Ron Van
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Looks good Sparky!
Basement Project
- Thread starter Sparky617
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Help Support House Repair Talk:
I got about 3/4 of the bathroom floor tiled over the weekend. It was pushing 4:00 on a rainy Sunday when my batch of thinset mortar ran out and I decided to call it a day. I spent Saturday morning planning the layout and pre-cutting most of the tiles so I was able to move pretty quickly when I started after lunch on Sunday.
Ron Van
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Looks really nice, Sparky! I've used those leveler/spacers on one job and didn't use them on another and oddly enough, the job without the levelers turned out better with less lippage!
What is the size of your shower? Ruby and I are building a new shower for our ensuite and we've planned a 32"X48" but I'm having second thoughts on that size. The photo below is a shower in our old house that was 53" x 49". It was almost too big because it got cold in there whereas a smaller shower keeps the heat in better. I don't think those open showers would work well unless you live in the tropics.
What is the size of your shower? Ruby and I are building a new shower for our ensuite and we've planned a 32"X48" but I'm having second thoughts on that size. The photo below is a shower in our old house that was 53" x 49". It was almost too big because it got cold in there whereas a smaller shower keeps the heat in better. I don't think those open showers would work well unless you live in the tropics.
It is roughly 45x33 not counting the curb. Size wise I was constrained by where they roughed in the plumbing for shower and toilet. To make a decent 2 person shower, not that I'd anticipate that for my basement shower you really need multiple heads and a bit more room. A bench might have been a nice addition but I just didn't have the room. As it was I shifted the toilet using an offset toilet flange to pick up an extra inch or two from the corner of the shower. I really didn't want to get into breaking up the floor to replumb what the builder did when they laid out the house in 1998. I haven't had problem with lippage on the floor, I noticed a few on the walls. The shower floor is going to be a hexagon tile, trying to do the floor of that with large format tiles is beyond my level of experience. Again due to the layout of the existing rough in the shower drain isn't centered making layout with large tiles a job for an experienced tile setter. The location of the drain is also why I went with a membrane pan instead of a pre-cast one piece unit. I had a tiler install the membrane, I've never done one of those.
For the coldness question, I wonder how hydronic radiant heat in the floor and walls would work in a larger shower? The other option is to throw more water at yourself with multiple shower heads, though not exactly ecologically sound.
Ron Van
Well-Known Member
I gave up on trying to take a shower with Ruby. It’s not that we don’t like to do that but it’s because she likes the water so hot that I feel like my skin is melting off!
I’m not so sure about a bench in our new shower but Ruby needs something to put her foot on to shave her legs. It could just be a low horizontal bar or a corner shelf. Our old shower was made out of Corian and the installers glued a shelf down low for her. Whatever glue they use for Corian, it is good.
I have a friend who installed heated floors. I’m not sure if it’s hydroponic or electric or what. I could ask him how he likes it but I already know he’ll say it’s great…best thing ever. He always says everything is great until years later the truth comes out that it wasn’t so great.
We have a toe rest in our master bath for shaving legs. That shower has 4x4 tiles and it is made of tile material and sits in the corner about a foot off the floor.
Ron Van
Well-Known Member
I've been trying to decide on a shower pan for our new shower. I was almost convinced to try a Schluter-Kerdi system but then I saw this...
This was an experienced shower installer who normally used the hot mop system but the owner asked him to install a Kerdi system. He did but it failed in 6 months. The guy in the video does a forensic tear out to figure out why.
Then, The same guy repairs a Kerdi install done by one of his own guys.
Kerdi Repair
After watching these....I'm back on the fence. I really don't like the acrylic shower pans but they seem pretty foolproof.
Having said that, the original shower in our old house was a fiberglass pan, which stained and looked bad and also, it leaked at the corner of the crappy shower door hinge and rotted the floor.
What system did you use on your pan?
This was an experienced shower installer who normally used the hot mop system but the owner asked him to install a Kerdi system. He did but it failed in 6 months. The guy in the video does a forensic tear out to figure out why.
Kerdi system fail
Then, The same guy repairs a Kerdi install done by one of his own guys.
Kerdi Repair
After watching these....I'm back on the fence. I really don't like the acrylic shower pans but they seem pretty foolproof.
Having said that, the original shower in our old house was a fiberglass pan, which stained and looked bad and also, it leaked at the corner of the crappy shower door hinge and rotted the floor.
What system did you use on your pan?
Kerdi is really proud of their system, it is really expensive. I had a guy do a membrane for me. I'm tiling it myself. If I was starting from scratch and setting my own rough plumbing I would have got a stock precast base and used that for the pan. My drain wasn't anywhere near centered, so a membrane pan offered the most flexibility without tearing up the floor and relocating the drain line. I think they could have done a better job laying out the rough plumbing when the house was built. There is no way I could have made the drain centered in the shower and have the toilet where it was roughed in. The drain rough in should have been a foot over.
Ron Van
Well-Known Member
Okay, thanks for that input. I think I am leaning toward a standard size (48x 32") acrylic pan. Is that what you mean by "Precast Base?"
That is one type of base. There are many.
Ron Van
Well-Known Member
I love your tile job in the shower!
Thanks, I don't think I'll quit my day job and become a tile setter though. The shower floor was pretty tough. If I had it to over again, I would use large format tiles.
It was monsoon season on Friday and Saturday so I was able to get the entire basement floor installed this weekend. I used a luxury vinyl plank and installed around 625 square feet between Friday and Saturday. The big room took less time than the smaller room, because of all the cutting and alignment in the smaller room plus the closets. I threw in an extra box, just for insurance and didn't open it. I also didn't have any usable full pieces left over. I did make one bad cut that resulted in a full piece becoming trash. All in all out of over a 1000 lbs. of flooring I probably threw out 50 lbs. of unusable cuts and 5 gallons of saw dust from making the cuts with my chop saw and table saw. Next up getting the casing to trim out the space, and hitting the punch list before getting my final inspection.
Attachments
That little wheelie kneeler from Northern Tool was a real lifesaver compared to knee pads. No straps cutting into the backs of my knees and the ability to scoot around the floor was key. I still own knee pads and they may have a use on other projects, but for flooring on a smooth surface this was well worth the cost.
Ron Van
Well-Known Member
Looks real nice, Sparky! Is that wood or Vinyl? You said sawdust so I guess it's wood flooring?
Yes, The knee pads kill that tender skin behind the knee especially if I'm wearing shorts. I've been wrapping a sock around my leg where the top strap goes around my leg.
Eddie_T
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With laminate flooring I got clever and cut locks into the ends so that I could use cut offs. Then I used short cut offs in a linen closet gluing them down. I got a lot of exercise as I walked to the garage and used the RAS for all cuts. I did four bedrooms but with time between. I have never worked with vinyl planks.
Eddie_T
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I had a kneeling pad similar to this when i was doing the flooring. I loaned it and it didn't return home. I have unused knee pads and am thinking maybe I could glue them to a thin pad for use like the one in the pic.
It is luxury vinyl plank. Even though my floor is bone dry, I didn't want any wood products against the floor.
There are two closets in the basement that I installed LVP, the off cuts wouldn't have made a difference. I had maybe a dozen pieces <1' in length without a click and lock edge to use. For the most part the end cut from one side of the basement was used on one of the next rows starting on the other end. I'm pretty happy with the small amount of waste I produced. They say to plan on 10% waste, by weight I was less than 5%.
