Building a Shower Pan - In Six Layers by My Count

Building a shower pan is usually left to the pros. That's because you must get the construction right or the shower will leak. A leaky shower is a potential disaster. Now there are tile ready plastic pans that you can use as a base to lay tile on. But the traditional masonry shower pan works great and still is the most common way to get a tile shower built. It's tricky to build, but it's just built in layers from the bottom up.

You see a tile shower floor contains a hidden ingredient. The tile you see on the floor is not waterproof. Neither is the grout. Water goes right through grout and through tile even, so that's why the pan is more than you see. Here's how it's built from the ground up.

The ground being the base which may be concrete or a subfloor. Whatever it is, it must be stable and not bouncy. Often that first layer is a layer of cement board with maybe some tar paper over it. The paper is to keep the masonry that comes next in place until it dries. Meanwhile you have the drain in place and a special drain it is. The drain has two layers of drain holes. The top of the drain is set at the height of the finished floor.

Over the first layer goes a layer of masonry. Now it's a special formula and it's not too watery, but just right. This layer is sloped toward the drain, to the lower drain holes of the special drain actually. That's a secret ingredient. The water that seeps through the floor is heading for the lower drain holes.

Over the first masonry layer goes the next layer. That's in the form of a special thick vinyl sheet. That's what stops the water for good and moves it to the drain holes below the surface of the floor. And how do the drain holes stay open if they're below the surface? It's another trick.

Then over the vinyl membrane goes another layer of mortar. This layer is sloped to the drain too, but such that the finished floor will be at just the right height. This is the base for the tile. Over this base you lay the tile and slope up right to the drain which you see in the shower floor when it's finished. Grout the tile and you're done.

It takes six layers in a tile shower to build the shower pan. A shower built properly will last for many years. The real key is getting the drain in right and getting that vinyl membrane put in just right and sealed so it's really waterproof. This is a lot easier to understand if you can see it done at least once. Building a shower pan isn't complicated, but it's a bit tricky.

You can get access to video tutorials showing the professional tricks to building a shower pan including how to tile shower walls and put in accessories too.

Al Bullington invites you to visit http://InstallingCeramicTile.net for answers to your tile questions.

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