Enlarging my shower

[cnsortega]

Got a question- My husband and I are enlarging our shower. We have removed the old shower and are getting ready to frame for the new larger shower. Do we need to remove the drywall from the ceiling or can we screw our new wall frame through it? Thanks

[jadnashua]

Assuming the wall is not load bearing, you could screw through the ceiling. Assuming you're tiling the shower, check out www.johnbridge.com for help on tiling. Also, look into Kerdi system from www.schluter.com. It's neat way to build a shower (I put one in for my mother), and allows you to use drywall for your walls since the membrane is totally waterproof. It's nice to have the waterproof layer immediately beneath the tile - the shower dries out much faster, and is a great system.

[cnsortega]

Jim,

Thanks for the info. The wall that we are adding will not be a load bearing wall and we will be tiling the new larger shower. I checked out the Kerdi system but we are going to do it the old fashion way to save money. Thanks for your help.

[jadnashua]

One of the things that is fairly expensive with the Kerdi system is their preformed pans. they save lots of time if you can use one, but you can easily make the sloped bed out of deck mud as if you were going to use a liner, and then just Kerdi that. In the long run, when you add the cost of cbu verses drywall, screws to hold the cbu up and taping and reinforcing the seams, lugging just drywall up is often worth the difference. A conventioal shower works, too. Just follow the rules and you'll have a good, long-lasting one.