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How to Avoid Schluter System Install Mistakes | Pro Tips for Homeowners - YouTube
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So in this video I want to talk about Schluter
systems and five common problems and mistakes
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that I see people making all the time. These
are expensive systems, they are great for
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waterproofing, but if you make these mistakes,
they can lead to leaks, and I don鈥檛 want
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to see that happen to you. Also, stick around
because I have a quick pro tip that will make
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it much faster for you installing these.
So the first mistake is not having your studs
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in line with one another. Foam board, cement
board, anything that鈥檚 half-inch thickness,
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if your studs aren鈥檛 in line with one another,
you can end up with a dip and create a problem
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for your tiling installation. Making tile
easier for installing requires a flat surface.
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So making sure that your studs are even with
one another is super important. Most half-inch
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boards are going to require your studs to
be 16 inches on center. So making sure that
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your distance between the studs is 16 is really
important. The one common bathroom that I
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typically see this is usually an issue with
is removing one-piece fiber glass surrounds.
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The main reason is because the people that
were installing these things, they don鈥檛
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really care about the stud placement. The
framers know that there are going to be one-pieces
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and there鈥檚 a lot of fudge room to basically
install these things, and it doesn鈥檛 really
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matter whether they鈥檙e in line with another.
So it can be frustrating, but there are solutions
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to making sure that your studs stay in line
with another. Really two simple ways to do
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it. One, furring out the studs with an appropriate
sized amount of plywood. If you鈥檙e safe,
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you鈥檙e 录-inch or more, you can use plywood
strips to fur that out. You could also plane
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down one of the studs are actually not aligned
with one another using a hand planer or an
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electric planer. And then third is to actually
sister on entire new studs if it鈥檚 really
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bad. This might help more with studs that
are completely out of plumb. Plumbness is
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going to make it easier installing your shower
doors and also your tile work as well. So
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number one is to always make sure that your
framing is sound for the new installation
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of these boards.
Okay, so the second problem or mistake that
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I see is with using KERDI-BOARD and not having
enough screws. It sounds like a really simple
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thing to not happen. A lot of these kits,
they come with 100 packs of screws, and you
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want to be installing these screws and washers
in the appropriate way that Schluter wants.
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So you want it within 12 inches on the walls.
And then on the ceilings, you鈥檙e going to
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want it every 6 inches. So you鈥檙e going
to use a lot more screws for that. I know
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this is a simple rule, but I see it all the
time where people run out of the screws and
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washers, and then they just go ahead and finish
the shower. And then there鈥檚 like bowing
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or, you know, the board can actually move.
So make sure that you have enough screws.
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One other tip I want to give you on covering
the screws and finishing them is I like to
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get some extra KERDI-BAND and just actually
do full seams from top to bottom covering
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all those screws. I find it a little bit easier
than cutting just the regular squares and
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then patching each one. I think that using
just full bands is a lot easier. So if you鈥檙e
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buying a kit, it might be a good idea to buy
an extra roll of KERDI so that you鈥檙e able
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to do this a lot more efficiently.
So the third mistake that I see has to do
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with trowel sizing. This also goes along with
my last tip as well, so stick around because
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both of these are equally as important. But
trowel size is really important when you鈥檙e
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installing the pans, when you鈥檙e installing
the KERDI-BAND, or if you鈥檙e installing
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the DITRA-HEAT or DITRA-MAT. All of them actually
use different size trowels, so you have to
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be really particular with making sure that
you鈥檙e using the right ones. So for KERDI-BAND,
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going over KERDI-BOARD or going over drywall,
you want to use a KERDI trowel. They actually
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make a specific trowel for KERDI. But it is
essentially just 1/8 x 1/8-inch square notch
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trowel. For setting your shower pans, you
want to be using a 录 x 3/8-inch square or
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U notch trowel. And then for DITRA, they actually
have a specific trowel for DITRA, which is
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11/64, pretty much a 3/16-inch notch trowel.
And then for DITRA-HEAT, you want to be using
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a 录 x 录. We鈥檒l actually put all those
trowels in the links below because I really
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think it鈥檚 important. If you鈥檙e doing
more than one bathroom of if you鈥檙e doing
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a large bathroom, I think it鈥檚 really important
to buy the trowels along with this. And the
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main reason that the trowel size is important
is it has to do with build-up and making sure
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that you don鈥檛 have any humps or trying
to squeeze out too much thinset underneath
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of it. The system really requires having the
proper amount of thinset when putting these
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waterproofing materials together. It makes
sure that the system will be leak-proof.
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Problem number four that鈥檚 very common with
Schluter systems is having build-up in your
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corners. It can be really frustrating when
you鈥檙e trying to install tile and having
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build-up in all of your corners. Build-up
usually coincides with not using the right
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size trowel because if you have a bigger size
trowel, you鈥檙e putting too much thinset,
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and it鈥檚 creating more build-up. But sometimes,
the build-up is just from what you鈥檙e building.
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If you鈥檙e installing a curb or if you鈥檙e
putting a bench in or a niche, for that matter,
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those are really common areas for build-up
to be made in the corners because you鈥檙e
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overlapping KERDI multiple times in an area.
So the way I address it is by: number one,
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using a proper size trowel; secondly, using
a drywall knife and smoothing out the seams
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and trying to get all the thinset underneath
of it as smooth as possible and making the
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transition of these corners. So you still
might actually have build-up, but there鈥檚
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two ways you can really overcome this when
you鈥檙e installing tile. So number one is
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probably the easiest, and that鈥檚 actually
using additional thinset. Especially if you鈥檙e
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using a large format tile, the build-up of
these corners aren鈥檛 much of an issue because
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you鈥檙e using a larger size trowel. To install
it, you can back butter and actually even
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back trowel the tile so that you have more
flexibility to overcome those bumps. When
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it comes to more intricate installations,
like around the niche, another way is to actually
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grind down the back of the tile with something
like an STL blade. That鈥檚 always a solution
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especially when you鈥檙e using mosaics or
subway tile, something like that. It鈥檚 a
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lot easier to almost just grind off the tile
than it is to build all of that up.
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So all this talk about thinset and correct
trowel sizing leads me to the last mistake
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that is pretty much prevalent in all of tile
industry, and that is not using the right
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amount of water to mix your thinset. The days
of just adding powder to a bucket, adding
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a little bit of water, and just looking at
it to see if it鈥檚 the right consistency
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is no longer here. We have to abide by the
back specifications of the bag of the right
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amount of water. This is really, really important
with basically any of the new thinsets that
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are coming out. You have to use the right
amount of water. This can lead to basically
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the thinset not bonding to your waterproofing
materials. It can lead to鈥攊f you鈥檙e installing
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tile, even鈥攖ile coming loose and not staying
in place. So always look at the back of the
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bag. Make sure that you鈥檙e using the right
amount of water for the right amount of thinset.
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If you鈥檙e using a Schluter system, I do
highly recommend just buying the ALL-SET.
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It鈥檚 a modified thinset that Schluter makes
specifically for their product. They have
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two different ratios on the back of the bag.
One is for membranes, and the second one is
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for actually installing tile. Always use the
membrane ratio for membranes.
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So my pro tip to make this a lot faster for
installing bands and the KERDI membrane is
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to actually just use a mud pan and a 6-inch
knife as if you鈥檙e doing drywall. I find
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it a lot faster to put the thinset in a mud
pan and then basically pretend that I鈥檓
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drywall mudding. You can apply it in the corners
a lot faster, I鈥檓 getting a little bit less
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on me installing it, and then you can just
go over all those areas with your proper size
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trowel for the KERDI membrane, the 1/8 x 1/8.
Applying the thinset is always probably the
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biggest job of waterproofing this, so using
a mud pan and a drywall knife makes it a lot
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faster.
So I hope these tips helped you out and you
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don鈥檛 make these mistakes. Give us a thumbs
up because it helps other people find these
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videos. We don鈥檛 want to see mistakes being
made. And if you鈥檙e still a little bit confused
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on how to install Schluter systems, check
out our site at BathroomRepairTutor. We have
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a ton of step-by-step tutorials on not only
how to install Schluter systems but complete
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your bathroom from start to finish. And we鈥檒l
see you in the next video.
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