I’ve finally gone and done something worthwhile! Well, that’s a matter of opinion, I guess, namely mine. I have written complete manuals on properly building and waterproofing your shower utilizing the different waterproofing methods.
Each manual describes a specific method so you don’t get bogged down with a bunch of information you don’t need for your chosen project. Not sure which method you want? Not sure which methods are available? Didn’t know there were different methods? Start with the free manual here: Shower Waterproofing Manual. That will help you decide which one you want to use based on time, skill and cost.
Once you figure that out you can get the manual that is specific to your particular project. Although these are all mostly completed it’s a whole process to get them ready for you guys. It’s difficult to describe but it includes half a watermelon, platypus eyelashes and a full moon – weird, right? Let’s just say I’ve been writing the damn things for close to two years – it’s not a short process.
Anyway, I do have two of them all finished up, uploaded and ready for you to devour!
I have the complete shower manual utilizing the traditional waterproofing method for walls and floors. This will walk you through the entire process for complete shower floor and wall building and waterproofing. If you are going to have a tiled shower floor and walls and need to construct the entire thing – this is the one you need. You can get it here: Complete traditional shower waterproofing method (Price goes up next week!)
And I have the manual using the traditional method for just your shower walls. If you already have a tub or pre-formed base (like acrylic or Swanstone) this is the one you need. You can get it here: Traditional waterproofing for your shower walls
You can always just click the yellow highlighted ‘Library’ tab at the top to see what’s currently available. If you have any questions just feel free to ask them in any of the comment sections on the site. I always answer them – I’m just super cool like that. 
I will add the new manuals to the library section as I finish them up.
Previous post: Setting different thicknesses of tile for inserts
Next post: Working with SpectraLOCK Pro Premium Grout
Add a Brilliant Retort
I have an old shower in my basement bathroom. I took everything out except the wood framing studs. I can’t afford a custom fitted shower unit. What I would like to do is put up cement board, then use these polystyrene sheets that Lowe’s sells and glue them to the cement board. The floor of the shower is tile with a small cement lip around the edge of the floor. Once I get the walls in how do I seal the walls at the floor? I forgot to mention that I can’t afford a shower pan either.
Hey David,
Just regular silicone is what you use to seal plastic panels to themselves as well as the shower pan (or in your case the existing tile) to waterproof everything.
Here is a question to pick your brain. Now in a small cape you don’t have much of a choice where to keep your tub/shower. Now when you spray your stud cavities with closed-cell foam which is a vapor barrier. How do you waterproof your tub/shower with this setup?
Hi Mike,
You either use a traditional wall waterproofing method with roofing felt directly over the studs and foam and backerboard over the top or you use unfaced batts as your insulation rather than closed-cell foam and use a topical membrane in your shower. Oftentimes your method of shower waterproofing may be dictated by the structural components already in place – like closed-cell foam.
So the guy that originally showed me how to mud a shower floor just mixed quikcrete sandmix slightly damp and build from there. It worked, but always seemed like a lot more of a pain in the a$$ than it should be. Just finished my first shower pan this afternoon using your deck-mud recipe. Wow! I’ve never had a pan come out so perfect before! Great info, well worth the $.
Hey Tony (the other one),
Makes a world of difference with the right mixture. It really does. You can’t describe that to people unless they’ve done it.
Glad to see you’re still around.
I’ve tried to download your free manual several time, but I’m having trouble with the code not matching.
Hey Tony,
Sorry about that, I had to use the captcha code now because there’s all sorts of nigerian relatives who apparently want to send me millions of dollars (USD) simply because I own an email and blog – cool right? Spam sucks. Speaking of which – check your email, I sent it to you.
EDIT: Well Tony, your email host has denied all my emails to you saying ‘invalid recipient’ – are you real? If so please email me at Roger@FloorElf.com and I’ll reply to that email with one of my own. Apparently either you don’t exist or they think I’m sending you spam – which may be accurate. (You pick)