Replies

1. 
   Mongo | Jan 20, 2003 07:48am | #1

   You can tile the walls or the pan first. Many do the walls first to avoid accidentally dinging the already completed floor.

   A common detail is to have the bottom of the first course of wall tile be held off the floor tile. The resulting gap is later filled (rope/backer rod) and caulked. So, if doing walls first, you need to know the finished height of the floor tiles before dong the walls.

   As an aside, a technique is to hold the bottom of the denshield about a half-inch or so above the finished height of the floor tile. The bottom course of wall tile will hang lower than the denshield. This helps prevent the denshield from wicking water that will get through the caulk and behind the wall tile at the intersection of the wall and floor.

1. 
   CAGIV | Jan 20, 2003 08:04am | #2

   Our tile guy does as you suggested leaving a gap between the mud base and cement board but also fills the gap with silicone, then after the tile is in a second layer of silicone is put between the two finished surfaces.

   Not sure if this applies to denshield, this is the first I have heard of it, is it like cement board or something different? 

1. 
   Mongo | Jan 20, 2003 08:39am | #3

   Dens-shield is made by GP. It has a gysum core with, if I recall, a glass coating for strength followed by an acrylic coating for a moisture barrier.

   It's fairly ightweight (when compared to CB), and you cut it with a utility knife.

   I do know people that won't use it due to paranoia over the gypsum core and concerns wiith water wicking through cut edges. I've not used it, only because I have zero complaints with CB.

   Again, I'm gong on memories from a tech packet that I read many moons ago, but I believe that their installation in shower stalls was as you described...a 1/4" minimum gap between the D-S and the shower floor, filled wiith a silicone caulk.

   I recall Andy Engel posting a while ago that he took a scrap of densshield and after soaking it for several weeks in a bucket of water, he said it looked good as new. Or did he say that it was warped and waterlogged...

   Seriously, he believed it suffered no damage from being soaked in water.

1. 
   CAGIV | Jan 20, 2003 08:56am | #4

   I like the idea about being light weight and able to cut with a knife, cb can be cut with a knife if you have a lot of blades and a lot of paitence,  IMO best way to cut the CB is with a angle grinder and diamond blade.

   Thanks for the info

1. 
   Mongo | Jan 20, 2003 09:03am | #5

   I cut CB with a carbide-tipped knife. Can't recall where I got it, but I've had it for years. Looks like a utiity knife and cost maybe $7-10 or so. Good for score and snap. Good for general cuts.

   Precise cuts? Thin strips, a slight shave, or cutting strange shapes? Yup, then you have to make some dust and use electricity. Oh, my aching lungs...<g>

2. 
   CAGIV | Jan 20, 2003 09:07am | #6

   Got that right, that dust is a killer, got to do it outside