How to Move a Concrete Shower

Measure the space where you want to move the concrete shower. Make sure the new location has a floor drain and utilize walls already in place where possible. Mark lines on the floor where you want the base of the shower to sit.

Build wood forms for the shower walls, using two pieces of plywood cut to the size that you want to make the wall for each side of the shower. Secure the pieces of plywood together by nailing 2-by-4 wood boards cut down to the width that you want to make each wall between the plywood pieces with nails. Cut two additional plywood pieces for each wall to the same width as the 2-by-4 wood boards, slide them into place in the form to make the sides of the wall, and nail the plywood pieces to the wood boards to make a completely enclosed wood form.

Put the wood forms into place around the lines you made on the floor. Pour thick concrete mix that has a dry enough property that it holds its shape into the concrete wood forms, pressing the mix downward in the form with a shovel. Fill the forms full and allow the mix to set up for several hours.

Remove the wood forms. Fill in the spaces between the walls with more thick concrete to form solid concrete walls. Allow these walls to set up for 48 hours.

Cut down a 2-by-4 board for the side of the shower floor that doesn’t have a concrete wall already in place. Set the wood board against the base of the concrete walls and place blocks against it to hold it in place.

Build the concrete shower floor by spreading concrete inside the wood form and at the base of the concrete shower walls. When spreading the concrete, slope the floor toward the drain and build up a 3- to 4-inch-high ledge around the edges of the shower that don’t have walls. Let the concrete shower floor set up for 48 hours.

Demolish the old concrete shower with a sledgehammer. If you cannot break up the entire shower floor, use a jackhammer to break the floor up and remove the concrete pieces. Repair any holes in the subfloor beneath the concrete shower floor with leveling compound.