Installing a FloFX Drain in a SCHLUTER KERDI FOAM PAN!!!

Well, then you asked for it, now you have it, a

drain

with flow effects that fits in a pre-tilted Kerdi

foam

tray, that's right. Flowfx came out with a traditional union flange that will fit a Kerdi preformed tray, so I got it. Lots of questions about can I use flow effects on a Kerdi preform tray and the answer was always no because the original flow effects union flange is square and doesn't fit the round hole on the Kerdi tray. Flowfx came up with this so I'm going to dig into it, show you the pros and cons, what I like about the new

drain

compared to the Kerdi Union Flange and keep in mind I might be a little biased because I sell flow effects on my website, which you can get at Tilecoach. .com I feel like I should post it but there will be a ton of good information in it so check it out so here are the flow effects.

Here is the Kerdi Union Flange that most of you know about these guys and have used. So what comes in the Kerdi union flange is that you get a nipple seal. Here you get some instructions. You get the inside and outside corners. We rarely use these guys. I don't know why they include them. You should buy them if you want. I need them, I guess they are kind of useful, but you can also make them with a normal Kerdi membrane, so in the flow effects we have a very nice joining flange and we have the excellent holder that has an adjustment ring now.

I'm going to show you a feature I really like right off the bat - this adjustment ring is actually thicker than the Schluter Kerdi one - and why that would be important. Check it out, so if you were to put it on the flange, you'll see how. that's flush now, it doesn't go down like that, the

kerdi

is flush, so what happens sometimes with the

schluter

? If you're doing a small mosaic or a mosaic, it sinks right here because this adjustment ring is thinner, so what the flow effects did is They made this thicker again, it has the same adjustment mechanism as the

schluter

, you can turn it up, you can turn it down and everything and also look at these crying channels here, better crying action, really aggressive crying channels there so when this guy comes in here and if the water falls here, it can drip down the drain.

Very slippery it also looks very good so let me show you how the grid is installed on the schluter

kerdi

so with both the flow effects and the kerdi the grids are sold separately but there is also a big difference look at the union flange this is everything that comes with the kerdi and with the flow effects when you buy the union flange it comes with the adjustment ring and the grid holder so you have everything you need to do you can install your tile you can finish your tile because this is only temporary this guy here is only temporary it just comes out and then the grape appears so you can finish grouting all your tiles, you leave the grid cover here you take it out put the grid on and so you'll have everything you need to lay, install and grout your tile right here at the joint flange where with Schluter Kerdi you would have to have your grille because the trim ring and everything comes separately, so you got the sleeve, you got the trim ring, you got the grille, normally I put the rack on and then the trim ring goes on like this and now you can adjust it but here's that feature with the thinner one look how this is a thinner trim ring watch what happens when we put it on the schluter it sinks , it sinks very low right here.

Can you see space? It's hard to see, but there's a space right there. I would say there is probably a gap of a strong sixteenth, almost an eighth of an inch, so the slimmer fit. The ring sinks here, so if you have a tile, it will sink because the setting ring is thinner and also doesn't have those drainage grooves like the flow effects. I mean, you can really see the difference here. the drain channels and then the schluter just have their little holes here, so the thicker trim ring, the thinner trim ring, this one will make life a lot easier if you're setting up a tile.

Ok, now that I've explained the main differences between the two, let's move on. and install the flow oh oh oh I almost forgot I almost forgot so see how the flow effects have screw holes so you can screw the union flange on and secure it because obviously you don't want this to go up and down um Schluter Kerdi has the same thing , it has holes, but the problem is that the holes are too small for a normal size screw to fit in and then they lift up. I'll show you, so if I took a screw and put it in, I'll see. how high does that screw stick out, that's as far as I can get it down, it sticks out a hefty eighth of an inch so if you were to run the membrane through there would be a bulge you just wouldn't because you end up cutting your fabric because flow effects have a slit to accept the head of a screw look what look at this now we have a screw that sits flush in the flange, it's flush so that way you can run the membrane over it without it creating a bulge and possibly creating a tear , that's why I really like to screw on my cable ties when possible, if you're on concrete you can't really do that, so while we're talking about that, you know, keep the cable tie embedded in the

foam

so it can't emerge, look how soft it is the plastic on the Schluter bonding flange, is just really soft ABS plastic, the flow effects have these mortar lock channels that mechanically bond the adhesive into these channels so that once it's embedded it doesn't want to come up once it's embedded. dries out, it's very difficult to get them out, so this one with the slippery bottom would be much more likely to appear if it wasn't secured properly and, really, if there's no way to mechanically fasten this flange.

It depends solely on the bond to this smooth plastic and we know that mortar does not adhere very well to plastic, so yes, that's another thing, the anchoring system for flow effects is much better, not to mention the quality, I want I mean, if I were to feel these two next to each other, this flow effects are much heavier, more resistant, it doesn't have as much flexibility as this Schluter Kerdi, so now that I've shown you everything I like about flow effects, let's go ahead and explode. It's on this Kerdi tray, so you see, I have my Kerdi foam tray installed, I cut it to size, I used a razor blade to cut all the edges, these really cut very well and this is the low profile Kerdi foam tray , so it measures only one inch. thick on the outside edge so it was pretty easy to cut with my rock knife so once I cut it I mixed in my thin coat of multi-max light and remember this multi-max light doesn't have sand in it it's Highly modified, this Laticrete Multi-Max Light is what I use for all my laminate membrane installations and when I use them, when laying down the foam trays, I comb the multi-max light thin set with a half inch by half inch notched trowel. which travels in one direction and that helps push out the air it comes out from the bottom and collapses those ridges and it also helps a lot if you put a little pressure on it by standing on it and moving to all the corners making sure the foam tray is completely embedded in that thin layer and let the air in. exhaust around the edges and the middle, okay, now that the foam tray is installed, let's go ahead and install the flow effects train.

It's actually pretty easy to put them on, so I'm going to use a quarter inch by 3 16 V notches. Trowel to make my membrane sheet, band, and corners, so I'm going to go ahead and use that in this area. You may want to use a larger trowel, but as long as you fill this area completely and fill the mortar lock. on the back, you're ready to go now that I have the mortar lock cavities filled. I'm going to go ahead and apply the abdominal cement to the end of the pipe and place it in the flow effects drain, try not to thin it. on me and then in one step I'm pushing down and turning to make sure we have a good fill and coverage there, uh uh, so there you have it, a flow effects union flange that fits in a preformed tray by Kerdi.

This is incredible, I know. These will be a big hit, if you want to purchase one check out Tilecoach.com or Flowfx. Either one is good to me. You'll be supporting a small business, a made in the USA company that makes a great product, so if you're going to pick up one, you might want to pick up two or three, keep them on the shelf because, again, you don't need any other piece, this is ready to tile. I don't need to pick up the rack, you can just have it. the joining flange and the tiles, everything, grout everything and then insert the grate you want and the nice thing is if you ever want to change the grate it's an easy thing to do you just go right out and in so you have everything you have with the union flange get a Kerdi foam tray and have fun thank you all for being here.

I know there's a ton of other content you could see, but that's why you chose this one. I am truly blessed and honored. before I go I love you I love being your mosaic trainer and I'll see you in the next video