Heated Schluter Curbless Shower Pan - Schluter Curbless Shower (Part 7)

Heating a Curbless Shower with DITRA-HEAT Cables: A Comprehensive Guide

It's a little bit cold in Pittsburgh today, so our video is really appropriate. We're going to show you how to heat a curbless shower using DITRA-HEAT cables. Specifically, we'll be showing you how to install DITRA-HEAT cables in the curbless shower area. To begin with, it's essential to understand the basics of DITRA-HEAT technology. The system consists of a heat mat, a control panel, and a series of electrical connections.

The first step is to prepare the floor for the installation process. This includes ensuring that the floor is level, clean, and dry. Any old adhesive or flooring material must be removed before installing the DITRA-HEAT mat. The mat itself is designed to be thin and flexible, making it easy to cut to size using a utility knife or a saw.

Once the floor is prepared, the next step is to install the electrical connections for the heat mat. This involves connecting the mat to the control panel and ensuring that all wires are securely fastened to the surrounding flooring material. It's crucial to follow the manufacturer's instructions when installing these connections to avoid any potential safety hazards.

After the electrical connections have been installed, the DITRA-HEAT mat can be placed on top of the floor. The mat is designed to be thin and flexible, making it easy to cut to size using a utility knife or a saw. It's essential to ensure that the mat is properly aligned with the surrounding flooring material to avoid any gaps or unevenness.

The next step is to install the control panel, which is typically located in a nearby room or outside of the bathroom area. The control panel allows you to regulate the temperature and monitor the system's performance. It's essential to ensure that the control panel is properly installed and connected to the heat mat to avoid any issues with the system's operation.

To complete the installation process, it's necessary to apply a layer of adhesive material to the floor before installing the DITRA-HEAT membrane. The membrane itself is designed to be waterproof and provides an additional layer of protection against moisture and water damage.

Once the DITRA-HEAT membrane has been installed, the next step is to install the curbless shower pan. The curbless shower pan is designed to provide a smooth, seamless transition from the floor to the wall. To ensure that the installation process is successful, it's essential to follow the manufacturer's instructions carefully.

Before installing the DITRA-HEAT membrane and curbless shower pan, it's necessary to apply thinset material to the surrounding flooring material. The thinset material helps to provide a solid bond between the floor and the wall, ensuring that the installation process is successful. It's essential to follow the manufacturer's instructions carefully when applying the thinset material.

After the thinset material has been applied, the DITRA-HEAT membrane can be installed on top of the curbless shower pan. The membrane itself is designed to provide an additional layer of protection against moisture and water damage. To ensure that the installation process is successful, it's essential to follow the manufacturer's instructions carefully.

To complete the installation process, it's necessary to trim the thinset material around the edges of the curbless shower pan. This ensures that there are no gaps or unevenness in the installation. Once the trimming has been completed, the next step is to apply a layer of adhesive material to the surrounding flooring material.

The final step is to install the tile and grout. The tile should be cut to size using a tile cutter or a wet saw, and then applied to the curbless shower pan using a notched trowel. It's essential to follow the manufacturer's instructions carefully when applying the tile and grout to ensure that the installation process is successful.

After the tile has been installed, the next step is to apply thinset material to the surrounding flooring material. The thinset material helps to provide a solid bond between the floor and the wall, ensuring that the installation process is successful. It's essential to follow the manufacturer's instructions carefully when applying the thinset material.

Once the thinset material has been applied, the tile can be grouted using a grout float. The grout should be applied in a consistent pattern, working from one end of the wall to the other. Once the grouting has been completed, the final step is to clean up any excess grout and inspect the installation for any gaps or unevenness.

Tiling the Shower Walls: A Step-by-Step Guide

In our previous article, we discussed how to heat a curbless shower using DITRA-HEAT cables. Now that the floor has been installed, it's time to move on to tiling the shower walls. This involves installing tile on the walls surrounding the curbless shower area.

To begin with, it's essential to prepare the wall surfaces by cleaning and drying them thoroughly. Any old adhesive or grout material must be removed before installing the new tile. The next step is to apply a layer of thinset material to the wall surface using a notched trowel. This provides a solid bond between the wall and the tile, ensuring that the installation process is successful.

Once the thinset material has been applied, the tile can be installed on top of the wall using a level. It's essential to ensure that the tile is properly aligned with the surrounding flooring material to avoid any gaps or unevenness. The tile should be cut to size using a tile cutter or a wet saw, and then applied to the wall surface using a notched trowel.

After the tile has been installed, the next step is to apply thinset material to the surrounding flooring material. This helps to provide a solid bond between the floor and the wall, ensuring that the installation process is successful. It's essential to follow the manufacturer's instructions carefully when applying the thinset material.

Once the thinset material has been applied, the tile can be grouted using a grout float. The grout should be applied in a consistent pattern, working from one end of the wall to the other. Once the grouting has been completed, the final step is to clean up any excess grout and inspect the installation for any gaps or unevenness.

Installing the Finishing Touches

Once the tile has been installed, it's time to add the finishing touches to the curbless shower area. This includes installing a drain cover, trim, and any other decorative elements that will enhance the appearance of the shower.

The final step is to inspect the installation for any gaps or unevenness and make any necessary adjustments before completing the project. It's essential to ensure that all connections are secure and watertight to avoid any issues with the system's performance.

In conclusion, installing a curbless shower using DITRA-HEAT cables requires careful planning, preparation, and execution. By following these step-by-step instructions and adhering to the manufacturer's guidelines, you can create a functional and beautiful curbless shower that enhances the functionality of your bathroom.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enIt’s a little bit cold in Pittsburgh today,so our video is really appropriate. We’regoing to show you how to heat a curbless shower.So, specifically we’re going to show youhow to heat a Schluter curbless shower usingDITRA-HEAT cables. We’re also going to giveyou tips on how to waterproof that entireshower floor and start the tiling process.Here’s the deal: in our prior tutorials,we showed you how to install DITRA-HEAT matover top of our wood subfloor and next tothe Schluter KERDI line channel body and insidethe curbless shower. So you can check outthose tutorials.We also have a video that shows you how topull the wiring through the box and how toinstall the heat cable over top of the DITRA-HEATmat outside the shower.Now, in today’s video, we’re going toshow you how to install the DITRA-HEAT cableinside the curbless shower.The next step after running the heat cablein the main bathroom floor area was to applySchluter ALL-SET—this is their thinset mortar—overtop of the seams, and waterproof those seamsusing Schluter’s KERDI-BAND. Now, this isultra-important outside of the curbless showerarea. And in particular, this is the seamright outside the curbless shower pan. Sowe waterproof that using the KERDI-BAND, andyou want to flatten that as much as possible.The same thing goes up against your pipe that’scoming up out of the floor for the toilet.You want to add KERDI-BAND over top of SchluterALL-SET and water proof that, so that if thereis a leak, it won’t go down through thetoilet pipe.In our prior tutorial, we showed you how toembed the cold splice sub-flush with the DITRA-HEATmat. But here what we are doing is applyingmore ALL-SET over top of the cold splice andthen adding the Schluter KERDI-BANG over topof it. And what that’ll do is push downthe cold splice.And then we ran our floor sensor in a zigzagpattern and put that in the center of thefloor so that it can sense whether the flooris going to be hot or cold. The rest of theSchluter ALL-SET was used over top of theDITRA-HEAT studs to fill in those groovesand to prep the floor for tile.This next part is critical. You want to keepthe heat cable at least two inches away fromthe channel body. And what we did here iswe cut a groove out of the KERDI-BOARD sothat our heat cable could go over that grooveand sit flush with the top of the KERDI-BOARD.Now what we’re going to do is fill thatgroove in with thinset and then apply KERDI-BANDover top of it. Make sure you follow yourlocal electrical code when doing this.Once the DITRA-HEAT cable was inside the curblessshower area, we followed Schluter’s handbookfor the DITRA-HEAT and made sure that thecable was at least four inches away from thecenter of the drain for our channel body.That’s also a really important principleto follow.We did a three-stud spacing inside the curblessshower, and that worked out perfectly forour planning purposes.We cut a two-inch piece of PVC to size sothat it would fit in the rubber Fernco thatcomes with the channel body. So we’re justtightening that PVC pipe to that Fernco andapplying ample amount of Schluter ALL-SETinto the studs of the DITRA-HEAT mat. We’regoing to do that on both sides of the channelbody. That way, when you dry fit this, you’llget a good idea of how the channel body isgoing to fit. And so we just dry fit this,and then we both primed and added cement toour PVC both inside the coupling and on thesurface of that pipe. So we got our drainin place, then we applied thinset into thatgroove that we cut out for the DITRA-HEATcables and then smoothed out the KERDI-BANDthat’s on the channel body, both over theDITRA-HEAT and on the wall. So we’re justsmoothing out and applying thinset to thewall here, and then we’re making sure thatthat KERDI-BAND is going to fit nice and tightto both the DITRA-HEAT mat and the wall. Youwant to get that as smooth as possible soyou don’t have any issues with the tile.Once the channel body was set, so appliedmore ALL-SET to the main DITRA-HEAT mat that’sin the curbless shower area. Filled all ofthat and then applied our big piece of KERDImembrane over top f the heat cables and theshower pan. We just embedded that in placeusing a grout float, making sure that we don’thave a ton of thinset between the shower panand the KERDI membrane.Now before we did that, we actually appliedthinset to the walls and added KERDI-BANDin the corners and over top all of the seamsthat are inside the shower. So we actuallydid this before we added the KERDI membraneover top of the curbless shower pan area.So again, you want two-inch minimum overlapon your seams with your KERDI-BAND and smoothingout any of the thinset with a six-inch drywallknife really helps out. The other thing thatwe did here is we applied thinset around ourrough-in valve and added the mixing valveseal. Now note: it is backwards, and the reasonwhy that’s the case is because of our Kohlervalve. We had to set it backwards but onlybecause of that particular rough-in valve.Now, we added thinset over top of the pipethat’s coming out of the wall for our showerhead, and we added another seal to seal offthat area.The next step was to apply thinset to boththe KERDI-BOARD and the KERDI membrane overtop of the curbless shower, then embed theKERDI-BAND into that. So remember to keepthe two-inch overlap between the KERDI-BANDand any change of plane. Super important perthe Schluter handbook. So the plumbing wallalso got this. And we trimmed, in this case,the KERDI-BAND to size using scissors becauseit’s just so much better than the utilityknife whenever you’re trying to trim-fitit against that channel body. So all threewalls got the KERDI-BAND. Then for the twoinside corners, we applied thinset to thewalls and the KERDI over the curbless showerpan and embedded the inside corners to makesure that this complete curbless shower installationwas 100% waterproof.Tiling the shower pan began by doing a drylayout to see how these hex tile would work,and we used the MiniPiuma to cut all of them.This is a really great tool. As you can see,we went with a half-pattern at the wall, leavingour expansion and contraction joint. A ¼”x ¼” square notch trowel was used for thesesix-inch hex tiles. We wiped down the KERDImembrane with a damp sponge and then burnedthinset with the flat side of the trowel,and then added more thinset using the notchedside, again using directional troweling foroptimum coverage. These tiles were back-butteredto make sure that the bond was optimal betweenthe tile and the KERDI membrane. We pulledup one of the tiles to make sure that we gotthe coverage that we wanted. And as you cansee here, it was really consistent and good.Now, we spaced the tile such that the walltile would hide the gap. We also used theseTuscan seam clips for tile leveling. Thisreally helped out a lot with these hex tilesand helped the tile look great. You can seethat our pattern worked out wonderfully.We removed that grate and cleaned it off becauseit’s never a good idea to have thinset inthe grate or the channel body. And the nicething with this pattern and with the tileablegrate, you can have a seamless transitionfrom the curbless shower into the main bathroomfloor area, and we’re really happy withthis layout.It’s so cold that my eyes are watering.Now, in the next video we’re going to giveyou tips on how to tile the shower walls insidethis Schluter curbless shower, so make sureyou stay tuned for that. And remember, ifyou want more detailed tips and tricks onhow to remodel a bathroom, check out BathroomRepair Tutor. It’s awesome, and it’lldefinitely help you out with your project.Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you inthe next tutorial.\n"