Durock inversion
#1
06-15-05, 06:42 PM
Durock inversion
Hello,
I've recently installed Durock brand cement board in a shower I'm building, in preparation for installation of ceramic tile. In the excitement, I installed some pieces of Durock with the 'rough' side out, and some with the 'smooth' side out. Lacking any knowledge on the subject, I figured it didn't matter. Now I'm wondering if I messed up. I suspect the rough side should be out...to provide 'tooth' for the thinset. Question is, do I need to re-do the cement board so the rough side is 'out', throughout the project. I really hope not...lots of work. Any advice on this one is deeply appreciated!
Patricia
I've recently installed Durock brand cement board in a shower I'm building, in preparation for installation of ceramic tile. In the excitement, I installed some pieces of Durock with the 'rough' side out, and some with the 'smooth' side out. Lacking any knowledge on the subject, I figured it didn't matter. Now I'm wondering if I messed up. I suspect the rough side should be out...to provide 'tooth' for the thinset. Question is, do I need to re-do the cement board so the rough side is 'out', throughout the project. I really hope not...lots of work. Any advice on this one is deeply appreciated!
Patricia
#2
06-15-05, 06:47 PM
Your fine. I hope you certainly installed a 6 mil poly vapor barrier behind the durock. Are you using a preformed pan or are you building a pan for tile? Lots of shower threads going in the tile forum which is now in the new "flooring" forum.
#3
06-16-05, 06:13 AM
Thanks very much. Got to thinking, backerboard brand cement board is relatively smooth as well...and tile sticks to it. Not to mention greenboard/sheetrock. I've been fretting over this one. Yes, I used poly underneath the Durock, but 4 mil. I have three different books with sections on how to do this; two say to use 4 mil and the third doesn't address the issue. Its amazing how inconsistent the different sources are (from one another) on the entire process. On the pan issue, I'm building my own, following pieces of instructions from all three of my sources. I've seen some of the discussion in the forum, and now wish I'd done a sloping 'pre-pan'...but I didn't. My PVC liner is directly on the floor. Interestingly, this is exactly how two of my three sources say to do it...the third describes the sloping pre-pan. But the pan I took out was nothing but tar paper directly on the foundation with non-re-inforced mortar on top, and it lasted 45 years without any rotten wood. So I'm beginning to think that a lot of this stuff is anyone's guess, with a lot of luck thrown in. Thanks again!
Patricia
Patricia
#4
06-17-05, 07:45 AM
Your old pan is all luck. A greater understanding has grown as to how to get a pan to work properly. In the ceramic forum, there are several threads going right now from people that had non sloped pans. There is also an interesting thread with lots of posts from Dave Gobis, who is the executive Director of the Tile School, probably the most accredited tile instructional institute in the country. It's called shower disaster or something like that. He has written lots of info in there as to the science of a shower pan. I know this is not what you want to hear, but I would strongly suggest you redo the pan. Do it right and it will last ofrever. Miss any steps and you will have a maintenance disaster. Tar paper lined pans, like yours are also known as hotmopped and some will last forever as well with no problems. 4 mil is the minimum for the vapor barrier. If you use mastic to set your tile, expect failures within a few years.
#5
06-21-05, 11:43 AM
To tilebri or whomever
I am fixing to rip the old tile out of the bathtub area (it is a bathtub with showerhead). I will be putting up concrete backerboard before retiling but my question is will I need to put up 6 mil poly vapor barrier before the backerboard? if so do I just staple it to the 2x4's? thanks for any and all info.
Last edited by jasonstolle; 06-22-05 at 07:21 AM.
#6
06-22-05, 10:37 AM
Yes, you need the 6 mil poly and seal it to the drip edge of the tub. Post in the cermaic subforum in the flooring forum for all you will need for this project. Also, make sure your studs are no more than 16" oc, you may need to add one, your backer must end on a stud, so it will probably need to extend past the tub, and do not use mastic, use bagged modifed thinset.
