# Forum Home Renovation Tiling  Thin screed in a bathroom - what are my options?

## ScottyC

Hi all, 
My ongoing bathroom project has thrown up yet another hurdle. I have finished the waterproofing - I have applied this in the shower recess and throughout the entire bathroom - all the way up the walls in the shower and 300mm up the walls around the rest of the room - coved/rounded corners, bond breaker tape as required, plastic angle all around the room and aluminium angle across the doorway and across the front of the shower recess. Intention was to finish the tile flush with this angle and have a frameless shower screen. 
The problem I have is the angle at the doorway is 45mm high including the tile and it's about the tiles thickness above the timber floor outside the bathroom. I figured the height of this angle would dictate the maximum height of the angle across the front of the shower recess - it is the same 45mm angle but it's a bit lower due to some fall I put in with Ardit levelling compound over the AC sheeting and under the waterproofing. This means that if I allow 15mm for tile and adhesive, the screed is going need to be 20mm around the edge of the room and recess and 10-15mm thick above the puddle flanges in the floor waste and shower. 
As I see it, I have two options - 1. Find some sort of compund or additive that will allow me to produce a strong screed at the 10-20mm thickness. Or 2. Attach higher waterstop angles inside the existing ones to bring the floor level up enough to allow for the thicker screed. The second option is not ideal as it results in a higher step up into the bathroom. The original bathroom had solved these problems by not having a floor waste and simply sloping the entire room toward the doorway. 
I spoke to a tiler (well, a guy at the place we bought the tiles who said he was a tiler) and he suggested to just screed to the top of the angle in front of the shower and tile right over it as the waterproofing has been applied throughout the room. Though as I understand it, this is not what the building code requires. He suggested to just angle the last row of tiles at the doorway down to reduce the "step" and leave the 45mm angle at the doorway. 
What do you think?

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## goldie1

Don't quite follow your post but if your looking for something to do a thin screen Ardex will screed from 
nothing up to about 25mm

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## ScottyC

> Don't quite follow your post but if your looking for something to do a thin screen Ardex will screed from 
> nothing up to about 25mm

  Yeah, sorry - I just re-read it and I probably gave too much info for my own good. 
 I'll need to do a screed which will be maximum 25mm thick down to 15mm at the floor waste - I have used Ardex but wont it try to level out? I was reading some posts where others had added sand to Ardex to achieve better results but nothing about ratios. I'm also concerned with the speed the Ardex product dries - I used it to level the floor under the membrane in this bathroom and it dried pretty quickly. I've done a few screeds before but always thick, 50mm or more and I'm certainly not fast...

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## goldie1

Ardex will flow if you mix it as a slurry ( it then self levels) You can ramp it if you mix it a bit stiffer. 
Mix up a small amount and have a bit of a play with it to see how long you have to work with. You dont 
have to do it all in one go . You can build it up in layers if it is drying to quick. The hotter it is the quicker 
it drys. You can add a bit of fine sand ( about 10% ) I have ramped it to 25mm with out sand. 
You can rub it back with a brick or a rubbing block if you do it before its fully dry You would normaly prime the floor  
first but you wont have to if you have allready waterproofed.

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## Oldsaltoz

> Ardex will flow if you mix it as a slurry ( it then self levels) You can ramp it if you mix it a bit stiffer. 
> Mix up a small amount and have a bit of a play with it to see how long you have to work with. You dont 
> have to do it all in one go . You can build it up in layers if it is drying to quick. The hotter it is the quicker 
> it drys. You can add a bit of fine sand ( about 10% ) I have ramped it to 25mm with out sand. 
> You can rub it back with a brick or a rubbing block if you do it before its fully dry You would normaly prime the floor  
> first but you wont have to if you have allready waterproofed.

  +1 What he said.

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