Alternative shower pan idea. Will it work?

[nascenta]

I'm building a shower enclosure (32 x 70) on a concrete floor. The drain is right against the wall on the short side. Since I have, essentially, one plane to slope I'm thinking of doing the following: 1) Apply rubber membrane on floor with hospital corners to 10 inches high and put in the appropriate drain 2) put in mortar to the slope needed (1/4 per foot). 3) while the mortar is still wet put down fiberglass reinforced cement board and firmly set in the mortar.

Is this going to work? What do you think? Your comments will be appreciated.

[Bob]

The membrane needs to be sloped to the drain. The tile also should slope towards the drain in each direction - in your case 3 directions.

Bob

[Italian]

Newer mind if it will work...why would you do this? You have 3 planes to slope...you always form the slope from the front of the drain and the remining sides.. that is what works, that is what has worked, and it always will work. Think about this a little more.

2) put in mortar to the slope needed

3) while the mortar is still wet put down fiberglass

this come from? this is going to completely negate the slope and is completely unnecessary. Look in order to make this drain you need very little slope more like

1/ 8 per foot with 1/4 per foot you are go> I'm building a shower enclosure (32 x 70) on a concrete floor. The

[Bob]

Except it lacks the necessary slope. Water will not drain to the weep holes in the drain.

this come from? this is going to completely negate the slope and is completely unnecessary.

1/4" per foot seems to be the accepted minimum slope. That's why shower floor tiles are usually small. I was told 3" max.

I suggest the O.|P. talk to people at a quality tile shop about his plan.

Bob

[No]

What the other guy said. Also, what is the purpose of the backer board? Not needed if I remember correctly for your situation. Hire a pro, get a pre-fab/custom one built or read-up more on the process.

[DanG]

It is not that big of a deal to break the floor and relocate the drain to center. This will allow you to set the elevation and the slopes. Why would you install wonder board? Shower bases are typically mud (cement and sand) packed to drain on top of the shower pan. Maintain the slope to drain at 1/4 per foot.

______________________________ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) [e-mail]

[nascenta]

this come from? this is going to completely negate the slope and is completely unnecessary.

I was going to use cement board because it is already flat and strong and my floating skills are not that great (for doing a regular mortar bed.) The mortar would just secure it and maintain the slope.

Thanks for the responses.

[nascenta]

Good point. Thank you Bob.

[Bob]

did this come from? this is going to completely negate the slope and is completely unnecessary.

A mortar shower pan is done with a very dry pack of mortor. There is lots of scraping and packing involved in getting it right. It ends up being porous, allowing water to weep through to the weep holes. Proper use of straight edges and levels to maintain an even grade to the drain is what it takes.

Another issue with having the drain at one end is that the wall tile will have to vary in width around the shower instead of being even.

Bob

[HerHusband]

No need for the cement board if you're floating a mortar bed.

With a vinyl membrane you'll need to float a sloped bed, apply the membrane, then float another bed on top for the tile.

I recommend Schluter Kerdi waterproofing membrane and their special drain instead. I used it for our large 6'x6' shower and it worked great. You float a single mortar bed, and install the drain. Apply the Kerdi membrane, and you're ready to tile. It's a bit more expensive, but saves a lot of labor, and eliminates mold problems in the upper mortar bed.

You should visit the tiling forums at

There's lots of advice there about preparing shower mud beds, tiling, etc.

Anthony

[Italian Mason]

These are the steps to tile in a shower assuming the subfloor is complete.

1) Place and secure the membrane 2) Flood test it for leaks 3) Establish your slope plane 4) Pack your mortar bed to your plane (or close you can adjust it you didnt get it exactly) 5) > I'm building a shower enclosure (32 x 70) on a concrete floor. The

[nascenta]

Thank you for all the responses.

I'm going to float a pan and use the Kerdi system. I've used it before but I didn't like the styrofoam floor. It compressed in a couple of spots as I worked on it doing the walls. It sounded a little to hollow too. So doing my own pan out of mortar and then using the Kerdi drain and membrane should to the trick.

Thanks again all.