DIY project: Shower – update #2

Our diy project: Shower – days #6 – 8.

cement backer boardroofing felt, cement backer board, mastic, grout, screws, scoring knifeIt has been a while since I updated you on this project and (check it out herehere and here), while I did make quite some progress, it is still nothing to show for really. But I will tell you about it anyhow. While David was in Germany a couple of weeks ago, I had planned to do a whole lot of work on the shower. Starting with getting the tiles and mastic and grout and the necessary tools. Since we have not tiled before, we did not have any. Checking HomeDepot and Lowes was pretty disappointing. While they have some tiles in store, the vast majority can be found online. However, we found one we liked and I happily ordered it for local pick up. A few hours later I got the message that it was ready, so I picked it up the next morning. The cement board fit nicely into our cars back as you can see.  But, unfortunately, I had to return the tiles. Because they did not have the necessary quantity anymore. They were supposed to according to their inventory, but – we all now how that goes. My options to get tiles were pretty limited. Either go to a specialty store, which I would have had to search for first and be way more expensive, or order online. Which I ended up doing. Cement backer boardDelivery was pretty slow though and we only received the tiles at the end of last week. With other words, the shower is still not done. And we have not quite decided yet, if we like and will keep the tiles.

roofing feltBut before tiling there was a lot of other handy work to be done. Remember, I left off the divider being a wooden framework and lots of rubble around it. Reading through a lot of websites and diy forums, I decided to put roofing felt over the wood as a vapor barrier and only then cover it with cement backer board. With quite a bit of muscle work and lots of sweat (it was hot and humid during that week!) I managed to cut the board to the required pieces for all sides of the divider in our garage. I was a little bit nervous, because 1) I had never done this before and 2) it was going to be final, so it had to fit or I would have to do it all over again. Divider covered by backer boardAfter a while I had the board cut up and I carried the individual pieces upstairs and tried a dry fit – looked pretty good. Some rough edges needed a little smoothing, but apart from that I happily started putting in the special screws to fix the boards onto the wood frame. I then sealed the seems with silicon. And in order to have fixed and exact corners I also applied corner beads made from galvanized metal.

Et voilà, this is how our shower stall looks for now. Until we have decided on the tiles and I will continue.

4 thoughts on “DIY project: Shower – update #2”

    • Thanks, Debbi. I sometimes think it is a curse to be a ‘Jill-of-all-trades’. Maybe I should be ‘Mrs. Handy-Woman’? While I would love to give yours a shot, I think the traveling costs would kill the deal 😉

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    • I really, really hope it is going to look nice! And, of course, that we will have stopped the leaking. Then, YES, I will be relieved. And probably a slight little bit proud, too 🙂

      Reply

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