Pan Solid

Shower Pans For Tile -- Key Tricks

Shower pans for tile are all that stand between all that water and high-priced damage to your home. Oddly enough, building shower pans is just a matter of building several layers but there are good reasons why homeowners rarely tackle the shower building project. Here are the often hidden pitfalls.

The Water Stops Here

See, shower floors just leak. That's because the grout and even some tiles do not stop water. Slow it down, yes, but not stop it at all. The hidden key to a waterproof shower is buried within the floor. The liner membrane, which is a flexible plastic sheet, is the real key base layer that stops every bit of water that happens to seep down into the floor. There's more too.

Drain Holes Hidden

That liner catches the water but you certainly don't want it just pooling down in the base itself. The special shower drain fixes that problem. Tile drains have drain holes on two levels. One is the one you see in the floor. The other tricky drain layer contains holes that install right down within the base and those are the ones that tie to the liner membrane. Catch water on the liner and it gets routed right to the lower drain. Problem solved...

The Slippery Slope

Most of the shower base construction is there to put the liner membrane in the right spot. That's true for the lower portion of the base. The lower part is a layer of mortar, but it's sloped as it is put in place. Why the slope? Simple, that slope serves as the base for the liner and puts the liner on a slope to send the water it catches right to... the lower drain holes. How clever??? But, it's all built into the floor so you never see it once it's in place.

Curb Woes Avoided

Another key feature of a perfect shower is the lowly curb or threshold. Acting as the dam to keep the water in, the curb actually quite often fails. When it does the dam is broken and a mess results. Often the cause of failure is the construction method. Installers often build forms for the curb that are hollow, when a simple stack of solid material is easier and better. Think in terms of stacked brick or even stacked lumber and you get the picture. Forget fancy hollow construction when putting together curb forms.

Wet Behind The Walls?

Everywhere around a shower must withstand water. Often walls hide water damage because if the moisture can get in, it will get in. That's why the best plan is to use water-resistant material to line the walls, as well as lining the walls behind the tile with a waterproof barrier. Keep moisture out of the walls no matter what and your installation will last and maintain a healthy environment in your home base.

Shower pans for tile go together layer by layer. The only problem is that the important parts literally get buried as the shower climbs up to the finish of the project. Mysteries of shower building keep many potential shower builders from tackling this most mysterious of home improvement projects.

About the Author

Get a free online step-by-step explanation of
shower pan installation
on our tile website. Al Bullington invites you to visit
http://InstallingCeramicTile.net
for answers to your tile questions.

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Scrambled eggs - how do you have them?

I prefer the recipe as follows:

2 eggs - break them with a fork but do not whisk unless you want meringue.
Spot of butter melted in a pan
Dash of milk mixed into egg
Pepper

On medium heat stir until eggs are starting to solidify but still runny. Using a Bain Marie is a complete waste of time and too much effort.

Consistency is semi-solid, not fluid but like a thick gravy.
Serve on toast.

Add cheese and cook a little longer for me.

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