Just Kerdi the whole thing and forget about it.

CBP makes A redgard pan for their system, that way you could keep it all in the family and not deviate from MFG specs on the install.

Don't mix systems. What you can do or what you should do are completely different. Pro's will gladly help with the correct way. If your looking for a custom patchwork of waterproofing to go with your custom shower you're on your own.

To Creative Tile......So in other words, hire someone or I'm not going to help you??? Nice....Sometimes people cant afford a Pro, but still want to save money and get the job done.

For a decent size shower, you'll need to first roll on a dilute mixture of RG as a sort of primer. Now, you roll on a full strength coat, let dry and repeat with strokes perpendicular to the first. A thickness gage should be used to confirm proper coverage. At the least, you should not be able to read any printing on the board.

RG is not particularly cheap and by the time you're done, Kerdi would have been faster, easier and not much more $....and you have a warranty, as well......

Kerdi or WEDI will be the best bang for your buck.

Schluter (Kerdi), Laticrete (Hydroban) and Custom Building Products (Redgard) all make pre-sloped shower bases. So pick the system you like and use that for the walls, pan/base and drain. Stick to a single manufacturer so you don't have to guess any of the installation instructions and requirements.

Scott revives a 2 year old thread to criticize me for something I never said. Now there is new advise for the OP 2 years later:) This project might be done folks. Any wonder why Pro's are leaving Houzz or have 1 foot out the door as myself.

@Nancy Thanks. That's exactly what I wrote. Notice Joe C. has also disappeared.

Funny, I've just done the same thing as Paul originally. I like the concept of the Schluter Shower pan, but I don't want to pay the high prices for Kerdi membrane. I simply want to install the pan and meet the pan installation with a Redgard install. My son is a home builder in Texas for a large home building corporation and use Redgard in the Million dollar homes they build. I don't have a lot of money to throw at Schluter and Redgard pans weren't available where I live.

You can't possibly be talking more than several hundred bucks. Nothing compared to the cost of a leak.

We are in Massachusetts- our new shower with a Rain shower in the ceiling, started sipping out water through to the outside wall ( paints were bubbled)- no leaks from the plumbing. We just found The contractor (B) never apply the waterproof membrane over the Durock -just tile. They are using cooper pan then there were no weeping holes since B told us he never has to do that previously. Anyhow now B agreed to redone/ total gut job. I feel there is no Way we can attach the plastic membrane with the copper pan - after tearing down the shower wall and bench ( since the cooper pan was not installed under the bench, too). Not sure how happy B will be when he needs to take out the cooper pan. Is this the correct way to do so? Take out the copper pan and now we have to make decision which system: Cement board with the waterproof membrane, KERDI or WEDI. Thank you so much for your help.

Avoid it all. Hire a professional tile shower builder, this time get permits and inspections.

Mint Tile LLC-We did - it is part of our 9 months renovation- Yes - he is licensed- unfortunately he is a dinosaurus contractor- who is rare up to date / current -At least out of respect- he admits he made mistake and willing to fix the error so that we do not need to reach out to TV media or small court . I am just asking for any advises just to gain knowledge - not trying to replace or be a professional tile builder. If I have learn at the beginning, I wish this can be prevented.

Note. Strange as it may seem some of the suburbs around Boston still require copper pans. My guess. Some politician has relatives with a metal fabrication shop:)

I'm in Boston and had a shower put in several years ago and my contractor insisted on doing a copper pan. It would have been a bit of a pain to change or get another contractor in to finish the job and I was very happy with all the other work. Copper pans and felt paper or plastic behind the floated walls or Durarock is old fashioned but seems to have worked. Water that gets into the copper pan is supposed to drain through the screw threads of the drain, but I'm dubious about that working without a pre-slope and I bet those threads get mineral deposits quickly. Anyway we compromised and used a copper pan, but I had them eliminate that plastic behind the Durarock and coat the whole shower with Hydroban with me looking over their shoulder. They installed a single piece of manufactured marble on the curb to eliminate joints, caulked all the changes in tile plane and I went with a simple shower curtain to avoid other penetrations through the tile. I also have a rain head which minimizes shower spray and I wipe down the shower every time I use it. It also only gets used once a day for a couple of mins. The result is no leaks and a clean shower.

FYI there's a tile guy from Medford called Sal Diblasi who has a youtube channel that you might want to check out.

Jeff Meeks-you stated " Water that gets into the copper pan is supposed to drain through the screw threads of the drain" -are you referring as the "Weeping Holes"? Was this weeping holes done by the fabricator or the tile guys supposed to create these weeping holes? If so- my contractor DID NOT DO the weeping holes. I have a feeling that the cooper pan will need to be taken out. This is our main shower- there are 4 of us- roughly each us will spend 10-15 mins / person. I will check that Utube.

The bronze drain used on a copper pan comes in two parts. The lower part has a screw thread to accept a threaded 2" PVC adapter that gets glued over the 2" PVC waste water pipe in the floor after the the wide flange at the top is soldered to the copper pan. There is another internal thread that takes the screw in top part of the drain with the strainer that lets you adjust the finished height of the drain so that it's level with your shower mud and tile. Before you start the mud job some gravel should be placed around the exposed threads to stop the mud clogging them. Any water that gets into the pan is supposed to drain out via the threads, but I bet a lot just sits there.

Copper pans are really yesterday's technology, which is why I'm using mine as a backstop and mostly as a container for the mud job as I went over the entire shower enclosure and over the curb and 3" onto the bathroom floor with Hydroban. For the floor tile backing the contractor used 3/4" plywood over the old 1" thick floor planks and topped that off with NobleSeal TS membrane to resist cracking.

I think usage is a factor often ignored as to how a shower performs over time. I know it's a bit of a pain , but If you make take 2 mins to dry the shower walls and floor after each shower is really keeps it clean and minimizes the time water has to get through the grout. Also a rain shower head in combination with a shower curtain inside the curb keeps the curb and where it meets the wall nice and dry and that's often where there are failures.