Ryan Hughes
Registered User
I am working on a project in Colorado, under the 2018 ICC codes. We have a walk-out basement with a slab on grade. In the bathroom, I've shown a curbless shower with a tile floor finish, pitched 1/4" per foot to a linear drain along the far wall. I've spec'd the Schluter family of products for the walls, floor, and linear drain, with their heat mat + membrane product set on top of the sloped concrete, with tile set on top of the sloped membrane. This is the exact same membrane system I'm using on a wood-framed bathroom on the second floor, which is wood framed.
My contractor is telling me that I need a second membrane under the slab on grade to meet current code. This seems insane--how can the code approve of this Schluter waterproofing membrane system upstairs at a wood-framed area, but somehow it doesn't cut it at a ground-floor shower that is on a concrete slab? He has not been able to cite any code section to back up his statements. Anyone here have experience with this code, supposedly requiring two membranes for tiled showers set over a concrete slab?
My contractor is telling me that I need a second membrane under the slab on grade to meet current code. This seems insane--how can the code approve of this Schluter waterproofing membrane system upstairs at a wood-framed area, but somehow it doesn't cut it at a ground-floor shower that is on a concrete slab? He has not been able to cite any code section to back up his statements. Anyone here have experience with this code, supposedly requiring two membranes for tiled showers set over a concrete slab?