One of the mysteries of home construction is how to build a shower pan. That mystery mostly results from the key parts of a shower that hide beneath the surface of the shower floor. Here are key layers of a shower pan and how they go together. Understanding how a tile shower floor works helps even if you work with a contractor rather than tackling this yourself.

Tricky drain…

Tile drains are more than meet the eye. That’s because there are actually two drain levels. You only see the top one in the floor. The lower layer is the one that causes confusion. Both catch water, but on different layers. Weird huh? In either case, setting the drain comes early in the project. The lower one actually gets buried in the floor and it’s the critical one even though you cannot see it.

Mud first…

The real fun begins with the first mud layer. It’s called deck mud and it really is a simple mix. Just three ingredients go together to form the main mortar used in the base. Now, it is important that the lower mud layer slopes. That’s because of what comes next and it really is key to a waterproof shower floor. Note that many tile setters skip this important step and that leads to trouble down the way because the slope is missing. Water flows downhill after all.

Liner hides…

Shower floors leak every time. That’s because the grout does not stop water and often neither does the tile itself. So the floor that you see does not stop the water.

What to do? You build in a layer in the floor to catch stray water that makes it through the floor surface. That’s the liner, a special vinyl sheet that lets no water pass. The liner membrane is essential and key to a shower that works properly.

Drain away…

And that’s how the sloped base and the special drain come into play. The liner is sealed to the drain so the liner-caught water rolls downhill right to the lower drain and away it goes. That whole process is basic to tile floor construction.

And next…

Next over the liner hides another mud layer. This one simply lies there as the base for the tile itself. It slopes to the upper drain holes and consists of deck mud just like the lower layer.

Then the easy part…

After all that, ceramic tile installs right over all those layers as simple as if it were over a kitchen floor or a counter top. All the work went into the base and most of it gets covered and hidden. And that’s the way you want it to stay… hidden. That means it continues to do the job it was created for… keeping water in it’s place.

Learn how to build a shower pan and do it yourself and get it right. Either that, or watch a pro do it and make sure the pro is really a pro and not a pretender. The other approach to get a tile shower uses a tile ready shower pan. That lets you skip most of the skilled mortar work and just install a shower base ready for tile. And it does take a special base made to stand up to the weight of the tile.

Author Bio: Check out the article about the tile ready shower pan for tips on getting a shower without the mud work. Check out another shower pan installation article for answers to your tile questions.

Category: Home Management
Keywords: how to build a shower pan