Tile Shower Stall - Base Moisture?????

We're in process of rebuilding a tile shower stall in our 30 year old Florida block home. We ripped all the tile and board off the walls and ledge, the sliding door is gone (some dumpster diver snagged that before the trash men could), and we chiseled the tile off the floor. After we pulled the tile off the floor, we noticed the base, although hard, firm and intact, is very damp feeling. Wanting to start good we put down some industrial absorber (like cat litter) and within a day it was totally wet with moisture. :O/ ???

The shower is in a dropped section of the foundation, the tile base is built up from that. We'd rather just tile on top of this as it has the proper slope and drain and we really don't want to rip this all out. As we read online about shower stalls it appears the base under the tile is a wet sand/concrete mix and we're not sure if this needs to be totally dry or could we put the sealer (or shower base) on top of this and just build.

Does the base layer under the floor tile need to be completely dry?

Thanks in advance for your help and info.

Reply to
infiniteMPG
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I would let it dry out then cover it with a membrane such as Schluter. It is thin-setted down then the tiles are laid in thin-set on top of it. If you follow the directions it will fit over a sloped base and will prevent any water from penetrating futher. Soapy water soaking in over the years must have punky smell by now. I would want to stop any further absorption.

Reply to
EXT

Was planning on using the MAPEI AquaDefense before putting down the tile :

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Any hints on how to dry out a big chunk of damp concrete like that? I put the absorbing material and within a couple hours it's soaked. Was hoping that would draw the moisture out but seems like I'd need a truckload to do it that way.

Reply to
infiniteMPG

Tare it out and start over as the base concrete will not be as strong after it drie,s out , you will also have mold issues for ever as the mold has grown into the pores of the concrete . Saying that build the new base then put a fiberglass liner to the whole space and all your problems are solved . Concrete and tile are the worst showers going .

Reply to
jim

Reply to
Michael B

Don't mind differently as long as it's not more expensively....

Reply to
infiniteMPG

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