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Schluter Home Additions & ADU: The Orlando Owner’s Guide
If you’re planning a home addition or ADU in Orlando with Schluter waterproofing and uncoupling systems, installed work typically runs $45,000 – $130,000 depending on square footage, foundation work, and finish level. We stock Schluter-compatible membranes, profiles, and drainage components on our trucks, and we can match the right Schluter part to your project the same day we walk it. Most homeowners reach out after noticing cracked tile at a transition, water staining near a shower curb, or a failed bond between their existing slab and the addition’s flooring system. The good news: this is a solvable problem when the correct Schluter part goes in the first time.
Here’s what we cover, what it costs, and how to tell if your Schluter component is the problem. One note up front: Penhallow Remodeling Orlando is an independent contractor, not affiliated with Schluter Systems. We install their products because they hold up in Florida’s humidity and slab-on-grade construction. We’re not here to sell you a logo. We’re here to fix the floor or the shower so it stays fixed.
What Schluter Parts Do for a Home Addition or ADU
Schluter makes a handful of core systems that matter in Orlando additions and accessory dwelling units. The three we install most in this market are KERDI waterproofing membrane, DITRA uncoupling membrane, and the DILEX movement profiles. Each solves a specific Florida problem. KERDI keeps water from migrating through shower walls and floors in ADU bathrooms. DITRA sits between the concrete slab and your tile to absorb movement that would otherwise crack grout joints. DILEX profiles handle expansion at door thresholds and between rooms where two slabs meet.
A few Schluter specifics worth knowing before you buy parts yourself:
- DITRA comes in two thicknesses: 1/8″ (standard) and 5/16″ (DITRA-XL). The XL version matters in Orlando because it bridges height differences between existing slab and a new addition’s subfloor. If your addition’s slab was poured slightly lower than the original house slab, standard DITRA won’t fix the lip. You need DITRA-XL or a self-leveler first.
- KERDI membrane has a directional fleece backing. It bonds to thin-set on both sides, but only when the fleece side faces the substrate. Install it backwards and the tile bond fails within months. We see this on ADU shower repairs where someone watched a video and flipped the roll.
- DILEX profiles come in 8’2-1/2″ sticks, not cut-to-length. Aluminum, stainless steel, and PVC versions exist. For exterior thresholds on an Orlando addition, you want stainless or aluminum. PVC profiles crack under direct sun after a few years of UV exposure.
We stock these on the truck for common sizes. Uncommon profile lengths or specialty Schluter drain assemblies take 1 – 3 days to source locally. That’s usually not a problem for a planned addition, but if you’re mid-tile-job and discover you need a 4″ KERDI band rather than the 5″ one you bought, call us. We may have it on the shelf that afternoon.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Schluter Home Addition or ADU Component Is Failing
Schluter products fail for predictable reasons. In Orlando specifically, heat exposure, slab movement, and installer error cause the vast majority of warranty claims. Here’s what failing Schluter parts look like on real jobs:
- Hollow-sounding tile near a doorway or room transition. This usually means the DITRA membrane has debonded from the slab. Causes: slab moisture vapor (common in Orlando’s high water table areas), insufficient thin-set coverage, or using standard thin-set instead of a polymer-modified one rated for concrete.
- Water staining on the ceiling below a second-story ADU shower. This points to a KERDI seam that wasn’t overlapped the full 2″, or a corner where the membrane was cut too short. Schluter requires a minimum 2″ overlap at every seam. Less than that and water will find the gap.
- Grout cracking in a straight line that follows the slab joint. Concrete moves. When your addition’s slab expands or contracts with Florida’s temperature swings, the tile wants to move with it. A missing DILEX movement joint forces the stress into the grout. The fix is cutting in a movement joint, not regrouting.
- Musty odor coming from a recently finished ADU bathroom. Moisture is trapped somewhere. In a Schluter system, that usually means the KERDI drain flange wasn’t sealed correctly, or the membrane wasn’t tied into the shower pan properly. It won’t dry on its own. The membrane is doing its job keeping water in, but the framing behind it is wet.
- Tile lippage or a visible height change where the addition meets the original house. This signals that either DITRA-XL was needed but standard DITRA was installed, or no uncoupling membrane went in at all. The floor height difference worsens over time as the slabs settle differently.
See the difference
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a full home addition or ADU in Orlando with Schluter systems properly installed, expect $45,000 – $130,000. A stand-alone ADU (separate structure with bathroom and kitchenette) runs higher than an attached addition due to foundation work, separate utility runs, and what Orlando’s building department requires for accessory units. A garage conversion that adds a bathroom using Schluter KERDI runs $30,000 – $80,000.
Here’s what moves the number up or down:
- Slab condition: Orlando’s sandy soil and high water table mean some slabs need leveling or vapor barrier work before DITRA goes down. If your existing slab has more than 1/4″ variation over 10 feet, add prep work.
- Bathroom count: Every additional wet area means more KERDI, more DILEX, and more Schluter drain assemblies. A one-bath addition is a very different number than a three-bath ADU.
- Tile size and type: Large-format tile (24″ x 24″ or bigger) requires a flatter substrate, which means more prep under the DITRA. That adds labor.
Every Penhallow Remodeling Orlando job gets a written price before work starts. That’s not an estimate range. It’s a number we’ll hold to. If we find something under the slab that changes the scope, we stop, show you, and write a change order. You sign it before we keep going. That’s the Kingswell standard since 2004: say the price before the work, show up in the window we gave, leave the place cleaner than we found it.
DIY or Call Us?
Schluter systems are forgiving to install correctly and absolutely unforgiving when installed wrong. If you’re dealing with a DILEX profile that popped out of its channel, you can often clean the channel, check the anchoring leg hasn’t bent, and snap it back in. That’s about as far as we’d recommend going on your own.
KERDI and DITRA are different. These membranes rely on full thin-set contact, correct overlap, and proper substrate prep. We’ve repaired enough DIY Schluter work in College Park and across Orlando to tell you this plainly: a failed KERDI seam in a shower means tile comes off, the membrane gets patched or replaced, and the shower gets retiled. That’s $3,000 – $8,500 depending on shower size. The fix is almost always more expensive than doing it right the first time. If you’re considering installing Schluter yourself, call us at (850) 427-6454 first. We’ll tell you honestly whether your situation is a weekend project or a job for a crew.
FAQs
Schluter KERDI membranes are rated to last the life of the tile installation when installed correctly. In Orlando’s humidity and heat, the failure point is almost always the installer, not the product. We’ve torn out 15-year-old KERDI that still looked new, and we’ve torn out 2-year-old KERDI that failed because someone skipped the overlap. Installed right, you’ll replace tile for style reasons long before the waterproofing fails.
Sometimes yes. If the failure is at a single seam and we catch it early, we can remove the affected tile, patch in new KERDI with proper 2″ overlap, and retile. If the membrane has debonded across a large area or water has wicked into framing, the full area needs to come out. Call (850) 427-6454 and we’ll assess what’s actually happening before recommending a repair or replacement.
For a typical ADU bathroom or kitchen, we install DITRA and DILEX profiles in one day, then tile the following day. Thin-set cure time drives the schedule. We use a fast-setting polymer-modified thin-set rated for Schluter systems, which keeps your project moving without compromising the bond. A full addition with multiple wet areas and movement joints typically takes 1 – 2 weeks from substrate prep through grout.
Yes. Our trucks carry DITRA and DITRA-XL membrane, KERDI band in common widths, inside and outside corners, pipe seals, and a selection of DILEX profiles in aluminum and PVC. We also install materials from KraftMaid, Cambria, and Silestone on remodeling projects that call for them. If you need a Schluter part matched to your project, call (850) 427-6454 and we’ll check the truck before we arrive.
If your Schluter membrane, profile, or drain is failing in an Orlando home addition or ADU, don’t guess at the fix. Call Penhallow Remodeling Orlando at (850) 427-6454 for a free estimate and a written price before any work starts. Give you the number first, then pick up the tool.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner, Penhallow Remodeling Orlando at Penhallow Remodeling Orlando, serving Orlando and nearby areas.
