| Tile shower pan installation tips can help you build | | | | - Put in the vinyl pan liner six inches up the walls |
| a ceramic shower yourself. Also the more you | | | | and glue to the base of the drain. |
| know about how to build a shower pan, the | | | | - Put gravel in lower drain holes to keep hole |
| better you can work with the tradesman who | | | | open. |
| actually builds your shower for you. | | | | - Pour top base masonry level sloped to the drain. |
| The traditional way to build a shower pan is to | | | | - Lay tile with thinset over cured base. |
| use masonry to build a base upon which the tile is | | | | - Grout tile. |
| set and grouted. This is a simple concept but not | | | | That's the concept and it's a fairly simple concept |
| so simple to actually do. There are several tricks | | | | with quite a few tricks and also many variations. |
| that tile setters use that make it hard for a | | | | For example, some people put the vinyl |
| normal handy person to build a shower pan. The | | | | membrane on the bottom and just pour and |
| stakes are high when building a shower pan. Most | | | | slope one coat of masonry. |
| of the critical elements of a shower floor get | | | | The way to avoid all this process is with a tile |
| covered up during construction. If you make | | | | ready shower. At least three companies make |
| mistakes and the shower leaks, there is no easy | | | | complete systems that include pans with built in |
| way to redo your mistakes so everything must | | | | drains all ready for tile to be installed after the |
| be torn out and you get to start over. | | | | pans are set in place. Some systems use foam |
| See the real reason for a shower pan is that a | | | | and vinyl sheets to make the pans in any |
| shower floor naturally leaks. The grout does | | | | configuration. Others use standard pans which |
| anyway. The grout in a shower floor is | | | | may or may not fit your application. But the tile |
| porous...water goes through it. Without a | | | | ready shower pans save a lot of time and require |
| waterproof liner under the floor, some of the | | | | less skill. The disadvantage is cost. Complete |
| water in the shower will go right through the | | | | traditionally constructed tile showers can cost less |
| shower base and rot the subfloor. So a shower | | | | than just the parts for some of the tile ready |
| pan has a waterproof liner underneath the | | | | showers. |
| ceramic tile designed to route any water coming | | | | Also you can get fiberglass shower pans to use |
| through the grout to the drain. The drain is | | | | as shower floors. These pans are probably |
| especially designed with weep holes under the | | | | available at your local building supply store. You |
| surface of the floor to catch the runoff that | | | | can use a fiberglass pan as a base and put tile on |
| moves through the grout. | | | | the rest of the shower. Fiberglass shower pans |
| The steps to building the pan are these basic | | | | are not made for tile installation over the pan. |
| processes. | | | | Also anything other than standard sizes will be |
| - Build a solid subfloor, either wood or concrete. | | | | unavailable or very expensive. |
| - Set the drain so the finished height is at the | | | | You can see there are alternatives to a traditional |
| finished level of the floor. | | | | masonry shower, but there are good reasons |
| - Pour the first base layer of mortar sloped to | | | | why most tile showers are still built the "old" way! |
| the base of the drain. | | | | |