Tiled showers have always represented a considerable challenge to installers.
Typically, an installer must place a mortar bed, sloped to the weep holes in the sub-drain, prior to installing the pan liner.
Once the “pre-slope” has cured to the point where it can be walked upon, the pan liner is installed, with its tenuous connections to the clamping ring in the sub-drain, seaming, and carefully fitted corners around the curb area, all of which must be bonded with the appropriate solvent-based bonding agent.
Each of these steps must be completed, and the weep holes protected from being clogged with mortar, before the shower pan is ready to receive the setting bed for the floor tiles.
This conventional methodology requires substantial time and labor.
Since shower pan liners are placed below the mortar setting bed in a conventional assembly, moisture is allowed to saturate the mortar bed.
This can increase the risk of leakage, cause efflorescence, and foster bacteria and fungus growth.
Bonded waterproof membranes, on the other hand, bond directly to the mortar bed and protect it from becoming saturated.
The problem is that conventional two-piece floor drains are designed to connect to shower pan liners below the mortar bed and do not allow a secure, watertight connection to bonded waterproof membranes at the top of the drain assembly.
The objective, therefore, is to develop a system in which the individual components collectively form a bonded watertight assembly. The Schluter®-Systems Shower Assembly is an integrated family of products that achieves this objective.
The foundation of the system is the Schluter®-KERDI-DRAIN, which was designed specifically to ensure a simple and secure connection to bonded waterproof membranes, such as the Schluter®-KERDI waterproofing membrane, at the top of the assembly rather than below it, thereby reducing the risk of leakage, efflorescence, and fungus and bacteria growth.
For shower floors constructed with mortar, KERDI-DRAIN eliminates the process of pre-sloping the floor.
When used in conjunction with KERDI-SHOWER-ST and KERDI-SHOWER-SC, the mortar setting bed is eliminated altogether.
The system is completed with Schluter®-RONDEC and DILEX profiles, which finish and protect outside corners and eliminate caulking.
The Schluter®-Systems Shower Assembly eliminates the risk of failures due to both vapor and water penetration, is maintenance free,and dramatically reduces total installation time.
The integrated Schluter® Shower System ensures success and makes shower installation easier than ever.
