**The WEDI Method: A Step-by-Step Guide to Waterproofing a Shower**

When it comes to waterproofing a shower, one method that stands out for its effectiveness is the WEDI (Waterproofing Exterior Drainage Insulation) method. In this article, we'll take a closer look at the process of applying WEDI and show you how to do it yourself.

**Applying the WEDI Panel**

First things first, you need to cut your WEDI panel to fit the dimensions of your shower. To do this, simply measure out the correct size using a tape measure and then use a saw or a utility knife to make the necessary cuts. Next, apply the joint sealant to the tub flange and then float the WEDI panel over top of it. Unlike traditional waterproofing methods that require screws and washers, the WEDI method relies on the adhesive properties of the sealant to hold the panel in place.

**Securing the WEDI Panel**

After applying the joint sealant to the tub flange, you'll need to secure the WEDI panel in place. To do this, simply press the panels together and use a putty knife or trowel to smooth out any excess sealant. Make sure to apply enough sealant to ensure that there are no gaps between the panels.

**Applying Additional Sealant**

Once all the panels are in place, you'll need to apply additional joint sealant to all of the seams and joints. This is where the WEDI method really shines, as it creates a watertight seal that's difficult for water to penetrate. Make sure to apply plenty of sealant to each seam and smooth out any excess using a putty knife or trowel.

**Sealing the Corners**

One of the trickiest parts of the WEDI method is sealing the corners. To do this, you'll need to use a special type of sealant that's specifically designed for corner seams. This will help create a watertight seal that won't compromise even if water finds its way into the seam.

**Sealing the Tub and Panel**

To ensure that there are no gaps between the tub and the WEDI panel, you'll need to apply additional joint sealant to both areas. Use a putty knife or trowel to smooth out any excess sealant and make sure that there are no air pockets or bubbles.

**Sealing the Shower Arm and Spout**

Finally, it's time to seal the shower arm and spout. To do this, you'll need to create a little "dam" using joint sealant around each of these areas. This will help prevent water from seeping behind these areas and causing damage.

**Tips and Tricks for a Successful Installation**

When installing WEDI, it's essential to use the right materials and techniques. Here are some tips and tricks to keep in mind:

* Use plenty of joint sealant to ensure that all seams and joints are watertight.

* Make sure to smooth out any excess sealant using a putty knife or trowel.

* Use a special type of sealant for corner seams to create a watertight seal.

* Apply additional sealant to areas where water may seep in, such as around the shower arm and spout.

* Take your time and work carefully when applying WEDI – it's worth the extra effort.

**The Benefits of Using WEDI**

So why should you use WEDI for your next shower installation? Here are just a few benefits:

* It creates a watertight seal that's difficult for water to penetrate

* It's easy to install and requires minimal materials

* It's highly effective at preventing leaks and water damage

* It comes with a 10-year warranty, giving you peace of mind

**Conclusion**

Waterproofing a shower can be a daunting task, but the WEDI method makes it easier than ever. By following these steps and using the right materials and techniques, you can create a watertight seal that will keep your shower safe and dry for years to come.

For more information on WEDI and how to use it, be sure to check out our online store or visit bathroomrepairtutor.com. We offer free online courses and expert advice to help you build a shower that's both functional and beautiful.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enSo what’s one of the fastest ways to waterproofa shower? Well, in our opinion it’s theWEDI method using WEDI building panels. Nowthat’s not the only option out there, butif you want to learn how to waterproof a showerfast and easily and do it to make it rocksolid, then WEDI is a great option for you.So today we’re going to show you how touse the WEDI Tub Surround Kit to waterproofa shower surround, and in the end it’s goingto be a lot easier for you to do after youwatch our tips and tricks. So make sure youwatch the video the whole way through becausewe’re going to have other information foryou at the end that might be very helpful.This is the WEDI Tub Surround Kit, and whatit entails is five sheets of the board—3x5sheets. So this is enough to do a typicaltub surround with an 8 ft ceiling. It givesyou five tubes of the sealant for everything.And it gives you the washers and screws—100of each. So this will give you more than enoughto waterproof your tub surround.Another option that you can also purchase—thisis in addition to the Tub Surround Kit—isa premade niche. This one is 16” x 22”premade niche. And then this is if you wantedto tile a shelf, you can do that. But in ourscenario, we’re actually just going to installit this way, just a kind of elongated shelf.Now it does say 16” x 22” but that’sactually the full dimension of the actualunit. The actual inside dimension is 12”x 18”. So keep that in mind when you purchasethis that you’re not actually getting spacefor your niche at 16”. You’re actuallygetting 12” x 18”.Before you install the niche, you’ll wantto plan the tile layout of the tub surroundor the shower surround. In this case, we mountedthe niche about 24 to 30 inches above thetub—that’s a standard height for a niche.And we made the tiles be split evenly withthe height of the niche. As you see here,Steve made an L-notch for the tiles aboveand below the niche. And this is what it lookedlike when it was finished. So as you can seehere, we planned that out to make sure thegrout joint was right in the middle of theniche.The next step is to cut the studs if you havea similar configuration. We used a circularsaw first, then a Sawzall. And make sure thatthe stud wall is not load-bearing before youdo this. That’s very, very important. Butwe’re cutting out the studs so that we canfit in the niche. What Steve is doing hereis adding a 2x4 using two 3 inch deck screwsper 2x4 to mount it in place. So he’s gothis 2x4 above and below the existing structure,places the niche in it to make sure that it’scentered, and then taps in 2x4s in this directioninstead of the traditional direction so thathe can put in his backer board right nextto the prefabricated niche. So again, justusing two 3 inch deck screws per stud forthe installation makes for a solid installation.So there you go. Now you give yourself a littlebit of wiggle room when you do this, and makesure that the niche is actually centered.The next step is to tack ¼ inch pieces ofplywood to that back wall. Now we’re usinga roofing nailer. You don’t have to usea roofing nailer. You can just use 2 inchdeck screws. And the reason why we’re tackingthis ¼ plywood to the stud walls so thatwe can drop the panel over the tub lip. Afteryou do that, you want to apply a nice beadof WEDI joint sealant to the tub lip so thatyou then drop that WEDI panel over it. Nowyou’re going to have to notch out for thetub lip as you can see here in the corner.But you’ll drop that panel over and thenmark the position of the studs on the paneland also the location of the niche on thepanel. That way you’ll be able to cut outfor it. But that’s what Steve is doing here.And then he applies his first screw six inchesabove the tub lip so that that lip doesn’tblow out and adversely affect the tile job.Then you place your screws and washers every8 to 12 inches after that.We used a Fine Multimaster oscillating multi-toolto cut out the niche; it makes it so mucheasier and faster. But you can use a utilityknife as well. So as you can see here, Steveis just cutting that to size, applying a WEDIjoint sealant on top of the panel. So youwant to do this for every single WEDI buildingpanel. This will seal the gap or the seam.There’s also one additional step we’llgo over here in a second. But you place yoursecond panel over top of the first one, andthen you pinch them together using screwsand washers. Again, you want a screw and washerevery 8 to 12 inches on center on the studsas Steve is doing. And then you can roughcut the rest of that shower niche location.So that’s what Steve is doing here for thetop panel.Then you place the prefabricated niche inthere, and then you just use it as a templateto cut out more of the building panel to havea perfect fit. And that’s really easy todo with that Multimaster. Then apply the WEDIjoint sealant to all the exposed blue materialof the WEDI building panel, place your nichein that recess, and then use a screw and awasher for every corner, like Steve is doinghere; it makes it a nice, solid installation.That niche isn’t going anywhere. Then again,apply your screws and washers every 8 to 12inches for that second panel. Apply WEDI jointsealant on top of it. And then we had to adda little piece of WEDI building panel to completethat main wall.The nice thing about WEDI building panelsis the ability to cut them using a utilityknife. Steve’s cutting out this panel forthe plumbing wall. He’s placing this panelover top of the tub spout, pounding it markan indentation on the back, and then cuttingout the location of the spout with a spadebit. He did the exact same thing for the mixingvalve, but just cut that out using a utilityknife.We’re using the iBox mixing valve, and itcomes with a black bracket which you wantto be flush with the studs so that when youput your WEDI panel over top of it, it willset the location of the tile to be withina min-max zone. So Steve is applying the jointsealant to the corner there, and also to thetop of the tub lip or the tub lip itself.He’s also applying joint sealant to thatblack bracket on the iBox and then compressingthe WEDI building panel into all of that jointsealant to make a nice, watertight seal forthe shower. Then he’s installing his screwsand washers every 8 to 12 inches, just likehe did for the main wall. Steve repeated thisprocess on the back wall. The WEDI joint sealantgoes in the corner again and on top of thetub lip because we’ll be placing the WEDIpanel on top of the tub lip, not over it.And that’s what we did for the plumbingwall as well. So compress it, put the firstscrew 6 inches above the tub, and then ifyou have to, you can cut the panel while it’sin place to get a nice, tight fit with theexisting drywall. By the way, we’re usinghalf inch WEDI building panel obviously soit matches up and is nice and flush with thatdrywall.Steve had to cut out some existing drywallwith the Multimaster to fit that panel inplace. Again, he just pounded or indentedthe back of it with the shower arm and thencut out that hole using a spade bit. He dryfit it. Again, had to make some minor cutswith a utility knife. Applied joint sealantto the top of that first panel and in thecorner. And then place that second WEDI panelover top of the first and then just evenlyspaced out the screws.After we completed the front plumbing wall,we went back to the back wall and added asection of panel. Now we had a little sliverof WEDI that needed to meet up with that secondpiece. And we added the joint sealant to itinstead of the top of that second piece ofWEDI building panel and then screwed it inplace.So the nice thing about WEDI is you can customfit it to any size and shape. Because ourtub flange outside of the tub where it meetsup with the drywall sticks out a little bit,we created a dado there. And Steve appliedsome WEDI joint sealant to that tub flangewhere it met up with the drywall and thenplaced a WEDI over top of that. And that createda nice, tight seal. And then he just screwedit in place using a few screws and washers.Now on the front plumbing wall, we had toactually split the WEDI in half, apply a generousamount of the joint sealant to the tub flange,and then just float that WEDI over top ofit; we actually didn’t screw it in place.Then we added another joint seal between theWEDI and the tub. So we did that for boththe front and the back of the tub for a watertightseal.Once all the panels are in place, apply WEDIjoint sealant to all of the corners. In thecorner, you want to add a lot of joint sealant;be very, very generous with it. That’s goingto be a spot where you’ll also want to flattenit out using the WEDI corner trowel. Thisis only a few bucks; it’s well worth it.It make a nice, tight seam. And then applythe joint sealant to all seams, especiallyaround that niche. And then you smooth itout using a 3 inch putty knife. And so thatwill give you a nice, watertight seal betweenall of the WEDI panels. And then apply jointsealant to the screws and washers. If youmissed any of the screws and washers, go backand get them. If you created a hole in theWEDI that went the whole way through the WEDIbuilding panel, you’ll also want to fillthat with joint sealant.Then where the WEDI panel meets the tub lip,fill in that gap with the joint sealant andthen smooth it out using your putty knife.That will create a watertight seal betweenthe WEDI building panel and the tub, so dothat for the back and the front wall. Remember,on the main wall we didn’t have to do this;we’ll go over that in a second. And thenwe apply WEDI joint sealant over top of theHansgrohe iBox for additional waterproofing.And then where your shower arm sticks out,you want to create a little horseshoe or circularjoint seal around that to prevent water fromgoing behind this area. So do the same thingfor the tub spout. Create just a little damusing the joint sealant. And that way, ifany water gets behind the tile, it won’tgo behind the wall.So again, for that main wall we just suppliedan additional bead of WEDI joint sealant betweenthe tub and the panel and then smooth it outusing a putty knife. So a really good ideais to make sure that that area next to thetub is watertight using the joint sealant.Now you can apply WEDI joint sealant betweenthe building panel and the drywall section.We just didn’t do it in this case becauseit’s on the back wall. But you can do thatif you want.So this is what our WEDI looked like afterwe were done. It only took us a few hoursto do this, and that included making a videotutorial, so it’s super quick. And we knowthat all the tile is waterproof behind. It’sall waterproof behind this travertine tileon the shower. So, really great project ifyou’re waterproofing a shower.So that’s how you waterproof a shower usingthe WEDI method. Now if you’re interestedin WEDI and want to learn more about it, youcan check it out over on bathroomrepairtutor.comand then visit our online store. So we dosell WEDI, and the reason why is we’ve usedit on several projects. It’s rock solid.It comes with a 10-year warranty. And many,many other installers respect that process.So we wanted to make it available to you andalso help you pick out the right materialsfor whatever shower you’re building. Andthat’s one of the things we do over on ouronline store. Before you buy WEDI or any ofthe other materials, you send us an email,you tell us a little bit about your showerthat you’re building. Maybe you send ussome pictures, and then we put together alist of the materials we think could helpyou out and actually cut down on the costas well. So you can check that out over onbathroomrepairtutor.com.And also, if you want one of our free onlinecourses, you can click right here to get that.And that’ll help you build a shower a loteasier, faster, and better. So again, youcan click right here to check out both bathroomrepairtutor.comand our free online course.That’s it for today. Hopefully this videohelped you out. And we’ll talk to you soon.Take care.\n"