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Schluter Home Additions & ADU: The Houston Owner’s Guide
If you’re planning a home addition or ADU in Houston and want Schluter waterproofing and uncoupling systems specified into the build, a full project typically runs $45,000 – $130,000 depending on square footage, foundation work, and finish level. Bradford Remodeling Co Houston stocks and installs Schluter membrane systems as part of larger addition and ADU scopes, and we’re an independent contractor, not affiliated with Schluter-Systems. The way most Houston owners first contact us is after they’ve watched a previous contractor cut corners on waterproofing: cracked tile at the shower curb, moisture wicking up a new drywall seam, or an ADU bathroom that failed a rough-in inspection because the pan wasn’t Schluter-spec.
The short version: you don’t need to know Schluter part numbers to get this done right. You need a crew that reads the Schluter installation handbook before opening the first roll of KERDI, and that’s how Curtis Lane runs every job. Straight scope, straight number, that’s the whole conversation.
Which Schluter Products We Work With on Additions & ADUs
For the scope of work on a Houston addition or detached ADU, we’re talking about the full Schluter waterproofing and uncoupling lineup, not a single part. Here’s what we spec, install, and stand behind:
- Schluter KERDI membrane and KERDI-BAND for shower walls, tub surrounds, and wet-room floors. KERDI is a sheet-applied polyethylene waterproofing membrane. On a Houston ADU bathroom, the band seams at the wall-to-floor transition are where leaks start if the thinset coverage is thin or the overlap is short of the required 2 inches.
- Schluter DITRA and DITRA-HEAT for uncoupling tile from concrete slab and wood subfloor. Houston slab homes move more than people expect, especially in neighborhoods with expansive clay soil like Cypress and Katy. DITRA absorbs that lateral movement so it doesn’t telegraph into cracked tile.
- Schluter KERDI-BOARD for shower substrates and niche construction. It’s foam-core, fully waterproof, and lighter than cement board, which matters when we’re framing an ADU bathroom on a pier-and-beam foundation where every pound counts.
- Schluter KERDI-DRAIN and linear drain assemblies for curbless showers. A curbless shower in an ADU requires a specific drain height relative to the slab, and that’s a rough-in detail that has to be right before concrete is poured.
Compatibility gotcha: Schluter’s warranty is only valid when the system is installed using Schluter-specified unmodified thinset mortar over the membrane, and Schluter ALL-SET or equivalent. If a contractor uses modified thinset between KERDI and tile, the install is out of spec. We’ve torn out Houston showers where the previous crew used mastic, a product that never cures in a wet environment, and the tile was holding on by hope.
What we stock versus what we order: On the truck, we carry KERDI-BAND, inside and outside corners, pipe seals, and mixing valve seals, because those are the parts that run short mid-installation. Full KERDI rolls, KERDI-BOARD sheets, and DITRA rolls get ordered by the pallet for your specific scope, and we inventory them at the shop before demolition starts so the schedule never waits on a freight truck.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs a Previous Waterproofing Job Is Failing in Your Houston Addition or ADU
If you already have a Schluter-spec’d bathroom or wet area that’s showing problems, here’s what we actually see in the field and what’s causing it:
- Efflorescence or white mineral staining on grout lines near the shower floor. Water is getting behind the tile and wicking mineral salts to the surface. On a Schluter system, this usually means a seam was improperly lapped, a pipe seal was skipped, or the membrane was punctured after installation when a toilet or vanity was set on top of it.
- Musty odor that won’t leave the bathroom, even after cleaning. Moisture is trapped in the substrate. In a Houston climate with 70% plus average humidity twelve months a year, a wet substrate rarely dries on its own. That smell is the signal that the waterproofing envelope failed.
- Grout cracking at the change-of-plane joints, the corners of the shower, or directly over a slab crack. If the original contractor grouted the corners instead of using Schluter’s KERDI-FLEX or a proper sealant joint, thermal expansion and movement will crack it. Grout in a corner is always wrong on a waterproofing system.
- Tiles sounding hollow when tapped, especially in the bottom two rows of the shower. Thinset coverage was poor, or the membrane underneath is delaminating from the substrate. Hollow-sounding tile is tile that will eventually crack or fall off the wall.
- Dark staining or swelling at the base of the drywall where it meets the shower curb or tub deck. Water is wicking up the wall. KERDI-BAND should extend up the wall a minimum of 6 inches at every tub or shower transition. If it’s missing or cut short, you get exactly this failure.
See the difference
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AfterWhat a Schluter-Spec’d Addition or ADU Costs in Houston
For a full home addition built with Schluter waterproofing in the wet areas, Houston pricing lands between $45,000 and $130,000. For a detached ADU with a Schluter-spec bathroom and kitchenette, the market range is broader, $90,000 to $220,000, because foundation type, utility trenching, and site constraints drive that number hard.
Here’s how the Schluter-specific portion stacks up inside that larger project:
- Full Schluter waterproofing package on one bathroom: $2,800 – $6,500 installed, including KERDI membrane, KERDI-BAND, corners, pipe seals, drain assembly, and the labor to install it to Schluter specification.
- Schluter DITRA uncoupling membrane under tile floor: $8 – $14 per square foot installed, depending on substrate condition and whether DITRA-HEAT with a thermostat is included.
- Curbless shower with Schluter KERDI-DRAIN linear drain: $5,500 – $12,000 as a dedicated scope, which includes reworking the subfloor or slab to hit the required slope without a curb.
The range inside those numbers depends on access, substrate condition, and whether the Schluter system is being installed as part of a larger remodel where the framing and plumbing are already open, or whether we’re cutting into finished work to correct a previous failure. Every quote from Bradford Remodeling Co Houston is a written, line-item price before any work starts. The number on the page is the number you pay. No change orders unless you change the scope.
All Schluter installation work carries our 365-Day Done Right Promise: if the waterproofing fails within the first year after completion, we return and correct it at no charge. That promise is in writing, signed, on every job. Schluter also backs their products with manufacturer warranties when installed according to their published specifications, and our documentation package at close includes the Schluter warranty registration paperwork, completed and ready for submission.
DIY or Call Us?
Schluter’s products are not dangerous to handle the way a garage door spring or electrical panel is, but the installation has almost no room for error, and the mistakes are hidden behind tile where you won’t see them until the damage is done. The two-inch seam overlap on KERDI-BAND, the correct directional trowel notch for the membrane, the 24-hour flood test on a finished pan before tile goes down, those are the details that separate a waterproof bathroom from a tear-out in two years.
What a Houston homeowner can safely do is inspect: check for the symptoms above, confirm the corner joints have sealant instead of grout, and verify that whoever quoted the work is specifying Schluter products by name on the written scope. What we don’t recommend is pulling tile off a failed shower to “see how bad it is.” Once the membrane is compromised, opening it up accelerates the damage, and half-finished demolition is harder to quote accurately.
If you’re in the middle of this, call us at (940) 289-7658. We’ll come look, tell you straight what’s salvageable, and put a written number in your hand.
Frequently Asked Questions
A properly installed Schluter system should last the life of the tile installation, typically 20 to 30 years or more. The system doesn’t fail from age in normal Houston conditions. It fails from installation errors: short seam overlaps, mastic thinset, skipped flood tests, or membrane punctures after the fact. That’s why Bradford’s 365-Day Done Right Promise exists, and why we document every seam and every flood test with photos before tile goes down. Call (940) 289-7658 if you suspect a problem.
Not reliably, and we won’t pretend otherwise. Once water is behind the tile, the membrane underneath is compromised, and patching it from the surface is impossible. The correct repair is to remove the tile, inspect and replace the failed section of membrane with proper overlap, and flood-test before re-tiling. That’s a real number and a real scope, and we’ll give it to you in writing.
For a standard bathroom inside a Houston addition or ADU, the Schluter waterproofing scope runs three to five working days from substrate prep through flood test, plus tile setting time after the test passes. A commercial-size or curbless shower with a linear drain may add a day or two. We’ll put the schedule in the written scope, and the flood test date is a hard milestone you can hold us to.
We stock the Schluter parts that run short mid-project: KERDI-BAND, corners, pipe seals, mixing valve seals, and drain components. Full membrane rolls and KERDI-BOARD sheets are ordered for your specific scope and inventoried at our shop before we start. You won’t need to source anything. The material line on your written quote tells you exactly what’s being installed and at what quantity.
Written by Curtis Lane, Owner, Bradford Remodeling Co Houston at Bradford Remodeling Co Houston, serving Houston and nearby areas.
