How to Make a Walk-in Shower Floor

Layer tar paper and steel mesh over the top of the shower floor, fastening both to the flooring boards with tack nails and a hammer. With a pair of metal cutters and a razor, cut away the material on top of the drain hole in the floor. Place the shower drain's bottom flange in the hole and bolt it to the floor with the drain bolts included with the drain and a wrench.

Fill the shower floor with enough sand mix cement to make a 1-inch-deep base layer on the floor. Form the cement with a hand trowel to make a floor that slopes to the drain. Use a carpenter level to measure the grade, it should read a quarter off of the center mark. Adjust the floor with the trowel as needed, and allow 24 hours of drying time.

Install an impermeable shower liner over the cement floor and up around the edges of the walls. The liner should cover about a foot of the shower's wall on each side. Nail the liner to the wall frames and cut off the excess if necessary with a hand razor. Cut away the liner covering up the drainage hole. Set the top of the shower's drain into the hole and screw it to the bottom of the drain flange with a wrench.

Install another layer of sand mix cement on the shower liner. Fill the area with sand mix, and trowel it into a uniform surface following the slope of the layer below it. Allow another 24 hours of drying time.