I would recommend doing all the way up and the ceiling. The lower ceilings tend to hold in the moisture and can cause some mildew. It also can make quite a nice visual when the ceiling is covered.

Also, make sure that if you do a glass door, that it allows the stem to escape.

i'd do the bulkhead and to the ceiling.

Ninigret would you do the ceiling too?

Take it to the ceiling and stop there. Don't tile the ceiling.

no, i wouldnt tile the ceiling, that always makes me feel claustrophobic.

Christine - Please, please , for your own protection, post your questions on the Tile Forum Advice board. Some of the best tile professionals will help you along, step by correct step. I can't recommend them enough.

You want to get this right the first time, especially the shower, and a shower bench. It's so easy to get the waterproofing wrong. With showers, every step depends on the previous step. Too many showers leak after a couple of years use. Even contractors get showers wrong. That's a very expensive redo, no easy fix. Often it can only be done by ripping everything out and starting over. Post your project there and have the guys help you step by step, and you will sleep soundly at night, sure that your shower is not a time bomb.

8 years ago, we did our kids/hall bathroom. We couldn't have done it without the help that we got on the Tile Forum. Thanks to the generous help from the professionals there, I can say it turned out to be a great success.

You can see the (slow) progress of our project here (pics of finished bathroom on page 7).

For just some photos in the Alummi Photo album, click here: "Ellie's hall bathroom"(scroll down to the 5th project).

And please post progress photos and a reveal here. We love pictures!

Best of luck with your remodel.

What Sophie and modelly said, above. That shower bench needs water proofing that works 100%.

I'd follow modelly's advice. Even if you have contractors doing the work. I hear of too many failing showers done by builders.

modelly - wow, lucky kids! That's a beautiful bathroom, so bright and fresh. What a pleasure it must be to step into this sunny room, first thing in the morning. Congrats!

I would do the first one up the walls and to the ceiling and the second one for the ground of the shower but it’s up to you any way it will look great

Don’t teach your gramma to suck eggs, one hit wonder. No wood in a shower. Ever. It moves too much with normal humidity variations. No wood curbs, no wood benches. It causes cracks, even with Kerdi over it. No wood. KerdiKoolAid drinkers might put drywall in a shower, but no one with any real field experience with a leaky valve would ever do that. Mush. Smelly mush.

Redo. Before one tile is set.

Thats why these overly complex waterproofing systems make zero sense. So you put a non waterproof substrate just to cover it with a waterproof substrate. You add at least three different ways for failure vs one. Then add all the mixing of products and nobody testing if it works till five years later.

The waterproofing police hear a word and just keep repeating it. Cement board and roofing felt air plastic is acceptable in most building codes in residential housing in a non steam shower. Do a real mud job and its usually faster anyway.

Some regions use plain old 2s's and exterior plywood and they "Hot Mop" coat them. Stinks the entire place up buy it is just about bulletproof and simple.

Make sure to water proof each millimeter of your shower and then use tile. I would tile it all the way to the ceiling but not the ceiling and I would recommend ceramic tile as an affordable option. There are numerous ceramic tile designs and colors and many interesting ways to use them in shower. You can play with various tones of the same color, introduce contrast, or put accent on shower borders. You can find some interesting ideas here.

Hello,

I just came upon this discussion and thought I’d add my two cents. My husband and I are building a house with six weeks left to go on the build. Our shower was done last week. Our contractor is known for not cutting any corners and researches which products perform the absolute best. They used the Kerdi-Schlüter System, which upon my own research seems to be regarded as the best to use to achieve a waterproof tight bond. I hope this helps!

Food for thought. Drywall has not been approved for wet areas since 2006. doesn't matter what you put on the face. Moisture/condensation/vapor forming or plumbing issues in a wall cavity can cause damage from behind. Manufacturers that approve this application (there are a few) will say their system didn't fail it was the wall board. Consider this. USG manufactures drywall and has a superior membrane to Kerdi yet they will not allow this method. That should give consumers something to think about.

Are the bulkhead and the seat the same depth?...and what sort of tiles are you using?....this seems like a case where the tiles need to be selected and arranged to make this look like a special feature rather than an odd mistake...

I would probably either lose the plywood seat and cover with Durock before Kerdi or paint with HydroBan, cover with drywall or cement board and Kerdi.

I have no problems with drywall under Kerdi as long as all seams have a 2" overlap. Never had one leak.

Tile to the ceiling, but stop it there.....

I wouldn't tile the ceiling. its gonna feel like your in those tiled tunnels. go up to the ceiling with tile and stop there. also its gonna be too overdone if there is tile in the whole bathroom. you need different textures to give the bathroom personality.

Avanti my point was the shower system can fail behind the waterproofing. I could put cardboard on the wall and waterproof it. Certainly cardboard is not allowed in a wet area and neither is drywall. If the drywall manufacturer states their product is not to be used in a wet area why is it OK for a shower system manufacturer to say a product that is not theirs is acceptable. All they are saying is that they can bond to it. Any failure will be followed up with our system worked as it was designed unfortunately the wallboard failed.