Tricks for Making a Shower Pan

Building in Layers

• All professional resources recommend building a shower base from the floor up -- an essential trick in making the best shower stall you can. The procedure necessitates stripping away all material down to your bathroom floor and building up from there, starting with the pre-pan, continuing with the pan and ending with the shower floor. The pre-pan is the barrier between your bathroom floor and the shower pan. The shower pan prevents water from leaking through your shower floor to the bathroom floor. Build each of these layers individually, one atop the other.

Mortar and Lath

• For the best performance in your shower base, use mortar and lath with each layer as you build up from the floor. Mortar is a cement-like material that you apply in a wet, clay-like form. As it dries, mortar forms a durable bond. To increase the strength of your mortar, use metal lath underneath each layer of mortar. Metal lath resembles mesh or a chain-link fence. It provides an anchor for mortar and integrates with the material, strengthen it. When building a shower base, place a material like tar paper on your bathroom floor and apply a layer of lath and -- on top of the lath -- mortar. Place the pan on top of this configuration.

Planning

• Plan out your entire shower base before beginning with installation. Measure everything exactly, decide upon the layers you want to use, the materials you need for each of those layers and how those materials fit together. For instance, if you want a specific type of tile for your shower floor, plan to use the best type of mortar for that tile. The type of mortar you use may, in turn, affect the type of metal lath you use. When it comes to the pan, determine whether you want polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or chlorinated polyethylene (CPE). The latter costs more and is more difficult to install, but provides better protection for your bathroom floor.

Curbs

• Determine before building a shower base whether you want a curb. Curbless showers provide easy access for those with trouble getting over a curb, such as elderly people, individuals in wheelchairs or those with arthritis. Installing a curbless shower requires numerous additional considerations, such as angling the floor to prevent water from spilling into your bathroom or installing waterproof tile throughout the bathroom. If you want a curb, you can build it up from mortar or make it from plastic or wood, cover it in mortar and lath, and apply tiles or other surface material to the mortar. For a seamless look, integrate the mortar on your curb with the mortar you use for binding your shower floor to the shower pan.