| Tiling a shower that does not leak means building in a | | | | The other basic approach to tiling a shower uses |
| shower pan to stop the water. Maybe you already | | | | what's normally called a "tile ready shower pan." |
| know that all shower floors leak. The grout will not | | | | TileRedi and Schluter are two main suppliers of these |
| stop the water and often tiles won't either. To stop | | | | pans. |
| the water you can build in a waterproof layer using | | | | What both do is replace all the mortar base with a |
| traditional mortar construction or you can use a tile | | | | dense foam base. TileRedi bases are coated and |
| ready shower pan. Read on to see how they | | | | ready for tile. The Schluter system uses a base that |
| compare. | | | | gets covered with a waterproof liner material over |
| The traditional way to build a shower pan consists of | | | | which tile is installed. In both cases the only mortar |
| installing a waterproof layer between two layers of | | | | work is just putting down a thin layer of mortar to |
| mortar. The two layers are necessary to slope the | | | | set the pan in. |
| floor and to properly support and protect the | | | | By using a tile ready pan, you avoid the skilled work |
| waterproof liner. Today most everyone who builds | | | | of building in layers of mortar and trying to get one |
| showers like this uses a vinyl sheet as the | | | | layer perfectly sealed. Also with these pans you |
| waterproof layer. | | | | eliminate the soaked first layer where mold grows. |
| Building a shower floor like this begins with laying | | | | Water only can soak into a thin layer of mortar and |
| down a sloped mortar bed over a properly supported | | | | all the rest of the water goes right down the drain at |
| floor. Included in the installation goes a special drain | | | | the top of the floor. |
| with two drain levels. | | | | The tile ready shower pan sounds like an ideal |
| Above the base mortar layer goes the waterproof | | | | solution to building a shower pan that won't leak and |
| membrane. Key to the floor staying waterproof is | | | | in some cases it is. Two problems arise though that |
| the sealing of the liner to the base of the special | | | | keep the traditional method going. First, the cost of |
| shower drain. If that happens, the water that makes | | | | tile ready pan materials almost equals the cost of a |
| it to the liner gets moved down to the drain and | | | | completed traditional pan including all parts and labor. |
| away. | | | | That is quite a problem. Also, the TileRedi system |
| The final mud layer goes over the liner and serves as | | | | only comes in standard sizes except by special order |
| the actual base for the tile itself. As you can probably | | | | at a higher price. Custom sizes present a problem for |
| follow, there are several tricks to getting this right. | | | | the easier method. |
| Getting the liner sheet in without any leaks is key. | | | | Tiling a shower can go one of two ways. Using |
| This method works well when done the right way, | | | | traditional shower construction methods takes more |
| but you still at the best have the top mortar layer | | | | skill but costs far less. A more modern tile ready pan |
| almost constantly wet. That means mold can grow in | | | | eliminates water build up in the base and goes |
| the floor above the liner. | | | | together easier and faster, but it costs far more. |