How do I Replace my shower pan? Help? (floor, jacuzzi, drains)

[cheapsk8]

Okay so I'm redoing our master bath. I have every aspect of it planned out, costs, parts, etc to do it myself. The one area I am a little perplexed on is the replacing of the shower pan. The reason I want to replace it is because I want to replace the tiles that are on the floor of the shower.

Can I just replace the floor tiles and not have to tear the entire pan out?

If I do decide to tear the pan out, whats the easiets way...anyone know of an online how to?

Thanks

[alphamale]

Originally Posted by cheapsk8

Okay so I'm redoing our master bath. I have every aspect of it planned out, costs, parts, etc to do it myself. The one area I am a little perplexed on is the replacing of the shower pan. The reason I want to replace it is because I want to replace the tiles that are on the floor of the shower.

Can I just replace the floor tiles and not have to tear the entire pan out?

If I do decide to tear the pan out, whats the easiets way...anyone know of an online how to?

Thanks

Do yourself a favor and pay a professional to rebuild the pan, or replace it with a fiberglass preformed one. This is the most important aspect in regards to being water tight.

[chet everett]

There are "retrofit" shower pans available, but if you know you want / need to switch out tile this cries out for some gutting. The whole section should be ripped out so that you can build a WATER TIGHT sublayer properly tied into the drain. The benefits of similarly addressing any short comings in the waterprofingof the walls / ceiling, redoing the wholeunderlaymnet in cementious backer board and using appropriate sublayers throughout cannot be underestimated.

Done right you should get a nearly indefinite lifespan on the shower. A retrofit will not guarantee that ...

[K'ledgeBldr]

Originally Posted by cheapsk8

Okay so I'm redoing our master bath. I have every aspect of it planned out, costs, parts, etc to do it myself. The one area I am a little perplexed on is the replacing of the shower pan. The reason I want to replace it is because I want to replace the tiles that are on the floor of the shower.

Can I just replace the floor tiles and not have to tear the entire pan out?
Yes. But, if you use a wide blade on a handheld air hammer/jackhammer you maybe able to pop the tiles out rather cleanly. Then you can clean, smooth, and thinset. The but part- all that vibration could loosen the seal around the drain and or crack the mud bed.
If I do decide to tear the pan out, whats the easiest way
The easiest is to use a preformed cultured marble pan (if the space is a standard size- or have a made to order one). They are heavy and very stable, unlike f/glass pans that flex and expand and contract with water temp changes.
...anyone know of an online how to?
This is probably the most comprehensive website:
John Bridge Tile Forum, DIY Tile Advice, Tile How-to Information, Tile Your World

Thanks

All-in-all, tile shower stalls aren't for DIY'ers. That on area that should be done by a pro. A floor, counter top, backsplash are more in line with DIY capabilities. It's the waterproof part that tends to screw things up.

[akck]

I vote that you just tear the old one out. There's too big of a chance that you'll damage it, causing it to leak down the road. If/when I do a shower, I'm planning on using Kerdi as the base. You can find information on it at the John Bridge Forum mentioned above.

[CptnRn]

Watching several of these how to videos will help you understand what is involved.

how to install shower pan - Google Search

[PacificFlights]

I had an old tub/shower replaced with a walk in shower and they used those foam preslope pans & curbs along with the fleece membrane. They were in and out in no time. The installer gave me a place called pro source center on the internet that sells the various manufactures stuff to DIYers. They also have their own kits so you can mix bases, membranes, pipe seals, curbs and drains from different manufactures.

I'm redoing another shower and taking out the old one piece plastic thing and doing most of it myself. So far:
Demo-1 day
Waiting for hot water line to be moved into walls - 2 days.
Backerboard, preslope pan, drain flange, curb install and membrane attaching - 2 days.
Now waiting for the correct tiles to be delivered (4 days and counting)

Those preslope foam sheets and curbs are a god-sent for a DIY tile shower.

[cheapsk8]

WOW...

I have to say, I am pretty excited with the replies here, Thanks so much.

I'm confident that this will be a job I can handle, funny thing is I see several things I didn't even think about ntil I saw the links and video's y'all posted. Not to mention the one site just gave me a great idea for my jacuzzi tub and how to tile it now.

I've got a lot of reading and researching to do but thanks for getting me on the right track!

[cheapsk8]

The other thing I ahve noticed too while looking at some shower pics is that a lot of the ones being done now are doorless. I love that look but wonder is my small shower space might be too small for that?

[chet everett]

If you have a single head and the "wet space" is 3x4 or around 12 sq ft you need a buffer of about 2.5 sq feet, imagine strip that is about 6 inches wide for the 4 footlenght of the shower. If you have multiple heads you need to increase the buffer at least another 10%...

Most older bathrooms just do not have that much room to spare. Looks great in a space built with the open shower in mind, but most retrofits are going to be better off with some kind of sliding door, even hinged doors tske up an awful lot of swing room that was just not part of the thinking of older bathrooms...