I was watching “holmes on homes” the other night, which I find to be a decent show for the most part… They were putting in a tile shower and using a product I belive was called “Ditra”. for the pan they used a pre-formed base that kind of pieced together and then stuck the ditra membran to the walls and on top of the base. It looked like there were a few seams being peiced together in spots I would consider critical to water tightness. Anybody else using this stuf and does it seam together so well that no sleep will ever be lost woundering if it’s going to leak?
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Lots of posts here about Ditra and Kerdi (both by Schluter --- http://www.schluter.com/)
See either of these excellent photo threads:
http://tinyurl.com/2s65gm
http://tinyurl.com/2q6hxs
It was kerdi that I had seen them using in the shower. I watch the U-tube video on the installation this morning... It looks very interesting, but I'm a little sceptical about how water tight the joints in the membrane can be when there just mortared into place . I'll look at the previous threads... thanks.
IIRC the joints aren't just mortared in. There's a kerdi tape applied first over the seams. Both of the threads detail this.And it's supposed to be rock-solid on tightness against moisture. So much so that Schluter uses it on regular drywall with no penetration.You should also check out this site and John's book
http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/index.php'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
IIRC the joints aren't just mortared in. There's a kerdi tape applied first over the seams I have another thread- Kerdi what the ?
Having just read through Mongo's thread it seams there is some discrepancy about the seams. He has two inch overlaps mudded in. there is no mention of Tape.
The two ways of joining sheets of Kerdi are to overlap 2" or butt the sheets and "tape" with Kerdi- Band. I like the second method best as it's easier to prevent bubbles and bumps.YMMVJim
The awful thing is that beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there, and the battlefield is the heart of man.- Fyodor Dostoyevski
I'll check it out..
On the u tube company installation video I saw them putting tape in the corners first and along the wall / pan juction before hanging the wall membrane which seem's fine, but what looked a little scetchy to me was the floor membrane overlaping the corner tape that they had put on the floor, then they were sealing it all by just setting it with morter.
It must work to have gotten such a great reputation, so I guess I'm missing something about that seam at the bottom.
I'm tracking down the same question.
It does seam counter intuitive to not
"be the raindrop" and shingle lap downwards, but
the answer I keep getting is it doesn't matter.
The Kerdi tape is just Kerdi that's about 1/2 as thick. The only reason it's used is that it makes the joint a little "flatter". Either way, the seam is overlapped 2" and sealed with thinset. If you are doing 3-way corners, the tape helps a lot in keeping things minimally out of flat -- makes tiling a bit easier since there's a smaller bump.
Guys -- you do NOT have to worry about these seams if you install per directions and overlap by 2". The Kerdi is made with microscopic "fuzz" on both sides that grips the thinset and makes the seams bombproof.
I usually try to install like shingles, starting with the low piece, but even that's not really necessary. Seams on the floor are nothing to worry about -- just don't seam over the drain. If you are still worried about it, you can use the Kerdi caulk (I'm having a senior moment about it's name right now) to seal it instead of thinset but you'll be wasting your $$$.
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
Thanks, I just needed the
voice of God to say it's ok.
It take a leap of faith to embrace Kerdi. But the hype is real. This stuff isn't good, it's great. Especially in tough scenarios.
The Kerdi membrane itself is only 8 mils thick. Just a bit thicker than the old 6-mil polyethylene plastic that we're all used to.
To get a watertight seam it needs to be overlapped a minimum of 2 inches. You can overlap one sheet of material on another adjacent sheet of material and get your overlap that way.
Or you can butt the sheets together and do what one of hte previous posters wrtoe, which is to use Kerdi Band. Kerdi band is thinnner than Kerdi, it's inly 4 mils thick.
Kerdi is the flat orange membrane. It's used in wet areas like showers and tub surrounds, both on the pan and on the walls. And in steam showers on the ceiling as well.
Ditra is thicker, it's about 1/8th inch thick and has a waffle-like appearance. It's usually just used on floors, both interior and exterior. Ditra itself is waterproof, but you make an entire floor of Ditra waterproof by using a strip of Kerdi band over the butted together Ditra seams.
I'm on the Kerdi band wagon.
There is a brand new Kerdi drain sitting right here. As soon as I pay off Uncle Sam I'll buy the membrane. I've done a few "old style" showers and I'm not
going back. The whole system was makeshift and awkward.
Not to mention slow. But most of all I have never trusted the bolt down flange. The Kerdi flange is simple and effective. So thanks again a shower is a scary thing to experiment with
and I appreciate a word from the wise.
Edited 3/15/2008 6:46 pm ET by Henley
Just finished helping a friend with a shower. We have never done one. He bought a complete Schluter shower kit off Ebay. It had the kerdi,kerdi tape ,preformed inside corners,outside corners,sloped floorpan,and drain assembly. I think it was around $350. It was easy to install but it took us longer than the guy in the Schluter video. Have fun.