Making A Sloped Shower Floor

Reinforce the shower pan.

Making a sloped shower floor.

The height of the concrete should gently slope from 2 1 2 around the outside of the form to 1 1 4 near the drain. Sticks measure 1 8 in. The membrane does not make anything waterproof. No matter what the building inspector says it s not a good idea to install a pan liner and then a single sloped mortar bed over it.

Mix the cement in the wheelbarrow. I used an unbonded mortar bed so i have a tar. From the floor drain. To determine the proper slope measure from the drain to each wall and figure a quarter inch of slope per foot of length.

Install the liner over a pre sloped bed as i explain here. You need to first make sure your shower floor will stay where you put it. Calculate the slope by multiplying the measurement by 1 4 inch. Shower floor slope to efficiently drain the recommended minimum slope for a shower floor is about 4 percent or a 1 2 inch drop per every 12 inches from the shower walls to the drain.

Before tiling a shower be sure the drain and sub floor are properly seal. On wood you can use regular metal lathe. You need to place what is called a cleavage membrane beneath your lathe. When working with the wet concrete strike it gently with the flat side of the trowel to help bring the moisture to the surface and smooth out the concrete.

For standard shower sub floor areas with a centered drain or custom shower areas where the drain is within 36 in. The top of the drain must be set below the subfloor of the room. Taper x 36 in. Water that gets into the mortar bed won t be able to drain out.

This is just a sheet of plastic or tar paper stapled to your wood floor first with the lathe placed over it. Make your diy shower tile experience easier with these pro tips from the tile shop. For instance if the drain opening measures 2 foot 8 inches from the furthest wall then the shower floor should slope 3 4 inch from that wall to the drain. Usually this requires that the floor is recessed between 1 to 2 for the minimum size.

Shovel it into the shower stall working it with your trowel as you do. 1 measure from the drain opening to the furthest wall then round up to the nearest foot.