how do you repair?

Question

a plastic shower pan? is there an adheasive you can use to seal a crack? how can i tell if water is getting trapped under there without takeing the whole shower out?

Answer 1

Ok=you have asked how to repair--not to replace the pan. This is one way that can be done to repair : Dry the area to be repaired____use a electric drill and about a 1/4 inch bit to drill a few holes along the crack on either side. Number of holes --you decide by how large the repair job is going to be--2 to 4 holes should about do it. Buy a can of foam insulation--if you have a choice --buy the heavier density foam--if not then it"s ok. The can of expanding foam is sold at lots of places--Wal-Mart / Lumber/hardware stores / Ace--etc. After you have the holes drilled--shake the foam can up good--wear gloves--install the spray tube into the can--turn the can upside down and insert the tube end into one of your drilled holes and pull the trigger to spray out some foam--give it a good spray--do another hole or two quickly--you have time --stay calm. The foam will start to expand and come up on you. Wear gloves !! When the foam starts to push up--if it is pushing the pan up too--take a oiled/greased board to press down on the area to keep it flat with the rest of the pan. "hold" the board for a little while til the foam starts to harden up. Then clean up any oozed out foam--sandpaper the entire patch area to a rough finish--you could use a hair blow dryer to dry it out. Keep it clean and dry. Locke Supply has a epoxy bathtub repair kit for about $20--it"s a pour on epoxy liquid(heavy). Buy this kit-or one similar to it. Use the bottle of alcohol (acetone/finger nail polish remover/M.E.K.)to clean the repair area. This latter stuff is "hot" may eat into the pan a little--have lots of fresh air and no smoking or fire--this stuff will "flash" on you if around any fire--turn off all gas pilots--open the doors/windows.Ok==now pour some epoxy along the cracked area==then lay down some strips of fibreglass cloth and work the epoxy into the cloth==add more epoxy and cloth as needed. Try to "feather" the edges. Let it "cure" for a day. If done correctly--this repair job will last a long time. Total repair costs--about $30 in money , and a couple hours or less of your time. It"s propably best to replace the pan but if you can not do that--then this is a option that you can do yourself. I did my " Roman bathtub" the same as above 2 years ago and it"s still going strong-- you can see the patch but it"s water tight. Good Luck to you on this=============.

Answer 2

cover the drain with a rag or something. Then fill the bottom of the shower with about 1 or 2 inches of water. After turning the water off watch and see if you lose any of the water in the shower pan. If there is any loss of water you need to replace your shower pan. The easiest way to replace a shower pan is to call a plumber out to do it!

Answer 3

I'm afraid the only permanent solution is to replace the shower pan. What ever caused the crack in the first place will cause the repair to fail also. The only sure way to repair it is to replace it.

Answer 4

they make some epoxy to seal things like this but it is usually a temperary fix till replacement. This also usually does not look good no matter how hard you try. The floor under it needs to be pretty solid or the flexying will make it work loose faster. The only way to tell if it is leaking is to look from under the floor to see if the wet is coming through.

Answer 5

you can use apoxy by spreading it over the crack and applying a srip of plastic over it. BUT you really need to replace that pan they are not very expensive. which is why yours cracked.

Answer 6

Just replace it.That will save you heart ache in the long run..

Answer 7

Only one repair. Replace it.