New Products Provide For An Inexpensive Watertight Shower That's Easy To Install

by Anonymous

February 22, 2004--Judging by recent surveys, most homeowners have a wish-list of renovation projects they'd like to undertake. Not surprisingly, the bathroom is one area they'd like to change and the shower ranks at the top of the list.

Quite often, the shower is the neglected part of any bathroom fix-up because of the large amount of work involved, usually involving specialized tradespeople. The dream of a walk-in shower or steam room was normally reserved for those with higher means.

With the introduction of new shower installation products, this hurdle can be far less expensive and daunting to the average do-it-yourselfer. These products combine ease-of-use, durability and the use of innovative approaches for completing a long-lasting, waterproof shower installation.

Schluter-Systems, a German company with extensive distribution in North America, brought their Kerdi-Drain to market nearly five years ago. The Kerdi Shower System uses a membrane which installs over regular sheetrock with thinset mortar and is meshed onto the drain, forming a watertight seal. No special glues, plumbing connections or tools are required to make this system fully waterproof and its installation regularly takes less than an afternoon.

The shower pan, a hurdle for even experienced tile installers, has been made simpler with the recent debuts of two scalable pre-sloped shower trays, an access ramp and a shower curb. These products eliminate or reduce the need for a mortar bed and excess framing in a shower. They are also lightweight for today's construction methods.

The shower trays are available in 48" square and 32" x 60" sizings, with the latter tray being ideal for replacing a standard tub. The 48" x 16" ramp allows for a curbless or ADA-compliant entry.

The benefits of the Kerdi Shower System over traditional methods of constructing a shower are numerous. The traditional method involved using two sloped mortar beds on the floor with a rubber liner between them. The fault of the old system was that the top mortar bed became saturated and harbored mold and mildew, making the grout and tile very difficult to clean. Kerdi membrane placed on top of the mortar bed or pre-sloped tray stops any moisture from getting below and virtually eliminates bacteria from gaining a stronghold. Tile is then applied directly to the membrane using thinset mortar and grouted.

Although the Kerdi-Drain and membrane are well-recognized products in the industry, their local unavailability forced contractors and do-it-yourselfers to use other, less efficient methods in constructing or renovating shower stalls.

Tile-experts.com, a leading Internet tile supplies retailer, sensed the need in the marketplace. It now carries the full Schluter product line, which includes the Kerdi Shower System as well as various profiles, underlayments and transitions for tile. "Most orders are shipped out the same day to our customers. Depending where they are in the U.S. or Canada, they'll likely receive it within one to four days", notes David Taylor, a company co-founder. "We've now given a vast segment of the market access to a product line which opens up so many possibilities for the tile installer or DIY'er. We've recently added 24-hour phone support for our customers, which is a benefit other companies simply don't offer", he adds. Their address is http://www.tile-experts.com.