Sounds like something from Star Wars and the Jedis. No, its a German product for lining shower stalls. We'd seen it at the Seattle Home Show several years ago and Jim Quandt had recently installed the product on a bathroom remodel in Kala Point. Basically its high-density blue foam board coated with a modified polymer cement and fiberglass mesh for strength and rigidity. The boards we're using come in 3' x 5' 0.5"-thick sheets and the preformed shower pan is the same size with a centered drain (http://www.wedi.de/usa/products/fundo/fundo.php). The key here is that this is a waterproof system with a locking drain collar. No more worries about a leaky shower liner like my sister encountered on her home in California (meaning leaks and rotted subfloor and joists—kachine!).
To assemble the shower stall, first you plumb your 2" drain pipe in the center of the 3' x 5' opening (other sizes are available). Cut the pipe off flush with the floor, then put the locking ring over the pipe. Drop the pan into place and secure it with a bed of polyurethane sealant. The sides of pan are rabbited out for the side panels. Since we made the stall exactly 3' x 5', we could use full sheets, vertically on the ends and horizontally on the back. The product is fairly expensive ($30 a sheet and about $300 for the preformed, sloping pan with stainless steel drain). We're into it for about $500 in materials. The alternate solution is to use Hardibacker board and to pour your own pan with mortar mix. A bit sloppy and hard to get a uniformly slope, but I did it years ago so its not rocket science. Wedi's pitch is that you save buckets of labor putting their system in. So far we have invested 6 hours of my time and 2 hours of Jim's time.To make life interesting, we built a recessed nook in the wall that will accommodate all the manditory shower stuff—shampoo, soap, razors, etc. When the tiling is being done (by us), we'll get some of the leftover travertine countertop material from the bathroom and have 3 shelves cut for the nook, and cement them in place.
The Wedi board is screwed and glued in place. The screws go through large washers that help hold the board, then the washers and all joints are caulked with polyurethane. Pretty simple, just make sure you don't have any big ridges of polyurethane sticking up that will interfere later with the tile cement. So the pan and side boards are in place and I still have to build a small sill that will hold the glass door. However, we haven't priced or bought the door yet so the sill will have to wait for a while.
