We have just made a frame and plywood base for a stone resin shower tray. A small note says lay it on a weak bed of motar but thats the only info. Any idea of motar mix and how thick it should be. Any other tips would be useful
TVM
Russ
In message , Russ writes
I don't think it really matters that much, I would use say 6:1 or 8:1 (Sand:cement) mix.
I probably used bed of about 1cm - 1.5cm
A sand cement mix of 1 part cement to 6 parts sand should be ok... (anything from say 1:5 up to 1:7 will be fine).
The mix wants to be fairly dry (you don't want it to squidge out of the edge when you stick the tray on it!). If the ply base is good and solid then about a half inch of mortar ought to be enough. All the mortar is doing is making sure the try is supported right over the full area of the base.
When I did my one the other day, is used a little sharp sand in the mix (makes it a bit stronger and a little eaiser to tamp down I find). I also added some waterproofing admixture to the water for the mortar.
One gottcha: Check the length of the neck on the waste trap for the shower. I noticed on my one that by the time I had 19mm of ply plus another 12mm of mortar, the trap neck was not going to be be quite long enough (i.e. you would have difficulty doing up the lock nut on the waste pipe connection without it fouling on the under side of the ply. The solution I used, was to mark the area on the under side of the ply where the fitting nut was, and then route away some of the ply in the marked area to create a shallow recess.
1:4 cement to sand, mixed semi dry .. i.e. if you crush a handfull it retains shape and water does not squeeze out.
Remember you are NOT sticking it down, only providing full support underneath.
I used about a 3/8" (10mm) bed when I did my trays, shuffled the trays left to right to settle in.
Rick
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