Dry packing shower pan

Advice and installation help at the John Bridge Tile Forums. I have therefore taken a few pictures of the mud I make, and I will explain the process once again.

The shower pan is the all-important foundation of a stand-up shower. Water is a merciless foe, so cutting corners here can lead to rapid and expensive failure of the entire shower. In this project guide, get the key practices for building a mortar shower pan after the framework of the shower is in place. Project Tip: Use the Sakrete App to quickly measure, estimate and buy straight from your phone. The first layer of the shower pan is underneath the waterproofing membrane. This often-overlooked step establishes a drainage path for water if the top layers of the shower pan are compromised.

Dry packing shower pan

Read This]. View First Unread. I am remodeling a bathroom and building a new 4'x8' shower. Existing floor is concrete slab. I followed all the instructions on this website to make dry pack mortar and installed the pre slope yesterday. I mixed 60 lb bags of Sand Topping Mix and added 25 lbs of play sand to get a sand to cement mixture of close to I dry mixed this thoroughly, then added water slowly to get the consistency described in the dry pack article. I added 6 cups of water, and I got the mixture to pack and hold its shape perfectly, just like the pictures on this web site. My hand was clean, and the mixture crumbled easily, again just like the pictures. I dry missed the mixture, and mixed it with water, in a large flat-bottom wooden trough, using a mortar hoe, so I know I got it thoroughly mixed.

The final mud bed, on the other hand, needs to done properly in one placement with correctly mixed deck mud well packed and shaped and cured.

Building your own shower floor from scratch requires shower deck mud, also referred to as dry pack mortar. Deck mud is made from portland cement, sand, and water. The mixture should be approximately 1 part cement to 5 parts sand but anywhere for 4 to 6 parts sand to 1 part cement is acceptable. Be very careful with how much water you add to the deck mud as you mix it up. It's referred to as dry-pack mortar for a reason. Do not add water like you are mixing concrete.

Each day, our editors assemble the latest breaking industry news, hottest trends, and most relevant research, delivered to your inbox. Those with curbed entries are common, but curbless installations—where the shower floor is flush with the bathroom floor, then slopes to a drain at center or along the back of the stall—are gaining popularity. As with any shower, leaks are most common at the pan; in the case of a custom shower, the pan tends to be fabricated on site and finished with ceramic tile or a similar hard-surface material. The details needed to deliver a leak-free installation depend on whether the shower pan is fabricated and finished over wood subflooring or a concrete slab. With wood subflooring, the least expensive option is to use dry-pack mortar to slope the shower floor to the drain, then cover it with an EPDM rubber waterproofing membrane. But in my experience, this type of installation is the mostly likely to develop leaks.

Dry packing shower pan

Waterproofing a shower. Well, a lot of showers that are built these days still have no shower waterproofing whatsoever. Or they have poor or improper waterproofing. Estimated reading time: 15 minutes.

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Multiply this distance by 0. Install metal lath or reinforcement over the cleavage membrane, securing it to the subfloor with nails or staples. Pack it down til it's a little above the sticks, then screed it flush. Fold cut edges into drain base and install clamping ring and collar bolts. If the membrane is installed flat on the subfloor, water will have no path to the drain and will cause mold, tile failure and eventually, failure of the entire mortar pan. It has been suggested that deck mud should be mixed with latex additive instead of water, this to make the mortar more cohesive and to give it greater compressive strength. The mortar is packed in with a wood float or flat steel trowel and rubbed or scraped off until the dish shape of the shower floor is attained. I will say this, though. If it's too low after packing it down, dig out that area that's low and repack it. I probably wouldn't have added the extra water at the end. It comes in 94 lb. Check the consistency of your mix. Wearing respiratory protection, pour Sand Mix into a mortar pan or 5-gallon bucket. Deck mud contains only sand, portland cement and a little bit of water.

Update: Several readers have noted that the membrane installation method described in this article which is a flat membrane installation is no longer recommended as an optimal installation method because water that penetrates through the top layer of tile or grout may rest on the membrane. A pre-slope fill mortar bed installed under the membrane, coupled with the proper method for ensuring the mortar does not block off weep holes to the drain, can better protect the installation from standing water than may not evaporate back through the surface tile and grout. This updated method can be seen in this article at The Family Handyman.

The harder you pack it down the more solid the floor will be when it dries. Prep for Pre-Slope The first layer of the shower pan is underneath the waterproofing membrane. Use a hand level to maintain level around the perimeter. Deck mud is made from portland cement, sand, and water. Deck Mud 3. Make sure to tape off the drain opening to keep it clean. Once rough slope is achieved, use a straight edge to confirm that you have a smooth slope from edge to drain in all directions. The mortar is mixed. That one hasta be right as it's your actual tiling substrate as well as part of the water removal system. Project Prep The shower pan is the all-important foundation of a stand-up shower. Tile Your World. I did mine in two batches. Check level both on each side as well as from edge to edge. I have therefore taken a few pictures of the mud I make, and I will explain the process once again. Other pros advocate a or even a recipe.