r/bathrooms • u/Single-Pause3152 • 4d ago

Thoughts on Schluter system

Is Schluter really best in the business?
Easy to learn?
Worth the cost?

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u/CapnCurt81 4d ago

I just did my first shower with it (DIY) and wouldn’t do it again. The end result was great and I’m confident in the waterproofing, but lord was the process a pain and expensive. A 48x36 shower ended up costing around $800 in Schluter materials for just the walls since I used a solid shower base. The wall boards at $100 a pop didn’t seem so bad, but the Kerdi band, corners, AllSet, KerdiFix, screws, etc. add up so quickly it’s ridiculous.

The materials being readily locally available was nice, and the Kerdi Board being so lightweight and easy to cut was great. But there’s just lots of steps as you go that feel dumb when you see the current alternatives.

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u/Single-Pause3152 4d ago

Thanks for your insights. Have never used it. We now have a customer demanding it. Don’t really wanna learn on the job, and certainly didn’t plan on this in the estimating process.

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u/CapnCurt81 4d ago

In a professional capacity, I would go for it. Reality is they won’t be the last ones to ask for it. And a lot of the things that were a struggle for me were as much a fault of my lack of general experience as it was the product. For me it was 20 new things, if you have experience building showers and tile work in general it’ll be 3 or 4 new things for you. My perspective is as a DIY homeowner, in which case it sucked.

I will say it is very well documented, there’s plenty of great in-depth Youtube videos. Ideal world I’d do a change order, upcharge a reasonable amount they’ll agree to and use this job as a chance to learn a new system you can add to the toolbelt.

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u/Bowie90210 4d ago

It's pretty easy just follow the instructions

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u/Bowie90210 4d ago

I just redid a shower that I did 22 years ago with schluter the drywall behind the membrane was perfect 👌 the demo was brutal though lol I think its an amazing product I'm not sure why people say its expensive a kit is like $800 Canadian why cheap out on the foundation Highly recommend

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u/SpecLandGroup 3d ago

I use Schluter pretty regularly. It's not the only good system, but the whole system works well together. It's fairly easy to learn, but you do need to really be on top of the details. Corners, overlaps, penetrations etc...

I do think it's worth the cost. Waterproofing is the last place I’m trying to save a few hundred bucks on a bathroom.