Talking About How I Made My Shower While Making My Shower 

I Love Mike Holmes' shows but ya that shit can be expensive. You were saying mortar did you mean thinset (not being a smart ass I'm just pretty sure there is a difference, maybe not?)

That's another thing one of the "experts" corrected me on - my use of the word "mortar" instead of "thinset". Mortar is the correct name for it, actually - it's written right on the bag.

I Build It Home Waterproof membrane is mandatory in Finnish building code, not sure about Europe in general. Membrane usually is a wipe-on-type and relatively inexpensive. Last year when I did a renovation in our bathroom and sauna waterproofi ng cost me about 250€. In total the renovation cost me whopping 10 000€!!!

cabanaz cab - please point out in the video where I mention you specifically (you aren't the only person that commented, you know) and also point out where I used the word "smartass". As I've said many times, I have no problem at all with people politely pointing out alternate methods and / or questioning what I'm doing. It's when people ignore what I've plainly stated and rudely suggest that I don't know what I'm doing that I take exception to.

My bathroom is 60 years old, and had original tiles till 20 years ago. no fancy mortar, just tiles placed into the wet plaster. Bugger to get off, basically had to chip each one off with the plaster. That builder did it properly, but the tiles got chipped and dated, plus needed to replace bath, so went with a big bath size shower instead. New tiles just stuck on with tile fix, but added bonding liquid to it as well for that extra grip, plus painted the wall before with a priming coat of the bonding liquid as well after the new plaster coat. None have fallen off so far, and no water ingress either. There are a few hollow spots, but that was probably due to the original plaster debonding with the brickwork inside the wall. As to builders, yes the final look has very little to do with the work inside, you can make it look good for a while while taking short cuts that will cause issues later, and for set builders it is mostly do it fast and look good for a month, not make it last, plus it often does not have to have fine detail looking good either.

Built in the 50's but well maintained since? Nothing lasts forever, guy, especially if it hasn't been cared for.

I agree with "nothing lasts forever"- certainly the pink tub's days were numbered, regardless of the integrity of the tiles & grout. :) For me personally, I'd rather accept the fact that the sanded grout used (no experience with epoxy grout) will not be impervious to water ingress, and address it appropriately at the substrate. I've no idea how long the redgard is supposed to last anyway.

It would be interesting to see thinking like that applied to roofing products. Ever see a cedar shingle roof on a house?

My childhood home is cedar shingled, but I confess I didnt apply the shingles or take part in any repair or maintenance. I'm not sure I follow- is your argument that no special waterproofing steps are taken in the case of cedar shingling? That's an interesting train of thought- essentially, cedar roofs are effective because they rely on "most" of the water not reaching the roof sheathing, and instead shedding quickly off the roof, but, critically, they acknowledge the inevitability of water penetration at the design level? From a quick google it seems to me that cedar roofs are designed to accommodate drying through evaporation or other means in the inevitable event of water penetrating past the shakes. To me, that fact almost supports waterproofing membrane in a shower space. You'll laugh because I'm going to quote Mike "Holmes on Homes" Holmes who, in at least one episode recommended against grout sealing. The gist of his argument was that sealing grout actually promoted shower mold as it makes grout less porous (but, not impervious to water penetration) and thus hindered natural drying of any water that makes it behind the tile & grout. As you mentioned, bathroom renovations are not cheap, and personally, for the comparatively low marginal cost of cement board and a roll-on application of regard, I feel like I've leveraged modern technology and (possibly) bought myself more longevity in the shower, and (possibly) have protected my family from any minor health risks that might arise from the growth of mold. Thanks for your videos, I enjoy your honesty and your engagement in this discussion!

Will they break a tile off to check? xD lol

if water damage did happen and the insurance was looking for an excuse not to pay, probably ;)

One way to look at a repaired crack is to see it in the same way as a grout joint, except tighter.

did you pour it at a 4 slump?

icawn no, a 4 slump is so dry I wouldn't even really call it a pour. My crew would name it after our town and call it a Seabrook 6, it was really a 7.

I used bagged sand mix, which is a mix of coarse sand and portland cement for the base. Tile guys call it "dry pack" or "dry mix" because they just add the minimum amount of water to it to set, and that makes it easy to screed off to the right slope.

Pocket! Where have you been?

As for me, I've built two tile showers, one with the space-age kit material membrane etc etc, and one the old school way without. I'm confident in both, but the old-school one i am even more confident in, simply because it is the second one i built and i was much better at building tile showers by then

*epoxy grout is waterproof which is used in this case but regular cement based grout is not. The combo used here is fine otherwise a membrane would be advisable with cement based grouts

Regular grout is also waterproof, if it's not cracked.

David Lowe I agree to a point. I've been doing tile work for a while now and we'll often get calls 6 months or so down the line, after the showers are finished, about leaks. We use a waterproofing membrane- not what this guy in the video is using of course. Sometimes its as simple as a slice from a knife blade in the plastic shit while i was cleaning out the grout joints. There's more than one way to do a shower, but saying tile and grout is water proof is just not true. They're water resistant, not water proof. It doesn't hurt to be a little more cautious, especially for something as expensive and important as a shower.

Joe Savage - regular grout is waterproof enough. The hair splitters out there latch onto any uncertainty and immediately think the wall will leak like a sieve.

They also recommend using grout sealer. I've done it, not sure of how well it performs, but I assume it can't hurt and it's just part of the grouting process to seal it. Epoxy grout I'll have to look into more closely. I used that orange roll of membrane for the corners. I think called Kerdi. Rather inexpensive and that's where I felt there was the most opportunity for leaks. I think one of the things to consider how far to take a job is the location too. My bath is over the dining room and I don't want to have a hint of a problem affecting my ceiling there. So I did take it a step farther. I do feel much more confident in the results. Could a lessor job worked sure, but it's a cheap form of insurance especially given that location.

Hundreds of thousands of houses with showers built exactly the same way. When showers do start to leak, it usually doesn't take long to see that and fix whatever the problem is.

Overall setting materials have changed, mastic and tile adhesive of today is completely different than what you will find available now. Tile and grout aren't waterproof, but you are free to build your shower or tub surround however you like. When I build one for a customer the whole thing is waterproofed and can be used before a tile ever gets installed. Tile is a wear surface, its there to look pretty. It isn't there to be waterproofing