How to Build a Shower Moisture Barrier

Built-in showers have walls around them, but they also have to have a barrier between the shower and the wall to lock out moisture. One easy way to do this is simply to install a preformed shower surround, made of fiberglass or plastic. But a more interesting and classier-looking approach is to tile the shower surround. Seal the wall tiles, because unsealed tiles will absorb moisture.

Tape measure
Pencil
Level
Thin set mortar
Notched tiling trowel
Sealed and glazed wall tiles (ceramic)
Tile spacers
Power tile saw
Grout
Grout float
Sponge
Caulk with caulk gun

Instructions

- 1
  Measure the width of the first shower wall. Find the middle. Make a vertical line at the middle from bottom to top, using your level and pencil.
- 2
  Use your notched trowel to spread mortar over the wall, from the floor up by about 3 feet, from end to end.
- 3
  Set the bottom row of tiles into the thin set, starting at the center line and working toward the ends. Set spacers between the tiles and between the floor and the tiles.
- 4
  Cut the tiles at the end of the row, using your tile saw, to fit at the corners.
- 5
  Press the next row in place above the bottom row. Again start at the middle line and work toward the sides. Build your way up, course by course, cutting around the shower fixtures as needed with the tile saw.
- 6
  Tile the whole wall and the other shower walls.
- 7
  Let the mortar set for 12 hours. Pull out the spacers.
- 8
  Use your grout float to spread grout over the tiles, scraping the long edge of the float over the tiles and pressing the grout into the spaces between. Wipe up the residual grout with a damp sponge.
- 9
  Let the grout set for 24 hours. Run caulk along the perimeters of each wall, where it meets the floor and the other walls. Let the caulk set for 24 hours.

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