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How to Create a Shower Floor – Part 1

by Roger

Image of a shower diagram

Properly built shower

Curb and Pre-slope

There are a couple of options to create a shower floor for tile using deck mud. The first is a single-layer shower floor which can then be coated with RedGard or a similar product or covered with kerdi to waterproof it. The other is a normal shower floor with a liner which will have two layers – a preslope, the liner, then the top slope which is then tiled. This series of posts will describe the latter.

Before we start I should note that unless you are using the kerdi waterproofing method or utilizing a liquid membrane as your floor liner you should not have the backerboard installed in the bottom part of the shower. Your waterproof membrane for a shower floor will be installed behind your backerboard. The curb and pre-slope need to be completed before installing the lower wall substrate.

Creating the curb for a wooden floor

The first thing you must do is create the outside curb of your shower. You need to create the “box” which will become the inside of your shower floor. Depending upon whether your shower will be created on a wood or  concrete floor will dictate what material you use for your curb.

If you have a wooden floor you want to use regular dimensional lumber. The 2 x 4′s they carry at Home Depot – those. That is the easiest and most readily available material. Ideally you want to use kiln-dried lumber. That is lumber that is, well, dried in a kiln. By removing moisture in this manner the moisture content of KD lumber is normally between six and eight percent compared to regular dimensional lumber at close to 15%.  Why does that matter? Well moisture and wood don’t mix. As it dries wood has a tendency to warp and twist. The less moisture initially in the wood the better.  KD lumber is best and regular air-dried dimensional lumber is also acceptable. NEVER use pressure treated lumber – ever.

I usually use  three or more stacked 2 x 4′s to create my curb depending on the size of the shower. Simply screw the first one to the floor (with correct non-corrosive screws), stack the next one on top and screw it down, and so on until the desired height is reached. That easy.

Creating the curb for a concrete floor

Image of a brick curb

Using Bricks for a shower cub

For a concrete floor you want to use bricks. Yeah, bricks. Just stack ‘em. I use gray concrete bricks (no holes) and stack them two or three high for my curbs. You can use just regular thinset to adhere them to the floor and to each other. Just stack them in the shape you want.

You do not want to use wood for your curb on concrete. Wood will actually absorb moisture from your concrete and start to swell.

Creating the pre-slope

This is one of the steps most often skipped by a lot of people – amateurs as well as professionals. It is imperative! You need it – it’s that simple. Without a pre-slope your waterproof liner will lay flat on the floor. This does not give water anywhere to go. It will sit there, stagnate, mold, . . . you get the idea. With a proper pre-slope any water will drain to the weep holes in the drain and go where it needs to – away.

Lathe for wooden floor

Lathe installation for wood floor

You need to first make sure your shower floor will stay where you put it. On wood you can use regular metal lathe.

You need to place what is called a ‘cleavage’ membrane beneath your lathe. This is just a sheet of plastic or tar paper stapled to your wood floor first with the lathe placed over it. The membrane does not make anything waterproof! If someone tells you that hit ‘em in the head with a bat. It is necessary to prevent the wooden floor from sucking the moisture out of the pre-slope prematurely causing it to cure too fast (or not fully) and significantly weakening it.

When your membrane is down staple the lathe over the top of that. Just cut it to the shape of your shower floor and lay it flat on the floor and staple or nail it down. This gives your mud bed something to grab onto. In the above photo I have used plastic as my membrane and only have a partial piece of lathe in – make sure you cover the entire area below your pre-slope.

Image of a properly prepared pre-slope

A properly prepared pre-slope

For a concrete floor you need to mix up some regular thinset except you need to mix it “loose”. That just means you need to add a bit more water than the instructions call for to make it thinner. Cover your shower floor area with this before you start installing your deck mud. The deck mud itself does not “stick” to anything, you need to supply something that will adhere it to your substrate.

Oh crap – Math???

To make the installation easier you’ll want to mark your height lines on your wall studs. To figure out how high it needs to be off the floor you need to figure out your slope. This involves a bit of math – don’t panic! It’s easy. Figure out which corner is farthest from the center of your drain. Your slope needs to go up in height 1/4″ for every foot. If your furthest corner is three feet from your drain center your slope needs to rise 3/4″. Easy enough so far, right?

Your finished floor (after your liner and top mud bed are installed) needs to be 1″ to 1 1/4″ thick at the drain. So, if we make the pre-slope  3/4″ thick at the drain it needs to be a total of 1 1/2 inch thick at all your walls. So mark a line 1 1/2″ from the floor all the way around the wall studs. This will be the height of your pre-slope at the walls. I try to make my pre-slope the correct thickness at the drain so it will be 1 1/2″ at the walls. This way you do not need to draw lines, just level your perimeter with the top of the 2 x 4 studs along the bottom of the wall. Depending on the size of the shower it doesn’t always work, but it saves time if you can work it out that way.

If your shower is not a square, and they rarely are, you still need to have the same thickness at the walls all the way around the perimeter. This means that you will have a steeper slope on the walls closer to the drain. This is normal. If you don’t do it this way you will have uneven tile cuts at the bottom of your wall. By doing it this way you will ensure a level line and, in turn, a level floor around your perimeter.

The height of your pre-slope at the drain can vary. It  needs to be level with the top of the bottom flange of your drain. Regular drains have two flanges which bolt to each other. The pre-slope needs to be at least level or a touch higher than the bottom flange. Your liner then goes between the top and bottom flange to utilize the weep holes in the drain. This allows any water atop the liner to drain. The pre-slope supports the liner so it needs to be level or above every point of the lower flange. Does that make sense?

This is why planning is so important. Your drain needs to be high (or low) enough and your curb needs to be higher than your shower floor – naturally. So figure all this out before you build anything.

Playing with mud

Now we need to mix up a batch of deck mud. Check out that link, I’ll wait . . .

Okay, once your mud is mixed up you want to start packing it in there. If you are going over concrete and have your thinset slurry down, cover the entire bottom of the shower floor first to ensure the entire base will stick. If you have a large shower only spread as much thinset as you can reach over at a time. Start at the walls and pack your mud down really well – beat the hell out of it. Seriously, beat it like the last DMV employee you spoke with. You want to eliminate any voids and create as dense a bed as possible. Don’t worry, it won’t hit back.

Pack it down around the perimeter to just above your line. When you get that done get yourself a 2 x 4 about 18 – 24 inches long. Lay that on top of your mud bed against your wall and tap the 2 x 4 down with your hammer until it is even with your line. This ensures a level, even line all the way around your perimeter. Perfect! Now don’t touch the edges.

Image of properly prepared deck mud

Properly prepared deck mud

Continue to pack mud into your shower base all the way from the perimeter down to the drain. You should have a straight line from the perimeter to the drain without any dips or humps. This will allow water to drain correctly without pooling anywhere. While this particular layer of your shower floor does not have to be exact, you do need to make certain it is fairly flat in regards to the line from the perimeter to the drain.

Image of a consistent pre-slope

Ensure a consistent slope

That’s it. When you get it all packed in there it should have a shape similar to a very, very shallow bowl. Now leave it alone. Really, leave it alone. The next day it will be ready to install your liner and all that fun stuff. Don’t play with it until then.

In my next post I will show you how to install your waterproof liner. Until then leave your pre-slope alone. It’s fine. Quit trying to perfect it. We’ll do that tomorrow. Get away from it. Really. Stop staring at it . . .

Read this next if I haven’t already bored you to death: How to create a shower floor Part 2

This post is the first in an ongoing series on how to create your own shower. If you would like all this useless information all in one handy little (free) ebook just click here and we’ll take you right to it!

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{ 2 trackbacks }

How to Create a Shower Floor – Part 2
September 26, 2009 at 1:31 am
How to Create a Shower Floor – Part 3
January 21, 2010 at 9:45 pm

{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }

Russ September 8, 2010 at 8:14 pm

Regarding your recommedation to put down thinset on concrete floor before laying first layer of pre-slope with deck mud…should I put the thinset down on entire floor, let set up, then go back and cover with deck mud…OR…should I only put thinset down on as much area as I’m working with the deck mud? i.e., I’m worried about working over a large area and stepping on the thinset. We have an unusual 8′ by 4′ shower.

This is a beginner’s question from a beginner.

Reply

Russ September 8, 2010 at 8:21 pm

sorry…I asked a question before I read all the posts…you have already answered my question. You are too good!

Reply

Roger September 8, 2010 at 8:23 pm

Hey Russ,

Glad I could help! :D

If you have any more questions please don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll give you a professional answer from a professional beginner.

Reply

colm July 12, 2010 at 10:05 pm

hi roger. I am tiling my shower with two preslopes. Is it better to have the plumber install the drain first and leave it up 1 inch off the plywood?. He said I can put it in and he can hook it up after but im not sure, thanks

Reply

Roger July 13, 2010 at 9:14 pm

Hey Colm,

Yes, it would be easier to have him install it first. You can then get in there and adjust the deck mud to whatever you need. If he installs it afterward and something doesn’t match up or needs to be adjusted you’re tearing out tile. Tearing out properly set tile makes me sad. If you installed it it would make you sad too. :D It may work but why take the chance? Adjust the tile to the drain, not the other way around.

Reply

colm July 15, 2010 at 8:42 pm

hey roger, thanks for taking the time to read my mail. I figured that but hes just so argumentative. So heres what he did after I explained to him I needed at least an inch from the plywood. He screwed the drain directly to the floor and tried to tell me I could lay the rubber flat on the floor.” I’ve never seen 2 mud jobs in 20 years plumbing”. Bit of a cowboy If ya ask me. I gave him the chop. I have one more question. Whats the best way to waterproof a bench that runs at 45′ in one corner?. Do I need to mud it like a shower floor or what. Thanks man. Great to have a pro to ask. Its not as easy as it looks to tile but I like to research and do it the right way.

Reply

Roger July 16, 2010 at 8:17 pm

Hey Colm,

Another “I’ve been doing it this way for 20 years…” Yeah, they’re fun. :D

I prefer topical waterproofing membranes such as kerdi or a liquid like redgard or hydroban for benches, niches, etc. Just makes it a lot easier. With those you can just frame them up and cover them with cement board then install your waterproofing on it. You can also use cement board with a moisture barrier behind it but I don’t recommend that – too many things can go wrong without an exacting method.

You can also build it out of cinder blocks or bricks (inside your shower pan) and use thinset to stick it all together. You can just create the 45 in the corner with a row of cinder blocks then fill up the area behind it with concrete or deck mud to the top then just install tile to it.

Reply

Ed June 6, 2010 at 2:49 am

I have removed the tile, floor and walls from a 50′s bathroom and plan to replace it and would like to use Kerdi in shower area, floor and walls and ditra on the balance of bath floor area. The wall studs are solild and true but the floor in the non-shower area of the bathroom is poor with places where the concrete surface was damaged from the removal of the old tile and one inch thick mud bed. Some of these damaged areas are 8-10″ square and 5/16″ deep.
First I would like your recommendation as to the material to use on shower walls, drywall, greenboard, cement board???? Whatever I use will be sealed with the kerdi material.
Second, what would you use to level the concrete floor area before appling the ditra and tile?
Thank you, Ed

Reply

Roger June 6, 2010 at 7:32 pm

Hey Ed,

Believe it or not regular old drywall is the recommended substrate for kerdi. (Also what I normally use)

As far as your floor with areas that deep in certain spots you would probably be better off using a self-leveling cement product to level it out before installing your ditra. Most thinsets allow only a MAXIMUM build-up of about 1/4″ and mud beds need to be a minimum of 1 1/4″. SLC would be your best bet.

Reply

Ron June 2, 2010 at 4:46 am

I have poured a new concrete slab next to an existing slab thereby extending the bathroom floor area, in this new area I left a recess of 61″ x 48″ X 2″ deep with a center drain for a new shower. Three of the new surrounding walls are new frame construction and the fourth is concrete block, this was the existing exterior wall of the bathroom. I have removed a section of the block wall 37″ wide, this was the width of the existing window, to allow entrance to the new shower. This area is 37″ X 10″ X 2″ deep ( the 10″ is the thickness of the block wall plus outside stucco and on the inside a thick tile bed including wire mesh, all of which has been removed) It was/is my hope to allow a direct wheelchair roll into the shower area from the old existing slab into the new shower. Clearly I did not recess the slab area deep enough to build a preslope, then liner, then mud bed and finally tile. All tile has been removed from the original bath floor. If I have explained this well enough, you can see (read) that it was my hope and intent that the new tile floor in existing bath would transition through the new opening in the block wall into the new shower area. Can I build a mud bed and use a liquid or fabric sealer and set tile directly on that surface? If so, do I use anything between mud bed and recessed slab? If you have a solution, please answer all the other questions I should have asked as well. I recognize I am late in asking but any advice/solution you can offer would allow an old man to save face and an old woman to get her wheelchair into the shower. I have been fairly handy over these past 62 years but most of my projects have not been set in stone/concrete!!
Thank you, Ron

Reply

Roger June 2, 2010 at 5:54 pm

Hi there Ron!

Quite a project you have going on there. You can indeed use a liquid or fabric membrane (topical membrane) as your waterproofing. The first thing you will need to do is get a hold of a Kerdi drain – just google that. It has a wide flange to which you attach the fabric membrane (kerdi) and it is a one piece drain so you don’t need to worry about the weep holes and all that boring stuff. It’s fairly straight-forward. It will set you back about $100-125 but it’s definitely worth it. You can also utilize it for a liquid membrane.

If you choose a liquid membrane you need to read all the directions about the particular product to see whether or not you need to utilize fabric at the plane changes and around the drain and whether you can even use it as waterproofing on your floor. Each liquid has different standards. I would use Kerdi instead if it were mine.

You should mix up some thinset ‘slurry’ (that just means mix it up thinner than normal) and place it on the slab before installing the deck mud. This will hold it in place and attach it to the slab. Other than those two things just make your mud deck as normal. Slope it from the entrance down to the drain like one big pre-slope at 1/4″ / foot then, after it cures, install your topical waterproofing membrane. Just make sure your doorway is the highest (or level with the highest) edge around your shower perimeter and run your kerdi through the doorway and under the floor tile a bit into the bathroom.

If you have any more questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Reply

kim May 11, 2010 at 8:34 pm

Hi Roger,
We’re building a house and I’m getting ready to start building the shower pan.
I’ve read all of your instructions (excellent, by the way) but our subfloor is odd and I’m not exactly sure what to use under the preslope…let me explain. On our Advantech sub floor we screwed 2×4 sleepers 12 in on center, ran the Pex tubing between the sleepers and filled the voids with cement leaving us alternating strips of cement and wood. Therein lies my problem-do I follow the instructions for building over a wood floor or cement floor?

We’ve tiled kitchen and bathroom floors so far and what we did there is put cement board down (using thinset and screws) and then tiled over it.

…so my ideas so far are to either do what i just described and then put deck mud on top of the cement board or another thought was to put tar paper down then staple wire mesh to the sleepers and then put the deck mud on that. Any thoughts? Am I totally off base?

Also, I’m not sure if I should be using brick or 2x4s as the curb.

Thanks,
Kim

Reply

Roger May 11, 2010 at 10:26 pm

Hi Kim,

You aren’t off base at all. You can actually do either but if it were me I would probably go with the cement board option. That way you would have a consistent base beneath your pre-slope (rather than alternating wood and concrete). If you go that route use 2 x 4′s for your curb.

If you go with the wire lath make sure you put plastic or roofing paper beneath it so the concrete and wooden sleepers do not leech the moisture out of your deck mud prematurely. If you go that route use bricks for your curb. I would still prefer the cement board layer beneath, though.

Reply

Justin May 4, 2010 at 8:24 am

Hey Roger, thanks for the reply, I finished the curb and am now stuck on the drain. The previous installer never installed a preslope so the bottom drain portion is level with the concrete subfloor and looks like a pretty corroded cast iron, I was going to start breaking up the concrete around it and was wondering if it is pretty standard to replace the p trap at the same time, or if the pipe looks good can I just cut off the old one and install a new one at the proper height? And one last question, I bought 4 mil plastic that I was going to put behind the CBU but am now wondering if I should just get the kerdi? I would only be doing the walls with the kerdi and not the pan, or is the 4 mil and the CBU a decent water barrier that would provide a long lasting shower? Thanks again for all the help!

Reply

Roger May 4, 2010 at 10:15 am

Hey Justin,

I always replace the p-trap as well. If it is indeed cast iron it will eventually need to be replaced anyway and I would always rather do that while I have the access without needing to tear out a tiled floor to do it. Not saying it will need it within the next couple of years, just saying it may need it. You can always cut the old drain out and just replace it but I always replace the p-trap as well.

The 4 mil plastic with the cement board is a perfectly acceptable water barrier for your shower. That said (typed) let me say that the kerdi is more than acceptable – it’s just better. With the CBU the backerboard will get saturated with water eventually, the plastic prevents that from reaching your wall framing. Once saturated the CBU rarely ever fully dries out, the water is simply flushed through and replaced with fresh stuff every time you shower. This is completely normal.

With kerdi the waterproofing membrane is directly behind your tile. Any moisture that gets back there will immediately hit your waterproofing and be directed into the drain. Your shower completely dries out after each use – no standing water – ever. Topical waterproofing membranes are, in my opinion, absolutely the way to go. If you have a choice definitely go with kerdi.

If you do go with the CBU and plastic make sure your plastic overlaps the floor membrane so that any moisture running down the plastic is directed into the membrane and to the drain rather than behind it.

Reply

justin April 27, 2010 at 9:43 am

Hi, thanks for putting up all this great info. I am building my curb now and was going to do a curb/pony wall thats a couple feet high out of brick. do i need to stagger the bricks? and do i spread a thin layer of motar over the bricks and then cover with metal screen and then another layer of mortar? im just not sure what i need to do to the pony wall to be able to tile it, and how shold i attach the screen to the brick? also should i attach the liner to the inside of the pony wall with anyghing? thanks for all the help!

Reply

Roger April 27, 2010 at 7:43 pm

Hey Justin,

The problem with your plan is that your liner will need to run up that brick wall a minimum of three inches above the top of your curb. You will then need some type of backerboard or substrate on which to attach the tile. I think the best thing to do would be to either build your pony wall with studs and backerboard and install your liner as usual behind the backerboard, or use a bonded (topical) membrane as your waterproofing for your shower floor and up that wall. These are products such as Kerdi or other sheet membranes, or liquid membranes like hydroban or Redgard.

The issue is not being able to run your waterproofing membrane from your shower floor up behind your tile substrate. Building your pony wall out of brick does not allow any way to attach the rubber membrane to the brick solidly enough to attach tile (or anything else) in front of it. With a topical membrane you can build it out of bricks, float it out smooth with thinset, then waterproof everything. Any topical waterproofing allows for tile to be attached directly to it.

And yes, you do want to stagger the bricks to solidify the wall. Stacking straight without staggering leaves every straight joint as a weak link. If you stagger them it will lock them all in to one solid structure rather than several ‘stacks’ of individual bricks.

Reply

joe April 24, 2010 at 3:44 pm

hi roger, nice to find some one that calls a jerk a jerk. I have always done my own remodeling and repairs and over the years have seen nothing but misinformation and crappy work. After remodeling our hall bath I decided to do our master bath which contained the standard sheetrock shower of the 1970′s. Neo angle and no two walls the same dimension, Ceramic floor with a lead pan that was installed so out of square that 11″ went up one wall while 3″ on adjacent wall plus the liner was torn and some kind of rubber ball was shoved in the corner with caulk.
I got lucky as it did not leak but curb was destroyed, as it was studs wrapped in sheet rock, My question is the clamping drain I am using has beveled edge for recessed apps so it only sits about a quarter inch of plywood. Should I raise it in order to get a thicker preslope by the drain. I was going to have a (tile guy) do this work but he stated pre slopes are not needed. that is what the liner is for, After tearing out the lead liner i could see that water had been standing in there for years. So here I go again trying to do it right the first time all I need is good info, thank you, joe

0

Reply

Roger April 24, 2010 at 8:31 pm

Hey Joe,

I was wondering what the hell I did with that rubber ball. :whistle:

I would raise that drain. 1/4″ isn’t that much for the pre-slope to hold together. If it is that thin it will break off fairly easily and I wouldn’t trust that around the drain. Easier now than later.

Sounds like you had one of them ‘custom’ showers built. :D

Reply

joe April 25, 2010 at 12:04 pm

Roger, thanks for the quick reply. i downloaded the installation instructions for the souix chief 821 drain i am using and sure enough it shows about 1/4 inch of primary mud under the flange.i have some 1/4 hardibacker board scraps, should i try to make some round shims out of these for under the drain? also do i need some kind of pvc corners for the curb cuts?Never done one before,Any different for neo angle? thanks again ,joe

Reply

Roger April 25, 2010 at 12:12 pm

Hey Joe,

You should be able to use the 1/4″ hardi for drain shims. You can use dam corners on the inside of the curb where it meets the wall.

The neo angle showers are different with the curbs. On the outside corners you cannot get pre-made corners to fit, you need to just make sure you have them cut carefully and a patch placed over the exposed area with a 2″ overlap and the proper glue type for your liner. Do not cut and glue the liner inside the pan, only from the inside top of the curb at the angle toward the outside of the curb. Everything from the top of the curb down inside the shower should remain one piece and all cuts made above the top of the curb.

Reply

Greg March 7, 2010 at 11:51 pm

First timer! Completed my pre-slope; 2 bags of sand topping mix and 1 bag of sand. Added just enough water to stay form together when squeezed in hand but broke apart very easily when push down with one finger on form ball. Beat down with wood float and smooth surface with metal towel. Slope of 1/4″/ft. 1/2″ at drain PROBLEM: After letting dry for about 30 hrs., I decide to sweep off with nylon hand broom. The surface and easily sweep away and if I keep sweeping, I could all the way to subfloor! Is this normal/ What did I do wrong?

Reply

Roger March 8, 2010 at 12:29 am

Hey Greg,

There are two reasons it may be doing this. It may be either one or a combination of both. The first is that you did not get enough water mixed into your mud or it was not mixed consistently enough. More likely you did not get enough, mixing it inconsistently is immediately noticeable. The second cause may be that you did not pound it down hard enough. You really want to beat the crap out of it. :bonk: You know, like the last DMV employee you spoke with. You want to make that mud deck as dense as possible.
If I had to guess I would say a bit of both but more of the second. Another problem is that you are sweeping it – don’t sweep it. It is supposed to be sandy – really. If you have too many loose particles on top that simply is a sign that you did not pack it well enough. If it is good and solid (short of the ‘sandy’ factor) you can just mix up some thinset and coat the top to give yourself a workable surface. If you absolutely need to clean off some of the top use a shop vac but do not hold the nozzle against the mud deck itself, only about a 1/2″ above it. Holding the hose against it will suck a hole right out of your floor. Sandy is normal. If you cannot poke your finger through it then you did it correctly and it’s fine.

Reply

Jenn February 25, 2010 at 8:05 am

Hi Roger, I love love love your site! It’s so good to meet a floor geek :)

I have a question about PVC pipe. I ripped out a fiberglass shower stall and found, roughly a 2’ x 2’ hole in the corner of the sub-floor where they laid the pipe. This is an old 1800’s farm house. The plumbing was put in sometime in the earlier 20th century – I guess. To reinforce the sub-floor I put in 2×6 joists and then placed ¾” plywood over the entire space of the shower stall – 3’x4’. When I went to place the 3 piece drain assembly I was short the ¾” distance to make the connection. To remedy this I wedged a 3” block under the pipe which raised the P-trap pipe up far enough the reach the drain connection. The connection fits in the 1” inside size fitting for most of the opening. However, there is about a quarter the pipe on the lower end where it only goes in about 1/4 “ give or take a sixtieth. My question is, is this okay? Should I put silicone along the end to be safe? I did use cement and it is good and tight. Or, do you think that I should extend the P-trap pipe? If so, what’s the best way to do this?

Thanks for your help! Jenn

Reply

Roger February 25, 2010 at 7:31 pm

Hi Jenn,

The reason it is doing that (and I’m sure you already know it) is that when you wedged the block beneath the p-trap it tweaked the vertical coupling pipe sideways a bit – strangely enough about 3/4″. :D

It may be ok, but I wouldn’t chance it. When dealing with water think grand canyon – water carved it. That means your dining room table below that shower doesn’t stand a chance.

Silicone is effective only to keep water out, not to keep water in. In keeping water out of a space such as a corner of a tub, it does not require any strain on the adherence of the silicone to the substrate, that is to say that it does not try to pull or push the silicone away from whatever it is attached to. If you attempt to use silicone around your drain it will constantly push that bead away from the pipe due to the pressure of the water. It won’t last any significant amount of time.

While the coupling may ‘feel’ like it is good and solid it is actually not. For a solid connection you need the entire 1″ of pipe contacting a full 1″ of pipe. By tweaking it sideways your pipe is only actually contacted in a small ring probably about 1/4″ wide all the way around. Think of a smaller pipe inside a larger pipe. If you contact the smaller pipe on one side at the opening the upper half of that side will not be in contact with the larger pipe. The upper half of the opposite side will be but the bottom of that side will not be. Knowwhatimean? Probably not. I have a way of confusing things. :D

The absolute best thing to do is go get a coupling and lengthen that p-trap pipe. They make couplings to extend your drain pipe. It would be a hell of a lot easier to buy and install a $2.00 piece of plastic now than replace a $1000 shower floor and whatever structural damage it may cause. if you cannot find a coupling short enough just get the shortest you can find and just cut the vertical p-trap pipe to whatever size makes it fit.

Absolutely well done on ensuring the stability and reinforcement of your subfloor! Don’t let a piece of plastic ruin all your hard work.

Roger <– Certified floor geek.

Reply

Mickey December 17, 2009 at 1:26 pm

I am doing a bathroom job and before reading your write ups I have been putting the corriloyd/membrane down first and then the mud on to with cement board on the walls so far all the jobs have come out great and are still going. Should I use welded wire mesh on top of the membrane or just leave it out so the membrane doesn’t get sliced?

Reply

Roger December 17, 2009 at 3:00 pm

Hey Mickey,

Never place welded wire mesh anywhere against your membrane except around the curb. Even then you must be super careful not to puncture your membrane.

Are you putting a pre-slope down? If not you need to start doing that. A traditional mud bed will retain moisture from the shower’s regular use and will be flushed through regularly with each shower. That’s completely normal.

However, if there is no pre-slope and the liner is flat on the floor the mud bed can only flush out water which sets above the drain. Any water level with or below the weep holes will never be replaced and will simply set stagnant.

With a pre-slope the entire area of the mud be which gets saturated is above the weep holes and will be flushed through regularly.

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Russ November 9, 2009 at 7:05 pm

Thanks for posting all this great information. We are first time shower installers and have been using word-of-mouth adivce from a variety of sources (including the Home Depot / Lowe’s staffers), but things were really not clear until we read your stuff. We have made some adjustments to our materials list and are finally ready to get started. Thanks…I am sure you saved our project!

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Roger November 9, 2009 at 10:13 pm

Glad I could help, Russ. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

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