Ironwood Builders Are you thinking of a curbless shower? I'm not quite understanding your goal. maybe you can post a floor plan and explain in a bit more detail so we can help.

S. Thomas Kutch Here's the down low Kester............. mortar is porous, cement boards are porous, green board is water resistant........not waterproof.. Why re-invent the wheel? Yes Schluter systems are expensive, but they work.........how much is your peace of mind worth?

Had a client who had the same concerns for a 2nd floor laundry center........the wife wanted it, the husband balked at the expense. Long story short he gave into the cost of the Schluter water proofing, a couple of weeks after moving into their brand new custom home, they went on a vacation get away to celebrate all their hard work................defective cold water hose on the washer ruptured while they were gone. Thanks to the waterproofing membrane and the floor drain, the only damage was the hose and to his water bill (almost 8,000 gals down the drain). He thanked me profusely after that in suggesting the system we installed...........had we not done that, they would have had a huge mess and expense on a brand new home (hardwood floors, venetian plastered walls down stairs)..... 8,000 gals. of water will do an amazing amount of damage in a home.

kesler_f Gentleman, thank you for replying!

Ironwood my question is not at the inside of the shower....and its not a curbless shower. It's at the typ wall condition, only have tile inside the shower. Sorry no plan drawing at hand.

STK, to your point correct......it's my fear and knowing that if it ever happens, spending the extra money would be the safe thing to do.....yes peace of mind. That's that conflict i have been having, expense vs. peace of mind. It's why i wanted to ask if they're other options.

STK, did you do the entrire floor to the perimeter with the schluter sytem and how height did you go up? Or just at the perimeter where the wall meets the floor?

I have attched a quick section sketch, the red is where i want to waterproof.

thanks again.

kesler_f any feedback?

lewis + smith It is not clear what the source of the water is going to be. Are you concerned about fllooding via the toilet or the sink? If these are your concerns I think you might be overly worried. Your tile setter can run a similar membrane up the wall that is used in the shower pan. Schluter is expensive for what it is and a regular rubber membrane is sufficient. Even the detail you are proposed exceeds 99% of the bathrooms I have been involved with. The laundry room condition is a different story though. For some reason, there are always problems with washing machines overflowing or the supply hoses failing.

kesler_f Sink and toilet are the main concern if that ever happens. Of course the shower will have a curb. Could you please elaborate more on the "tile setter up the wall" and you mention "runbber membrane"... what it is and how it works relative to my detail if you don't mind.
thanks.

Deborah Butler, Brickwood Builders The membrane is the normal flexible shower pan liner that is used in tile showers. But I don't believe you can take it up the wall with the configuration that you have outlined of having a standard wood base molding. You would need to tile the walls to use the flexible pan.

You need to realize that the example STK gave above only worked because there had to be a drain out in the floor of that laundry room. Just having a liner or waterproofing does not contain significant amounts of water. You can't make a room into an acquarium. You will have to install a secondary drain in the floor of the bath if you want to manage the potential of overflows. I have never seen that done, but guess it could be. I wouldn't however put a water heater or laundry upstairs without a drain to control water mishaps.

If you are tiling the floor, I would use the standard permabase (cement board) and waterproof it well with a paint on waterproofing (Laticrete hydro ban is a good product) just like you would use in your shower. Install your tile floor and then install your baseboard as you wish to do.

lewis + smith I think Brickwood Builders have sufficiently answered the question. I was saying you can run a continuous membrane under the floor tile and up the wall. You will have penetrations where you nail the base though. But the reality is that you are just kicking the can down the road if there is no floor drain. The water will just move out the door. I have never come across an exposed floor drain in a second floor bathroom.

Norm Walters Construction Inc. Laticrete hydroban can be applied to the shower walls, mortar bed, curb, floor and is a little less expensive than the Schluter-Kerdi system. I don't use the Schluter system as I have talked to their reps and they haven't explained to my satisfaction how laps on any material become waterproof using unmodified thinset as the sealant. I have however used Noble Seal TS membrane that uses an actual sealant for the laps.

S. Thomas Kutch Kesler, sorry I didn't see your secondary question. The answer is yes, we did the whole floor with the Schluter system and ran it 8" up the walls. We used a 6" tile for the base that matched floor tile and lapped the drywall over the remaining 2". Others are right we did install a floor drain with a self priming feed to it to keep the trap filled. I'm not sure you would want that in your bathroom.... though I guess you could you do it ..........in my thinking though if you're really concerned about that situation arising you could eliminate the curb to the shower and slope the wet area of the bathroom in such a manner that the shower drain serves as a drain point. This might require you changing your design layout some to accommodate the solution, but it might open up some design elements that you hadn't considered.

To be honest, I've never had to deal with a flood in the bathroom due to a failed sink or toilet, a sink left on, or a toilet over flow to the extent that water damage was caused downstairs...........not saying it can't happen, just that I've never dealt with one. Ten times out of ten, where I've been called into repair damage due to a bathroom incident, it was found to be faulty plumbing inside the wall (i.e. pin size hole in supply line, improper coupling connection in either the supply lines or a drain line or what turned out to be a flashing defect on the roof........