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.

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.

Dry packing shower pan

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. If the mud is too wet it will be harder to work with and level in your shower. More importantly too much water will cause the deck mud to shrink when it dries and floor will not be as strong is it should be. To see if you've mixed the correct amount of water, make a snowball out of the deck mud and it should hold its shape but squeezing the ball should make it fall apart. The mixture should be damp but squeezing it should not cause water to drip out. Once the deck mud is installed in your shower and sloped you should firmly pack the deck mud with a 2x4 or heavy trowel. The harder you pack it down the more solid the floor will be when it dries. Let the mixture dry at least 24 hrs before getting on to the next step of the shower project. This can take several days depending on the thickness of your deck mud.

There is loose sand and cement dust all over it.

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. Project Tip: Why pre-slope?

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. For starters, the companies that manufacture tile backer boards deserve some blame.

Dry packing shower pan

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.

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The amount of water used in making deck mud will depend on the water content of the sand you use. Fix mortar bed disturbed during drain move. 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. Do not add water like you are mixing concrete. I used a Deck Mud mix with no added sand. This is the cement to use for deck mud. I believe you should be ok with patching the pre-slope layer. Seal ring with manufacturer-approved caulk. I did mine in two batches. Make sure to tape off the drain opening to keep it clean.

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.

Posting Rules. Pack down material as you progress. It comes in 94 lb. Water is what causes concrete and concrete products to shrink when curing. You can see above the clumps that are created when water combines with the sand and cement. Project Tip: Make a final pass with a steel finish trowel to establish a smooth finish surface. 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. Where to Buy Send My Calculation. Wearing respiratory protection, pour Sand Mix into a mortar pan or 5-gallon bucket. 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. Project Tip: Make a final pass with a steel finish trowel to establish a smooth finish surface. Have fun with it. In this picture I have crushed the clump with my thumb. Make sure to tape off the drain opening to keep it clean. I did mine in two batches.