Flooring Tile - Shower tile confusion

I had a contractor hired to create a shower (4' x 5') on a concrete slab and he gave me a list of materials to get. As he told me the items he told me what they were for. He repeatadly said that I could do the job myself after he had seen the amount of work I had done by myself thus far (a 28' x 36' addition).
OK so far. Since then he broken his arm and is unable to do the job and I am under the gun to complete this by myself soon.

My question lies after I poured the concrete base (on the poly boot with 3/4" drop to the drain in 3' span) "somewhat" even (affording several small dips in the consistency), what do I use to secure the upcoming tile? He had me get a goodsized bag of Latex Modified Thinset Mortar of which I used on the Durarock seams with fiberglass tape and also three 1 gallon cans of Premium Ceramic Tile Adhesive for walls and floors. Do I attempt to even or "level" those dips with the Thinset - then go to the adhesive? Or what ?

Thanks so much

Hi
It will be much easier for you if you can get the shower floor as even as possible before trying to set tile on it..so yes, use the thin set since you have ...it would be best if you did your leveling using a little thin set at a time..sanding between coats....too much thin set at one time is too hard to work...not to mention that it shrinks if applied to thick.
It would also be a good idea, if you returned the gallon pails of tile ashesive..it works well in some locations, but not in a shower. It's only water resistant...not water proof. You can buy white thin set for setting the tile..it's a little more difficult to use..but at least it won't fail, if sometime in the future you get a leak in the shower.:eek:

Thank you for assisting me!

1)Does the color (white) thinset matter?
I have quite a bit of the bag of gray Thinset (concrete color) left over. We are going to use Raven (black) tinted grout afterwards.

2)By the way, is this thinset an appropriate material to use when I have (not mentioned previously) 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 tile set on a fiberglass mesh, equaling one foot square per unit, for the wall?

Hi
Yeah..the grey thin set is fine since you are grouting black...I suggested the white since I thought you would be grouting white, and it makes the clean up much easier.
The mosaic on the walls is a tough job...if you don't have the thin set mixed to the right consistancy, it tends to slide down. You'll get a better idea once you get started...you'll need some sort of spacer between the sheets, to help stop the sliding down.

Go to www.doityourself.com/ceramic where you might also find some useful info. Don't forget to seal your grout after it cures.

I truly appreciate the assistance, I was afraid you were going to say that about the difficulty of securing these to the wall. But onward we go!

You can use small nails to hold the sheets up as you go. Don't drive them all the way through the backer board.