hardie in shower

just wandering if anyone has done something simillar. i am thinking of using large hardie panel boards as surface in shower enclosures. obviously hardie doesnt recommend this but who cares. i am planing to put it over substrate which will be durock with taped and muded joints same as you would do for tiles. now i am wandering wheather to ss screw or glue. also i dont want to butt together but rather leave a reveal of 1/4"-1/2", and fill it with grey caulk. any ideas?

Check my entry here under "Thank you LiveModern".

I did my showers in Minerit, much like Hardie panel, and it turned out great. Make sure you coat the panels with a cement-type waterproofing agent. Glue them down with a superior construction adhesive. Seal your Durock seams with that "Red-Seal" stuff - it's a waterproofing coating. Make sure you cover your studs with plastic sheeting, and if you really want to go for it, face your studs with self-sticking bituthane before stapling the plastic sheet to it. My showers have been going for two years with not any hint of moisture seeping through.

  -R.

richierod, do you mind posting any pictures from the shower? did you also do reveal joints? how does your detail looks at reveal?

brano - 

yeah, sorry, I thought there were some pics of the bathrooms on the Thank You, Livemodern post....

I used a small reveal, say, 1/8" to 3/16" and I caulked it with black to set it off a bit. I like it. My wife wishes I would have done gray.

Thanks, looks great, i'll go for it.

rich,

do you mind sharing couple more details about your bathroom?  

what product did you use to adhere boards?

what tools you used for cutting boards?

what sealer, and did you paint them after sealing?

thanks again

Brano - 

I used a construction adhesive to mount the boards to the hardie backer - I don't remember which kind, but NOT liquid nails. Go to a good lumber yard, not HD or Lowe's, and talk to someone there. 

To cut the board - again, Minerit Lightweight - I used a skilsaw and a diamond blade. Remember to use a straightedge when cutting, don't freehand it.

Before I cut the boards, I sealed them, lying them flat and spraying them with a hudson sprayer, then rolling out the sealer with a fine roller. I used Mason's Select Glazecrete Clear Concrete Sealer, Gloss. No paint because I like the look of Minerit Lightweight which is gray with gold flecks. If you were to paint, I would do some tests to see if the paint would adhere to the sealer. Paint itself is a sealer, so there may be no reason to seal if you were to paint, I'm not sure. 

Check out this pic of how I used 1x4's to hold the boards in position while the adhesive dried.

I'll also mention that because walls are never straight, I used strips of 1/8" material and a hot glue gun to create fullscale templates of the wall before I cut the cement board.

Great posts about the Minerit you used for cladding, flooring, and the shower.  We appreciate the shout out in one of your posts!!!  We have had a few customers order material from us for interior uses after seeing your posts. - Jay www.fibercementcladding.com

does your product come in 4'x8' size?

@Matt: 4 years and going strong, no issues at all.

@brano: when I bought them they came in 4' x 8' and other sizes like 4' x 10' as well.

@Jay: Hey! Thanks for letting me know that others are trying this out too. The house is doing great! Thanks for all your help and advice.