| If you're building a shower pan, you must know that | | | | when you look at the floor. The other drain holes are |
| ceramic shower floors naturally leak. See, the grout is | | | | under the surface of the floor. Huh? See, that's |
| not waterproof. What that means is that some of | | | | where the waterproof membrane routes the water |
| the water that hits that floor is going to leak down | | | | that leaks through the floor. How do the drain holes |
| into the floor. Without something to stop the water, | | | | stay open under the floor? It's pea gravel... |
| the area under the shower will be damaged and | | | | As you probably know, there are other tricks to |
| eventually will rot. Not good. | | | | building a shower pan, including the special mortar |
| That's where a shower pan comes in. With a | | | | that's used. It's called deck mud and it's made a |
| conventional shower pan, there is a waterproof | | | | certain way. There's also the special way the floor is |
| membrane built into the masonry floor. That's what | | | | sloped. There's a reason for a slope, which you |
| stops the water... the waterproof membrane. What is | | | | probably could guess. But, can you guess why many |
| this membrane? Well, over the years it's been a | | | | tile setters don't use a sloped floor? It's weird... |
| copper sheet, lead sheet, even mopped on tar. But | | | | Funny thing, installing a tile shower the conventional |
| for the last several years, it's usually been a PVC | | | | way works just great if everything is done right. |
| vinyl sheet. This vinyl sheet is actually built into the | | | | Problem is, there's quite a bit of argument about the |
| masonry floor to stop the water that leaks through | | | | best way to do several of the construction steps. |
| the shower floor. | | | | There is another way. Many professional tile setters |
| There are a number of tricks to getting this to work. | | | | now use a system that completely eliminates all the |
| One of the basic tricks is a special drain. The special | | | | mud work. That way much of the "art" to building |
| shower drain has drain holes on two levels. The one | | | | shower is gone. You get leak proof showers without |
| level is right up there at the top. Just what you see | | | | all the mud. |