Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - DAP, then cement board, then what?

Guy doing my shower has first put Densarmor Plus on all the walls including the shower stall walls. Then says he will put cement board over the DAP in the shower stall part, and then the tile. Can this work? There was no vapor barrier put on the studs. From the little bit I've read, I guess he could put that Redguard stuff on the cement board and this would work...or no? :confused:

Thanks for any help. I would really hate to have this all torn out.

Cement board over Densarmor? This is not needed.

Normally it would be:

Install 6 mil poly barrier on studs

Install cement board

If you choose RedGard, you can ditch the 6 mil poly.

How is this installer constructing the shower pan, or does this shower have a fiberglass type base?

Thank you Mark. Yeah, I gather it is not necessary to have both. But, at this point right now, the DAP is installed with no barrier. I do know better not to use that to install the tile on. I "guess" now he will put the 1/4" cement board over this with mortar??? All I know about the shower pan is that it will be a one piece marble.

My question is, can this work or would I be better off to have him take down the DAP, install the vapor barrier and use 1/2" cement board? I'd rather not yank it down at this point, but I don't want any water problems down the road.

I'll be honest, I really know nothin about nothin when it comes to all this. I've just done alot of reading and everything I see says to use vapor barrier and cement board. Funny part is this original shower that was from 1952 had no mold or mildew when we tore it out and it only had this fake looking tile sheets with some sort of glue on the back of them stuck to pine boards. And now here I am chasing my tail trying to get this so right in 2008!

Thanks for any other direction and would you please be very, very specific with them. HA!

The only option without him taking it down, is for him to apply RedGard to the cement board. If you do this, you will be good. RedGard is expensive however, about $140 for 3 gallons.

RedGard is some good stuff! After the RedGard is applied, (sometimes it takes a couple coats), you/he can start tiling directly over it.

flamed

Have him do it right or get someone who will. Have him take down the densearmor, put up a poly vapor barrier and then 1/2" cement board. This way you wont have to worry about if his method will work or not. He's made a mistake here, so let him fix it. If he is really a pro, then he ought to know better.

How is this installer constructing the shower pan, or does this shower have a fiberglass type base?

You didnt answer this question, and this is the really important one.:)

Sorry it took me so long to get back and thanks to you all for your replies. Well, now I've gotten a "tile guy" over here and he says he's gonna Kerdi it all. I'm thinking that will work over this DAP stuff...right? As far as the shower pan, I am still a bit clueless on that. All I know is that a cultured marble one piece shower bottom has been made. I saw it at the shop and it is just a solid piece with no curb on it. I think my GC said he would build a curb for it after it was installed. I wish now I had never ordered it...it was my GC's suggestion. I really wanted a tile bottom but he talked me out of it saying this marble thing would never leak. I've come to learn he doesn't know all that much.

I would appreciate any thoughts on where I am now with this. The tile guy, although he reminded me more of an artist then a tile guy, seemed pretty up on all this Kerdi stuff. I hope this all works out. I'm sick of it. :mad:

Thank you again.

I'm thinking that will work over this DAP stuff...right?

I dont know, never tried this. I'd call schluter and ask them directly for advice. Of course if your going with kerdi, the easiest thing to do would be to get rid of that dap and use regular drywall.

Thanks for the reply. I did call Schluter and was told the Kerdi would be fine over the DAP. They said to use unmodified thinset and that the tile dude might want to sponge the DAP before applying. That's all I know. I sure hope this all works out, and I hope I never have to remodel a bath ever, ever again!