need some help putting in a shower in the basement!?

Question

i poured a concrete floor on a slope for drainage my plan was to put a shower pan liner on top of that and up the wall and tile on top.I have been asking around and i have found out that the tile adhesive wont stick to the plastic liner and i should have in fact put it under the cement is this true? and if so whats my alternative and do i need a liner since its concrete floor and cement board and what if anything do i do where the floor meets the wall.

Answer 1

Please clarify your question. Like DIY Doc I cannot make heads or tails out of where you are and what you actually have. I would love to help but I need to understand a little more.
Steve

Answer 2

With all due respect the Shower Pan is all the substance the shower needs. I so want to think that aesthetics is not a critical issue at the floor.

Certainly you can tile up from, or down to, the pan and have an effective shower, that looks OK.

In re-reading however you may have only used Pan Liner? rather than a formed pan like a square cake baking PAN?

You need not have used backer board on the floor at all; but now I'm confused. Is the backer board set ON TOP of the liner? or ???

Sorry. I do a lot of bath remodels, and cannot figure out at all; what purpose a liner UNDER poured concrete would serve.

I have no clue where you actually are in the process; but i suggest before you proceed you re-assess what you have already.

Steven Wolf

Answer 3

You really do need a pan in your shower unless the entire shower floor is sunken into the concrete! The reasoning is that if it leaks it will not leak into the living level plane. If you didn't have a pan, the seepage would go into the surrounding rooms/ and wick up the walls. Now that you already have your floor sloped, its a perfect time to put in the shower pan. In fact where I work, we are required to pre slope the shower floor before the pan is installed. Doing this gives the water ,that seeps through the floor grout lines, a pitch to follow in your pan to the drain. So put your pan in now. All you need is for it to hold at least 2" of water with no leaks. I recommend installing a pan that is 1 foot longer than the shower measurements in each direction. This will give you enough behind the walls to direct water in the right direction. After the pan material is installed, mix up another batch of mud! Do another layer of mud on the floor, on top of the pan material. It should be easy if your floor has already been sloped. Let it cure, then your floor is ready for tile! On the walls, your pan only really needs to rise a few inches. But you want to put the durarock, blue board, etc. on top of the pan material. (After the pan material is in it doesnt matter weather you do the floor or walls first.) Putting the rock board on top of the pan material lets any water wicked through the walls fall inside the plastic, and it gives you something to stick the tile to. Just dont nail through the pan at the very bottom! Good luck!

Answer 4

Go to Home Depot and ask someone in that department. They're trained in the how to's. And, they're really good at giving instructins. My husband's a do it yourself man himself. When he's not sure, he always asks those guys and gals. He absolutely refuses to hire anyone. He's way too much of a perfectionist for that.