Understanding Curb Location and Its Impact on Tile Design

When it comes to installing a shower pan, many people focus solely on the technical aspects without considering the curb location's effect on the finished look of the tiles. This is particularly important when working with shower benches, as the design of the curb can greatly impact the overall aesthetic of the bathroom. In this article, we will explore the importance of understanding curb location and how it affects tile design, using the Wedi Fundo Primo system as our example.

The Importance of Curb Location

Curb location refers to the position of the curb in relation to the shower pan location. When installing a shower pan system like the Wedi Fundo Primo, it's essential to consider the curb location to achieve a finished look that complements the tile design. A properly planned curb location can make or break the appearance of the bathroom, and many homeowners overlook this crucial step in their installation process.

Factors to Consider When Planning Curb Location

When planning the curb location, several factors come into play. One key consideration is the space available for the shower bench, as it will significantly impact the size and shape of the curb. In our example, we had a five-foot-wide bench, which required a four-foot wide shower pan to accommodate it. This forced us to plan the curb location carefully to ensure that it would fit seamlessly into the existing floor tile design.

Understanding How Curb Location Affects Tile Design

The curb location can greatly impact the finished look of the tiles in several ways. Firstly, the position of the curb will determine where the tile meets the wall or floor, creating a seamless transition between the two. Secondly, the shape and size of the curb will also affect the overall aesthetic of the bathroom, particularly when combined with other design elements like shower benches and surrounds.

In our example, we had to plan the curb location carefully to ensure that it would fit within the existing floor tile design. This required a deep understanding of how the curb would interact with the surrounding tiles, as well as consideration for the overall visual impact of the design. By taking the time to properly plan the curb location, homeowners can achieve a finished look that is both functional and visually appealing.

Cutting Out Floor Tile to Fit the Curb

One of the most challenging aspects of installing a shower pan system like the Wedi Fundo Primo is cutting out existing floor tile to fit the curb. In our example, we had to cut out sections of the floor tile to accommodate the new curb and shower pan. This required careful planning and execution to ensure that the tile was properly aligned and secured.

Using the Wedi Fundo Primo System

The Wedi Fundo Primo system is a popular choice for homeowners looking to install a shower pan, particularly those with limited experience or expertise in bathroom renovations. The kit includes all the necessary wall board, shower pan, sealant, and other components required for installation. In our example, we opted for the 3x4 foot shower pan, which offered flexibility in terms of customization.

The Wedi Fundo Primo system is designed to be user-friendly, with easy-to-follow instructions and a comprehensive kit that includes everything needed for installation. By using this system, homeowners can achieve professional-looking results without requiring extensive expertise or experience.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enLearning how to install a shower pan startswith good prep work, and installing showerpan systems like the Wedi Fundo Primo beginswith totally understanding the curb locationin relation to the shower pan location. Buta lot of people just dive into this withoutunderstanding how the curb location affectthe finished look of the tiles, especiallyif you've got a shower bench like this onehere. So today, we're going to show you howto plan the curb location such that your tilelooks great in the end, and we're also goingto show you how we cut out the rest of thisfloor tile in the bathroom to fit the curbin the shower pan because, after all, we didnot replace the floor tile; we're keepingit. So we're going to start today's videoby showing you the Wedi Fundo Primo showersystem that we installed here in this bathroom.What we bought was a Wedi Fundo Primo kit.Let's just open this up and show you what'sin this box here. It comes with basicallyall the wall board that you need, the showerpan, the tubes of sealant. With this particularkit, we got a 3x4 shower pan mainly becausesince we're building a bench in that five-footspace, we only needed a four-foot wide showerpan. So this is 3x4.So this is the shower pan. Like I said, 3-ftby 4-ft. And the one nice thing that we'llshow you is that you can cut this down tofit whatever size shower that you need onit. So it's very easy to customize.It comes with a corner trowel. It comes witha curb. Now this is a thin curb. This is a…they call it the \"lean curb.\" It's 2\" by 3½\". I know it looks real flimsy and small,but what this will allow you to do is justto use a regular 4-inch curb. So if you wereto buy marble or something from your big boxstore, typically they have the sills thatare about 4\" to 4 ½\" wide. So it makes itnicer because you're able to maximize theshower space within your shower versus havinga really wide curb for it. And then this particularunit comes with six sheets of that Wedi panel.It also comes with a couple of extra featuresthat don't come with… you can order separatelyonline; other things. But it has a littlecollar to go around your pipes. If we weredoing a tub spout, you can actually also usethis on your shower head as well. But it'sjust like a little sealing collar. And thiswould be for your mixing valve. So this isjust something that you thinset to… youcan either thinset it, or you can use thesealant to do it. But it's usually easierjust to thinset this over the board so youcan seal under your valve.So then you get 100… this is 1 5/8\" screws.Now most of the time if you just have regularmetal studs, you can just use these 1 5/8\"screws. It also comes with the washers. Soyou have 100 count of these washers to fasteneverything with. And then the standard drainkit. This gets bonded to the pan; that's howyou connect it to the drain. It comes with…this is basically kind of like a stainlesssteel… I don't know. I guess you considerthis more of like just a stainless steel finish.It's kind of in-between chrome and brush nickel,but it's definitely like a stainless look.This is what comes with the standard kit.So if you wanted a different color, if youwanted like oil rub bronze, or if you didwant like a shiny chrome, you'd have to orderthat separately. But the kit comes with these.And then this little guy-we'll show you thisas well-but this allows you to extend thedrain higher. So if you have like big pebblestone floor or if you had some kind of likethick slate or something that you're doingthere, this will allow you to raise that upoff of the shower pan so you can tile aroundthat.And then like I said, you have eight tubes.This should be enough to do all of your sealingwith the pan.As you can see here, Steve is measuring insideor underneath the subfloor, marking the locationof the joist. And the reason why he's doingthat is we had to cut out a portion of thissubfloor to access the plumbing for the oldtub. So you can use a standard Sawzall witha Sawzall blade to cut out the three sidesof that subfloor, and then just tear it upby hand after that. You can clean up a littlebit of this using an oscillating multi-tool,like the MultiMaster by Fein. Really doesa nice job of doing that. And then finally,we cut out the old ABS plumbing or drain,rather, with the oscillating multi-tool.So what we're doing here is cutting down theshower pan curb to size. And then Steve isusing a chalk line to mark a chalk line andcut it down the half-inch Wedi backer boardfor the side of the shower bench. We'll explainwhy here in a moment. But we're using fourscrews and washers to attach it to the framing.Really easy to do; really easy to cut downwith the multi-tool.Now that we have the bench created, we'regoing to show you what to cut the pan sizefor this kind of situation. Basically, thekit comes with this 2\" x 3 ½\" curb. So thisis considered their lean curb. And as youcould tell, it's pretty small. But the ideaof this is to be able to get a smaller curbtop. So this is actually a 5-inch top, butyou can down to 4 inches. Because by the timeyou have tile on either side of this, you'llhave basically 2 7/8\" of total thickness here.And with the 4-inch top, you'd have like ahalf-inch overhang on either side. Would thatbe correct? Yeah, so it would be like 9/16of an overhang on your curb if you were goingwith the 4-inch top. But this is basicallywhat this is going to look like. This is goingto allow me to tile either side of this andhave an overhang on it. Because you want tohave an overhang. You don't really want tohave your top plate being basically even withyour tile. It kind of looks a little ugly.Having an overhang like a countertop is prettymuch the way to go. So with this it'll probablybe more or less the look you would have ifyou had a 4-inch top on either side.So anyway, to show you what size to make thepan in this situation, you have to considerthat overhang on your curb top. Because ifyou just brought your curb flush with theedge of your bench, you'd end up with kindof an ugly overhang on your curb. And there'sreally no way to finish that. I mean it'sjust kind of sticking out there. You're goingto have tile on here, obviously, which wouldbump it out another ¼\". But you're just goingto have an unfinished edge on your curb top.So you want to be able to count for that resetor for that overhang and bring your curb insideof that bench area so that when you put thisin, it just kind of buts straight up to theedge. So to maximize your shower area, justbring your curb top to the edge of the Wedi.You're still going to have some quarter-inchtile or 3/8 tile. But whatever thickness ofyour tile is, it's still going to stick outsideof this. But to be safe, I would just go flushwith your edge of your Wedi on your bench.So in this situation, we're basically goingto sticking in approximately about an inchfrom the edge of your outside of your bench.So then from there, you measure to the…so we got 34 ½\" overall on the shower bench.So this is 35 ½\" on the bench; 34 ½\" onthe curb, to the edge of your curb. So ourpan that we'll be cutting is going to be justabout 33 inches. So we're going to be cutting3 inches off of our pan. So but again, theidea of recessing this curb in is basicallyfor the tiling process to make that look good.So now that we have the idea of where we wantour curb, let's go ahead and cut out thisexisting floor so that this… and I'm goingto give myself a little extra room just likeI did on the other side. There's no reasonto be 100% tight for this because you're stillgoing to have tile-like this goes on the edgeof this-that will cover your existing floor.So we need to cut out all these tile to setthis down into place.So as you can see here, Steve is using theangle grinder. We're just using the WSG 7by Fein and also the CGX 115 diamond bladeby Montolit to cut out the rest of this tile.And you'll find that sing a sponge, like Steveis doing here, really cuts down on the dust.But be very careful. Remember, Steve is aprofessional; he's done this many, many times.You also want to use a respirator when you'reusing an angle grinder inside. But this doesa great job of cutting that tile down to size.So this is not the way you install HardieBacker.They just stapled this stuff in, so it's supereasy to get out. You're supposed to thinsetyour HardieBacker down, but some people doit the way they want to.So what are your thoughts? Do you like Wedi'slean curb? It's two inches wide and threeinches deep. We feel that it makes smallershowers look bigger, but we'd love to knowwhat you think down in the comments.Our next video's going to show you how tocustom-cut the Wedi Fundo Primo shower pan.There are going to be a lot of great tipsin that. If you missed our prior video, weshowed you how to frame a shower bench seat,and you can watch that as well. It's a reallyphenomenal video if you want to put a benchin your shower. Now if you are doing a completebathroom remodel and you want help with thatand you want access to all of our videos,you can join Bathroom Repair Tutor. That isa phenomenal resource for anybody who wantsto save time and money while doing a bathroomremodel.So that's it for today. We'll see you in thenext video. Take care. We'll talk to you soon.\n"