of the small working space.  Remember to be safe wear goggles and gloves.

The Reveal:

My dad stopped by and broke out the floor of the shower (Thanks Dad, why do i think you were having fun demolishing something, lol).  Well low and behold the shower pan had failed alright it had 4 large holes in the front of the pan. There was about a 1/2 inch of water on the concrete slab of the shower and some of the studs had already started to mold. Vacuumed out most of the water, now had to wait 5 days for the studs and concrete to dry out.

Now the pan was not the PVC pan we use today but rather a fiber based paper shower pan that went only up 2 inches of the wall. Today's codes require shower pans to go at least 6 inches up the studs of the wall.  Mine is at 8 inches. :-)  Also, found out that on the back wall of the shower where my AC unit is there was no wall separating the bathroom from the AC so looks like I'm buying additional green board.  To kill the mold on the studs and joists, I used a bleach and salt water solution from a spray bottle and thoroughly soaked the wood and let it dry.

Oh were you wondering what I did with the debris, it is in a pile in my backyard. I'll dispose of that later.

Rebuilding:

OK so got all the tile and floor out this took about two days to complete, yeah I took breaks. But anyway, step 1 is complete, demolition. That was the easy part of the shower it just made for stronger muscles and a sore back. Thank God there is a massage pallor up the way from me.  :)

Before I start placing Hardie Board on the walls I decided I would protect the studs from any additional water damage in case there was another leak so I used 15lb roofing felt.  Others will tell you to use the plastic barrier, but to save on costs and hassle roofing felt is an acceptable barrier to use.  It's easy to cut and manageable for just one person to place.  I held the roofing felt in place with 1 1/16 staples, not roofing nails.

Notice the valve stems: My gosh these things were long so I decided to replace these with shorter ones. Initially i was going to look at replacing the entire valve system with a single valve design, but decided against it later.

Before I get started with placing up the Hardie Board I decided to take a look at the drain (mentioned above). I sat and contemplated for a minute and decided to try to twist it out using various methods and various tools: Pipe wrench  did not do anything but dent the drain, plumbers drain wrench, wrong size  and did not work. Chisel, yup chisel mine broke. So I called a friend and he took a look.  Its great knowing a licensed plumber/HAVC person. He looked at the drain and realized it was poured lead casting and so the only way to replace the trap would be to bust out the concrete floor.  Luckily we did not do that, :-)  Using a pen chisel Bennie managed to break off a piece of the drain and then used the hammer to bang the drain out.  The original installer cross-threaded the drain which makes it even harder to remove.

Preparing the Pan:

Alright, The drain is out and the concrete floor and studs are dry. The mold has been killed off thanks to the salt and bleach solution I used on the studs. Now it's on to slope the floor of the shower.  Now this is the important part. The slope needs to be 1/4 inch slope per foot to the drain. Make sure you get this right or  you will be facing drainage trouble.  The Slope bed is  made from using Quickcrete  Sandtopping mix. This has the right mixture for the mortar bed. Now I am placed mine directly on the concrete slab, there was no need to build a floor for thi, however, if you have a wood subfloor make sure you use at least 3/4" plywood and build a backing around the shower wall (at least 6 inches high).  Follow the instructions by the manufacturer to get the right consistency ( all you need is water no additives).  I poured about a 1/3 of a bucket of topping in the floor of the  corner of the shower and then spread this out toward the drain keeping in mind that the walls and corners need to be higher than the drain (use the studs for the depth of the slope  making it the highest point then sloping down to the drain). A level is also a good tool to have, you will want the level to have about a 1/4 bubble from the drain up to the wall of the shower.  After about 24 hours  the slope dried and to make sure i had it right I used a marble. Test each corner and each wall for the correct slope.  If the marble rolls to the drain without assistance, your slope is correct.  Oh you can also use a AA or AAA battery to test the slope, it may seem a backwoods way of doing the test, but if it rolls to the drain the slope is good.

Slope correct, marble moved = good so far. Now, I went to Lowe's ( I am particular about using Lowe's, but hey that's me) and got a PVC shower pan liner.  They have some prepackage usually about 30 x 30 sheet @28.67 before tax.  I being all knowing saved a few dollars by having them cut the exact size I needed. Woo who, I saved $4.00.  I know what's $4.00? A lot if you don't have it, LOL.  Anyway, so i unfold this large sheet and lay it in the shower.  Now DO NOT MAKE ANY HOLES or CUTS in the liner.   So with this though how to put thie oblong thing Good thing I read up on this before hand and watched countless YouTube videos.  I folded the corners in, Dog Eared, and stapled them to the studs.  Some will say you should nail them into the studs, but remember NO HOLES so what makes the littlest hole  yup a staple.   You can only staple at the top of the membrane so do not go lower than 2 inches.

Ok, so back walls and sides are done now, I paused again and was figuring how do I put this over the shower curb when i was told DON'T CUT THE LINER (reminds me of O'Brother Where Art Thou..."Don't seek the treasure), hmmm.... Now you cut the liner, LOL.  May seemed obvious to you but to me it was sort of a puzzle I had to figure out. I made sure the cuts were not too deep (long) but enough to fold the membrane over the curb and still have enough of the membrane on the side wall of the shower.  Now time to make the hole for the drain.  Ok, so you feel where your drain is under the membrane and using a utility knife or razor blade make a few slits in the membrane to reveal the drain. You want to make sure you cut to reveal the weep holes in the drain  (mine didn't have any weep holes hoping this still works well).  At my many trips to Lowe's I picked up a new drain, the PVC membrane and PVC glue made specifically for shower pan liners (ouch its expensive for the ounce I needed so what did I do? Yup got a small can). After I cut the hole I lifted the edges of the cut around the drain and using a qutip (cottons swab) I dipped the end into the container and placed it under the liner making sure it stuck well to the slope bed I made. 

Ok so the can says you are to press and hold for a few minutes it was at this point I felt a painful burning on my index finger. Apparently I sliced my finger a little and the glue found its way into the cut. OUCH!!! Washed the glue out and remembered i had to hold down the membrane till the glue set.  So since its not a fast acting glue it takes some time, so I used some dumbbells and placed around the drain to hold down the membrane and I went and played a video game (took about 6 hours to set up, the glue that is not the game).

Time to Build a Pan (what a pain):
Remember the word AMATURE!  This was a pain in the butt, I searched and searched asked people at Lowe's and Home Depot they seemed clueless to what I need to build the shower pan.  One guy even asked  in his country of country voices "why you building a pan...? We have premade ones," duh at the cost of a few hundred.  So far I spent 24.00 for liner, 5.00 for glue, and 6.00 for the quickcrete Sandtopping mix =  $35.00 not bad huh?  Well i finally found out what the mix for the shower pan. It's actually called Deck Mud so if you are searching for the ingredients search for "DECK MUD."  It's mixture of Sand and Sandtopping. 50lbs of play sand (really fine crushed sand) and 50lbs of Sand topping (5.00 + 6.00) = 11.00 so far the pan has only cost me 46.00 if my math is right (oh by the way I took College Algebra twice lol).  Take that old timer that wanted over $200.00 for a shower pan.

Let me back up one minute. I forgot to mention the shower curb. I used diamond Lathe from Lowe's (8.70 a 8ft sheet , but didn't need but about 2 feet worth). Cut the lathe to fit the size of the curb and using a rubber mallet bang it into the form of the curb working from the inside out. The bend will hold the inside in place until the deck mud is down. DO NOT PUT ANY HOLES in the inside portion of the curb.  After I got the bends in the lathe (make sure lathe does not scratch or puncture the inside liner) I used a staple gun and staple the lathe down the outside of the liner to the wood joists.  I guess I should mention that underneath the liner and the lathe I put down a piece of roofing felt because I did not want the curb to be damaged any more from any water leaks, so this is just a precaution I took.

DECK MUD the stuff of dreams like when I was kid playing in the mud wishing it was stronger to hold up th the onsult of GI Joe figures and vehicles. Well this is the stuff I needed then and is now. Just pour the 50lbs of sand and sandtopping into a wheel barrel add water and stir til its the consistency of mud. It should hold shape when you form it into a ball, I threw mine up and down a few times to make sure it didn't come apart when i caught it or threw it in the air. So great mix time to pour.  Now this is not a fast job it takes some time and some rhythm. I worked from the corners to the front of the shower. To do the shower curb I used a 2x4 as a guide. I hate old homes you find out so much stuff, like the walls are not straight and neither is the curb. YES THIS IMPACTS EVERYTHING UGH...  

Building the curb is the long part of the mudding but with some time I finally got the shape of a rectangle. for the curb. Now it's on to putting up the backer board.

Backing up the Backer Board:

This is pretty easy, since I have hung sheet rock and mudded before this should be a piece of cake. I do have one tip do not but the scoring knife or scoring tool for using the Hardie Backer board material Its so not needed and a waste of money. I got this used it one time (thanks Lowe's guy, maybe i need to rethink my store of choice). Scoring with this SUCKS takes way too long, so bright idea.... Where's my skill saw.  Yup that's right I used my saw to cut these bad boys up. Oh many places I seen on the net say "nail" in the board WRONG screw the boards in.   (Remember the reason I dislike older homes, you the walls are not square) I had to do some sawing and manipulating to fit the forward facing wall board in the shower.. WHO BUILT THIS HOUSE, my gosh.

I used a hole saw to cut around the valve stems and the shower head that was easy though my measurements were off some on the first valve.  Well I am a fast learner and learn from my mistakes... Oh well on to the next thing.  Many sites and people place the backer board before doing the shower pan but I hung them after.  I am not sure which is right or wrong (which came first the chicken or the egg?). But one thing is for sure when installing the backer board I left a 1/4 inch gap from the base of the backer board to the shower pan.  This stops the water from wicking up the board in case there is a leak or grout fails at the shower line.    REMEMBER DONT PUT HOLES IN THE MEMBRANE. Hope you marked where the membrane stopped on the backer board. If not you better do like I did re-measure 6- 8 inches from bottom of shower. Ignore the pan is there and just measure this gave me a safe working distance to make sure I didn't put a hole in the shower liner.

It's best if you mix up a small amount of thinset at this time. I used cement board tape or (hardie tape product) to tape up the creases and seams.  Then using the thinset I made up, I trowelled it on and smoothed it out just like mudding drywall, however, you don't have to sand this mud.  I taped the line at the ceiling also and mudded this as well. I was planning to tile the ceiling too.

Well the framing and preparation of the shower is complete and ready for tile. See ya on the tile adventure.