Toilets, Sinks, Showers, Tubs and Disposals - Shower pan issues
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newarcher
10-27-09, 04:24 PM
Hello all.
I have a friend coming sometime this week to help with my toilet flange replacement.
I have moved on to the shower. We just finished tearing out the shower tile. The wall tiles came off easily and behind the tile was simply cement backerboard. No evidence of any leaks, etc.
The issue is that when I started tearing out the tile in the floor, some tiles were leaving behind the adhesive which almost looked like clear silicone. Other tiles were taking up the adhesive with a thin layer of concrete underneath. Also, the concrete underneath the tile and adhesive is moist enough to wet your socks if you stand on it. I have NOT noticed any water leaching into the next room (ala a large leak). We did notice that the grout in a couple of the corners had failed and we caulked it to fix it....I suppose that's where the water was coming from....that or the drain. Since we are on slab, no issues with leakage below.
Here are my questions:
1) How do I tell if the shower is sloped appropriately? I have never seen any drainage troubles.
2) On the walls, is the cement backerboard enough or should I add a membrane of some sort?
3) Must I add some sort of membrane under the floor tiles? If so, how do I attach it to the drain so that any water which gets under the tile flows to and out of the drain?
Sorry for the shotgun questions. I will get a picture on here when my batteries recharge in the camera.
Thanks,
New
I have a friend coming sometime this week to help with my toilet flange replacement.
I have moved on to the shower. We just finished tearing out the shower tile. The wall tiles came off easily and behind the tile was simply cement backerboard. No evidence of any leaks, etc.
The issue is that when I started tearing out the tile in the floor, some tiles were leaving behind the adhesive which almost looked like clear silicone. Other tiles were taking up the adhesive with a thin layer of concrete underneath. Also, the concrete underneath the tile and adhesive is moist enough to wet your socks if you stand on it. I have NOT noticed any water leaching into the next room (ala a large leak). We did notice that the grout in a couple of the corners had failed and we caulked it to fix it....I suppose that's where the water was coming from....that or the drain. Since we are on slab, no issues with leakage below.
Here are my questions:
1) How do I tell if the shower is sloped appropriately? I have never seen any drainage troubles.
2) On the walls, is the cement backerboard enough or should I add a membrane of some sort?
3) Must I add some sort of membrane under the floor tiles? If so, how do I attach it to the drain so that any water which gets under the tile flows to and out of the drain?
Sorry for the shotgun questions. I will get a picture on here when my batteries recharge in the camera.
Thanks,
New
HeresJohnny
10-29-09, 08:09 AM
New
Tile and grout do not waterproof a shower floor. There should be a liner under the mud bed that does that. It could be a pvc/cpe pan liner, it could also be copper, lead or something else. If this is an old shower, there is no way to tell the condition of the pan liner, and they do not last for ever. The fact that your mud bed is holding a lot of water is a sign that it may be failing. Thats why most renovations like this include removing the mud bed, and pan liner and then starting from scratch.
Here is a link as to how a shower pan should be built.
Building a shower pan with pre-sloped mortar bed, liner and curb. (http://www.ontariotile.com/preslope.html)
Today, the thinking on building of showers is changing. Completely waterproof showers like Kerdi are being used more often.
You can find Kerdi shower info at Schluter.com
Tile and grout do not waterproof a shower floor. There should be a liner under the mud bed that does that. It could be a pvc/cpe pan liner, it could also be copper, lead or something else. If this is an old shower, there is no way to tell the condition of the pan liner, and they do not last for ever. The fact that your mud bed is holding a lot of water is a sign that it may be failing. Thats why most renovations like this include removing the mud bed, and pan liner and then starting from scratch.
Here is a link as to how a shower pan should be built.
Building a shower pan with pre-sloped mortar bed, liner and curb. (http://www.ontariotile.com/preslope.html)
Today, the thinking on building of showers is changing. Completely waterproof showers like Kerdi are being used more often.
You can find Kerdi shower info at Schluter.com