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Schluter Home Additions & ADU: The Fort Worth Owner’s Guide
Schluter home additions and ADU waterproofing systems in Fort Worth typically run $45,000 to $130,000 installed, depending on square footage, foundation work, and the Schluter systems specified for wet areas. Most owners discover they need Schluter-specific work when a bathroom or kitchen inside the addition starts showing water staining at the base of walls, or when tile in a new shower addition develops loose grout within the first year. We stock Schluter KERDI membrane, DITRA underlayment, and the full line of Schluter edge trims on our trucks, because an addition is only as good as the waterproofing you never see.
Which Schluter Models This Applies To
This page covers the Schluter systems used in home additions, ADUs, and garage conversions across Fort Worth: KERDI-BOARD shower systems, KERDI waterproofing membrane, DITRA and DITRA-HEAT uncoupling underlayments, and Schluter profile trims (edge protection and transition strips). If you’re adding a bathroom to a home addition or building a detached ADU with a wet room, these are the parts that fail first when installed wrong.
Here’s the compatibility gotcha most Fort Worth homeowners hit: KERDI membrane and KERDI-BOARD are not interchangeable with the DITRA line. KERDI is for walls and shower pans. DITRA goes under floor tile. Using DITRA on a shower wall is a fast path to water damage behind the tile, and we’ve ripped out enough of those to know. Schluter’s product numbers are printed on the back of every sheet and board, so if you’re looking at an existing installation, check the reverse side before ordering anything. OEM Schluter parts are the safe call for warranty coverage, but quality aftermarket equivalents exist for edge trims and drain grates when you’re matching an older profile that Schluter discontinued.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Schluter Home Additions & ADU Is Failing
- Water staining at the base of shower walls or around the toilet flange. This almost always means the KERDI membrane wasn’t lapped correctly at the floor-to-wall transition. Water is wicking behind the tile and into the framing.
- Loose or cracked grout in a shower that’s less than two years old. The substrate behind the tile is moving or swelling. With Schluter systems, this usually points to improper thinset coverage under the membrane or a seam that wasn’t banded with KERDI-BAND.
- Musty smell coming from the bathroom or kitchen addition. Water is trapped behind the waterproofing. In Fort Worth’s humidity swings, that trapped moisture turns to mold fast, often within months.
- Drain in the shower pan pools water after every use. The Schluter KERDI-DRAIN was set too high, or the mortar bed under it settled. The fix means pulling the pan and resetting the drain assembly.
- Edge trim pulling away from tile at the shower threshold or niche. The Schluter profile wasn’t bedded in thinset along its full length. Once it separates, water tracks under the trim and follows the grout lines into the wall cavity.
See the difference
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After
Before
After
Before
AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a full Schluter waterproofing replacement in a Fort Worth home addition or ADU, expect $45,000 to $130,000 depending on the scope. That range covers tear-out of failed tile and substrate, replacement of KERDI membrane or KERDI-BOARD, new Schluter drains and edge trims, and re-tiling the wet area. Smaller shower-only fixes within a new addition can land lower, but you’re not re-waterproofing a shower for $2,000 if the framing behind it is compromised.
Here’s what drives the number: how far the water traveled before you caught it. If the subfloor is solid and only the membrane failed, the fix is cleaner and cheaper. If the framing is rotted and the sill plate needs replacing, the job grows. Every quote from us includes the parts, labor, and a written line-item price before any work starts. We don’t show up with a “surprise” change order on day three. The work carries our 365-Day Done Right Promise, so if the repair fails within a year, we’re back at no cost.
| Schluter Repair Scope | Typical Fort Worth Range |
|---|---|
| Shower waterproofing replacement (KERDI membrane, drain, tile) | $4,500 – $12,000 |
| Bathroom addition with full Schluter system | $9,000 – $28,000 |
| ADU with Schluter wet areas (bath + kitchen) | $90,000 – $220,000 |
| Full home addition with Schluter waterproofing | $45,000 – $130,000 |
DIY or Call Us?
You can do the detective work yourself. Pull the escutcheon plate off the shower valve and look for moisture on the back of it. Check for soft grout lines with a flathead screwdriver. Identify where the water is getting out and where it’s going. What you shouldn’t do is tear into the tile and try to patch KERDI membrane yourself. The seams require KERDI-BAND applied with unmodified thinset at a specific overlap, and the pressure-sensitive adhesive only bonds when the substrate is perfectly flat and dust-free. A botched patch means the water keeps flowing, just somewhere you can’t see it until the ceiling below caves in. If you’re in Fort Worth and the waterproofing in your addition or ADU is failing, call us at (682) 841-6652. We’ll come look, write down what we find, and give you a repair price before any tools come off the truck.
FAQs
A correctly installed Schluter KERDI system should last 30 to 50 years, but Fort Worth’s clay soil movement and summer humidity mean improperly installed membrane can fail within one to three years. The system itself doesn’t break down; installation errors do. If your addition’s shower started failing within 24 months, it was never installed right to begin with. Call (682) 841-6652 for a free assessment.
No. Once water has penetrated a KERDI seam or a puncture in the membrane, the water has already reached the substrate behind it. Patching the visible surface traps moisture inside the wall cavity and turns a repair into a mold remediation. The affected section gets torn out and re-waterproofed properly. Call (682) 841-6652 and we’ll show you photos of what we found before we recommend anything.
A full shower waterproofing swap in a Fort Worth home addition typically takes three to five working days, including tile work, curing time, and flood testing the KERDI drain assembly. Larger ADU wet-area replacements can run two to three weeks depending on the extent of the water damage behind the tile. We schedule the work in writing, including dry times, so you know exactly when the shower is usable again.
Yes. Our Fort Worth trucks carry KERDI membrane, KERDI-BAND, DITRA uncoupling underlayment, KERDI-DRAIN assemblies, and common Schluter edge profiles so we can start most waterproofing repairs the same day we diagnose them. If you’re looking for KraftMaid, Cambria, or Silestone materials for the rest of the addition, we source those too. Call (682) 841-6652 for a free estimate.
Written by Luca Romano, Owner & Lead Remodeler, Sawyer Remodel Fort Worth at Sawyer Remodel Fort Worth, serving Fort Worth and nearby areas.
