"William Deans" wrote in message news:1100152320.VWiqj2Tg/15IRZZ0GO/zPA@teranews...
Greetings,

Thanks you VERY MUCH for your input. I was worried that my request might
have been a little too "heavy" to elicit any worthwhile help. I am very
thankful for your time.

No one seems to object to the idea of me making my own "high performance mud
bed" (except it might be take extra time and prove difficult to produce a
flat surface). Everyone seemed to champion the official Wonderboard product.

I did a little research and ended up purchasing 5.40 ounce/M2 6X6 mesh/inch
white coated alkali resistant fiberglass mesh fabric. Based on my
calculations I will be able to lay a 3/4 inch mudbed of 1:1:4
(portland/lime/sand) fiber reinforced mortar with fiberglass mesh embedded
near the top and bottom for a cost of $1835 plus labor. This is $1332 less
than the cost of Wonderboard. I am gambling the extra work will be less than
$1332 in labor costs.

I now have two options:

1.. Attempt to manufacture 334 sheets of Wonderboard in my basement and
then install as regular Wonderboard
2.. Embed the fiberglass mesh within a monolithic mud bed
I would like to hire someone for $10/hour to make the Wonderboard in my
basement. If they could average a sheet every five minutes the total labor
cost would be about $280. The total savings would be $1052. This would allow
me to wet cure the 11.57 yards of underlayment in my basement for a full 30
days to ensure full strength was achieved. Any shrinkage could occur before
I installed the boards. This method would allow me to ensure their flatness.
Before making the 334 sheets I will make a test board or two and allow it to
cure for a week. This will allow me to compare it to the official
Wonderboard to ensure it isn't obviously inferior. If the board is inferior
(or seems labor intensive) I am only out the cost of the one or two boards
($10).

Thanks again,

William

Note: I still don't know what ratio of Portland / Lime / Sand to use. The
ratio above was only used for cost calculation reasons.

Legal Note: Wonderboard is obviously a trademark and I obviously cannot
produce it any more than Cannon could make a Xerox machine.

Wow,

You are more ambitious than I would be. :-)

I'd be interested in hearing how it turns out, if the homemade
sheets work ok. Pictures would even be cool also(if you're feeling
that much more ambitious). I'm just curious to see how they are made
and how it works out.

Good luck!

Doug