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.

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

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. Maybe these pictures will be a little clearer than those previously published. Deck mud is made with clean sand, portland cement and water. The basic recipe is 5 parts sand to 1 part portland cement — Too much cement and the mortar tends to clump as you mix it. Other pros advocate a or even a recipe. I think can be considered the median of the industry. 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. That strength is more than adequate for shower floors and other small areas. Adding latex in this instance is simply a waste of time and money.

Cut a sheet of building paper or roofing felt to fit the bottom of the shower base to act as a cleavage membrane, dry packing shower pan. It is much courser than masonry sand, but masonry sand can also be used. Quote: I added 6 cups of water

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.

Your bathroom floor has a shower pan that is waterproof and collects water then directs it to the drain. The shower pan needs to be installed correctly to support the weight of the users and keep the underlying layers from damage by the water. The right mortar mix for the shower pan determines how good the pan will be. If you make a mistake with this one, you risk destroying the whole shower floor. The best mortar for shower pans is a mixture of sand and Portland cement, creating a water-resistant barrier that can support the weight of the shower unit and its users. You can create your own with Portland cement and fine sand and 4 quarts water for 80 lb. Mortar is preferred for shower pans over other options such as concrete and cement given that it bonds better to other surfaces and is more moldable. The best mortar mix for shower pans contains sand and Portland cement.

Dry packing shower pan

Follow our step-by-step instructions to custom-fit a shower enclosure with a mortared shower pan. A mortared shower pan allows you to custom-fit a shower enclosure. The key to a successful installation lies in the use of a chlorinated polyethylene CPE or PVC membrane, tough but flexible plastics that form the pan of the enclosure and make the floor waterproof. Over the membrane, a mortar bed floor supports the tile. Smaller tiles work best to conform to the slope. This thick-bed installation relies on a troweled mortar mix, which when properly mixed is like a sandy clay. Floating a thick bed takes two steps: floating the sloped sub-base for the membrane and floating a reinforced top floor that follows the slope of the sub-base. Because of its considerable weight, you should install it only on a slab or properly supported wood subfloor. You'll need to devote two to three days to frame the enclosure, float the floor, and tile and grout the interior. Before you begin, strengthen and repair the subfloor.

Farthen dur minecraft

If it's too low after packing it down, dig out that area that's low and repack it. I am afraid I probably should tear out the whole thing and redo it. A flat sand and gravel shovel works well when mixing on a flat surface such as a concrete slab or sheets of plywood. I will say this, though. I use it frequently for small jobs like single shower floors. In this picture I have crushed the clump with my thumb. Sponsored Links. In making deck mud you want to use only enough water to cause the cement coated sand particles to cling together when compressed in your hand. Find More Posts by Davy. Skip to content. Yes, I thought 6 cups of water seemed like way too little, but everything on this site that talked about dry pack stressed to go easy on the water. I did it in 4 sections, so it took about minutes to work each section after I mixed the material.

It also explains how to properly install a traditional shower floor base. Read on for info about how to properly slope a shower floor pan.

Check level both on each side as well as from edge to edge. Estimate the amount of material required. This ensures that each particle of sand becomes coated with cement. You can see how easily the mortar crumbles. Project Prep The shower pan is the all-important foundation of a stand-up shower. Water was added in small amounts until the mortar was dampened completely. 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. Project Tip: Why pre-slope? Add more material where necessary and continue packing down. Water is a merciless foe, so cutting corners here can lead to rapid and expensive failure of the entire shower. Corners should be folded, not cut, and ideally bonded with a manufacturer-approved sealant or adhesive. What happened?