Kerdi Shower Question

Just gutted the old shower, and made a few observations that I wanted to share, and at the same time ask about Kerdi.

The old shower had no leaks at all, and after removing mud pan and lead liner as well as 4" tile on wall, and what looked like 4" square (~1" thick) concrete backer tiles that was set on mesh attached to the studs, there were no indication of any leaks whatsoever behind the walls.

That is good news of course, but these 1" think concrete backer squares were not sealed, some of them had small gaps that were visible after the 4" ceramic tile was removed...

So my question is in regards to installing the new Kerdi on the walls, how high up the walls does this really need to go?

I'm installing the Kerdi over 1/2" hardie board. And the kit i bought came with 33 ft of Kerdi, and it is not enough for all the walls all they way to the ceiling and the floor and curb.

Normally, you'd use the Kerdi up to the height of the showerhead, but you can go all the way to the ceiling, and even do the ceiling (but it's not generally needed on the ceiling unless it's a steam shower).

jadnashua said:

Normally, you'd use the Kerdi up to the height of the showerhead, but you can go all the way to the ceiling, and even do the ceiling (but it's not generally needed on the ceiling unless it's a steam shower).

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Thanks, yes that would work, the roll of kerdi that was included was 33' so 4 sheets on the walls up to ~7' and the floor would do it....

Think of a typical tub/shower enclosure...the walls only go up maybe 5-6' or so. It certainly doesn't hurt to run it higher, but from a typical practical point, it normally isn't an issue. You can still tile up to the ceiling if you like.

jadnashua said:

Think of a typical tub/shower enclosure...the walls only go up maybe 5-6' or so. It certainly doesn't hurt to run it higher, but from a typical practical point, it normally isn't an issue. You can still tile up to the ceiling if you like.

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Thanks, I appreciate the feedback. It makes total sense. I will be running the tile all the way up and also on the ceiling.