That time a hardware store guy said to use construction adhesive on my shower niche

Last month when I was building a shower niche into my bathroom reno, this older employee at Lowe's in Portland told me to just skip the screws and use PL Premium on the backer board instead. I was skeptical but tried it on one section, and three days later when the adhesive was fully cured that piece was way more solid than the screwed-in parts. Anyone else ever get handed a random tip from a store employee that actually worked better than the standard method?

2 comments

2 Comments

nora1022h ago

Schluter's own instructions say mechanical fasteners are required behind their foam board systems.

sagey691d ago

Hard disagree on this one. You got lucky with a single test piece, but wait until that adhesive fails down the road from steam and moisture. PL Premium isn't meant for wet areas long term, especially behind tile where you can't see it rotting. Screws give you instant mechanical hold that doesn't depend on perfect surface prep or cure time. I've seen too many shower pan jobs where someone tried adhesives only to have the whole thing delaminate after a year because the backer board wasn't perfectly clean and dry. Stick with the standard method for anything that'll be behind tile.