Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Schluter Bathroom Remodeling: The Houston Owner’s Guide
A full Schluter-system bathroom remodel in Houston typically runs $9,000 to $28,000 installed, depending on shower footprint, substrate condition, and whether we’re rebuilding from the studs or working over an existing pan. Most failures we see are not the Schluter membrane itself but what happened underneath it: spongy subfloor, unblocked framing, or a previous installer who skipped the primer. When a Houston homeowner calls us about a “Schluter problem,” it’s usually water finding a path behind the tile because the waterproofing envelope was never continuous in the first place.
Here’s the trade reality: Schluter’s Kerdi and Ditra systems are engineered to a tight spec. They fail when someone cheats the install sequence. That’s what we correct most often in this market, and it’s the reason Curtis Lane keeps a copy of the current code on the truck. We’re an independent contractor here in Houston, not affiliated with Schluter Systems, and we’ll tell you straight up whether the problem is the product or the person who put it in.
Which Schluter Models This Applies To
We work across the full Schluter bathroom line: Kerdi-Board walls and shower trays, Kerdi-Line and Kerdi-Drain point drains, Ditra and Ditra-Heat underlayment for bathroom floors, and the Kerdi-Band and preformed corners that tie the envelope together. The compatibility gotcha most Houston homeowners miss is tray sizing. Schluter shower trays are sold in fixed dimensions (32×60, 48×48, 72×72, etc.) and are meant to be cut symmetrically. If your shower footprint isn’t square or the drain sits off-center by more than a few inches, cutting a prefab tray makes the perimeter slope uneven. We’ll tell you when a bonded mortar bed beats a tray, because we’ve pulled up trays where the installer cut 4 inches off one side and left a half-inch lip on the other. Water pools. Tile fails.
The OEM-versus-aftermarket decision matters here. Schluter’s own Kerdi-Band and Kerdi-Corners are engineered to bond with their membrane and thinset chemistry. Generic seam tapes and paint-on membranes from a big-box shelf are not the same product, and mixing a liquid-applied membrane from another brand with Kerdi sheet membrane voids the system warranty. We stock Schluter-spec materials and, where appropriate, quality equivalents that meet the same ANSI 118.10 waterproofing standard. We’ll show you the labels and let you decide with facts, not brand loyalty.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Schluter Bathroom Remodeling Is Failing
- Efflorescence or dark staining at the bottom 6 inches of wall tile. Water is wicking up behind the tile because the Kerdi-Band seam at the tub or shower pan was never embedded correctly. The membrane is shedding water somewhere, and gravity carries it down.
- Mushy or flexing floor tile outside the shower curb. Subfloor deflection is too high for Ditra to isolate. Schluter’s spec allows for some movement, but if the joist spacing or OSB thickness was already marginal, the tile gets ground into the underlayment until grout starts popping.
- Mildew smell that never leaves, even with the exhaust fan running. Water has pooled in the wall cavity or under the pan. Houston humidity keeps that moisture from ever drying, so you’re smelling the inside of your wall, not the shower floor.
- Loose tiles that sound hollow when tapped, specifically in the corners. Kerdi corners and banding were skimped: either skipped, overlapped wrong, or starved of thinset. Once a corner loses its bond, the whole wall section is compromised.
- Water leaking through the ceiling below a second-floor bathroom. The shower pan was not flood-tested before tile went in. Schluter requires a 24-hour flood test. Skipping it is the single most common shortcut we correct in Houston remodels.
See the difference
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After
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After
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a Schluter-system bathroom remodel in Houston, you’re looking at $9,000 to $28,000 installed. A straightforward shower rebuild with Kerdi-Board walls, a new tray or mortar bed, and a standard 12×24 tile lands in the $9,000 to $15,000 range. Full bathroom gut-and-rebuilds with Ditra-Heat flooring, a wet-room configuration, or structural repairs to rotted framing push toward $20,000 to $28,000. The range moves on four things: square footage of tile, whether we’re opening walls to sister joists or replace rotten studs, drain relocation, and tile material cost.
Every quote is written. You get a line-item price before any work starts, and that number does not move unless you change the scope. Parts and labor are separated on the page so you see exactly what you’re paying for. The work is covered by the 365-Day Done Right Promise: if the waterproofing or installation fails within a year, Bradford comes back and corrects it at no charge. That’s in writing, and it’s never been optional.
DIY or Call Us?
You can safely check a few things yourself: whether the shower drain has a proper Kerdi drain grate or a generic clamp drain that suggests a mismatched system, whether tile is hollow-sounding in corners, and whether grout lines at floor-to-wall transitions are cracked. Those observations help us scope the job before we arrive.
Here’s where DIY goes wrong. Schluter waterproofing is a system: membrane, banding, corners, drain, and thinset all have to be installed in the right sequence with the right materials. Tearing out a failed shower and rebuilding it is not a weekend project, and a botched waterproofing job inside a Houston wall will rot framing and feed mold for years before you see it. If the tile is shot, the waterproofing underneath is compromised, and the fix is a full rebuild, not a patch. Call (940) 289-7658 and we’ll scope it straight.
FAQs
A correctly installed Schluter bathroom system should last 30 years or more, with grout and sealant maintenance along the way. What fails early in Houston is not the Schluter membrane but the framing and subfloor behind it when moisture gets through a compromised seam or an unflood-tested pan. Call (940) 289-7658 for an inspection if your shower predates your ownership of the home.
Generally no. Once water has migrated behind Kerdi membrane, you cannot dry out the cavity and re-bond the seams from the tile side. The tile has to come down, the membrane replaced, and the envelope rebuilt continuously. Patching a seam without removing the surrounding tile is a band-aid that buys you months, not years. Call (940) 289-7658 and we’ll give you a written scope either way.
A full Schluter shower rebuild runs 5 to 10 working days on site, and that includes the mandatory 24-hour flood test before tile goes in. A complete bathroom gut with Ditra-Heat and custom tile runs 2 to 3 weeks depending on tile lead time and framing repairs. We schedule in writing before the demo starts, and the crew shows up when the schedule says they will.
We stock Kerdi-Band, Kerdi-Corners, Kerdi-Fix, and Schluter thinset on our service vehicles because those are the components that get skimped most often. Full Kerdi-Board and Ditra sheets are ordered per job so you get uncrushed, uncut material. If you need a specific Schluter part matched to your existing system, call (940) 289-7658 and we’ll pull the spec before we arrive.
Written by Curtis Lane, Owner, Bradford Remodeling Co Houston at Bradford Remodeling Co Houston, serving Houston and nearby areas.
