Is your grout crumbling? Does mold keep pushing out your caulking? Do you suspect your drain isn’t working right? It might be time to replace that drain!

We’ve talked about how to choose a contractor for shower and tub installations before, but today we’re going to do a deep dive on modern drain installs, why you need to ask your contractor about their continuing education, and our favorite, the Schluter System.

Jose recently completed a 2-day workshop put on by Schluter Systems. Not only is continuing education required by Oregon to maintain a contractor’s license, but we also actually want to keep our skills up-to-date and provide the best quality to our customers. Stopping to “sharpen the saw” is an important part of life! We work on a lot of bathrooms and kitchens, so proper tile installation and drainage is important. No matter who you use to do your remodel, be sure to verify they’re keeping up on the latest information and best practices! Things change, materials get updated, and it’s important to sharpen that saw!

Last year we switched over to using Schluter products exclusively for our shower installs. Schluter makes a top-notch product that manages moisture and creates an excellent substrate for tiling. 

With Schluter uncoupling mats, there is minimal height increase in floors, a place to put floor heating cables, and you never have to worry about your tile grout cracking using the uncoupling principle. They have a variety of niche options to choose from and perfectly sloped shower pan substrates. The line drains add such a beautiful touch as do the profiles they offer. 

Schluter profiles add a finished look for transitions between substrates, on corners or tiled surfaces and even between the tub and the wall tile substrate to give you greater piece of mind for moisture management. With Kerdi shower pans (the substrate for shower floors made by Schluter), you don’t have to worry about mildew creeping up through the mud bed.  

During the workshop, José participated in hands-on performance tasks to practice installing a walk-in shower. He confirmed that the shower water proofing technique he has already been using is the correct way to install showers, which is always good to verify. José was able to pick up some new skills on how to use the profiles, which are the metal transition pieces, that Schluter Systems fabricates.

The workshop covered:

1. Floor Applications
   • Uncoupling principle
   • DITRA (& DITRA-XL)
   • DITRA-HEAT
   • Floor Profiles & Movement Joints
2. Shower Applications
   • Moisture management
   • Shower systems
   • KERDI-BOARD
   • KERDI-LINE drain
3. Profiles
   • Benefits of profiles
   • Overview of Profile categories
   • Commonly used shower & wall profiles
4. Schluter Resources
   • ASD program
   • E-tools
   • Business model

It was an intense and informative 2-day workshop and worth every penny!

If you’re looking at that grimy shower and thinking it’s time to fix it before it rots the floor out, call Menlo for a FREE Estimate! 503-420-8526