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Shower pan liner installation can produce a tile shower that will be trouble free for decades. You must get the installation done properly.. So what makes a proper installation?
The real key to shower pan installation is a waterproof floor that moves water quickly to the drain with no leaks. Then too the floor must be sealed properly to the walls. Oddly enough, ceramic tile floors are not waterproof. The grout and some tiles are not waterproof at all. Water goes right through grout. So the key to a waterproof shower floor is a waterproof liner under the ceramic tile.
Another option for a tile floor is a fiberglass shower pan or the more expensive acrylic pan. These pans are waterproof as long as the coating is not broken. If the gel coat is cracked some of these pans can leak too.
The traditional method of ceramic shower floor construction is masonry work. A layer of masonry, like concrete is poured in over a sturdy floor and sloped to a special shower drain. The shower drain has two layers of drain holes. Over the base concrete layer a waterproof vinyl sheet is fitted and glued to the drain base to make a waterproof layer. This layer is key to the shower pan. The lower drain holes are now in position to catch any water that makes it to the waterproof liner.
Now gravels are put over the drain holes to keep them open. Then the top masonry layer is poured and sloped to the drain. Finally the tile is set and grouted to finish the floor.
An often overlooked part of shower maintenance is sealing the grout. Sealing the grout is not required, but it does keep water out of the grout. Constant soaking and drying of the grout can cause failure of the grout over time. Also another maintenance tip is to check regularly the seal between the walls and the floor. Most tile setters will caulk this joint to make sure no leaks start there. Make sure this joint between the shower floor and shower walls stays in good shape.
Another class of shower pan liner is the tile ready liner. There are several companies that make complete systems to waterproof showers ready for installation of ceramic tiles. Some systems include the walls, ceilings and floors. Some just address the floors. Look at one of these systems as an alternative to the traditional showers. The tile ready systems are faster than a traditional construction shower but usually more expensive. Suppliers of these systems are Tile Redi, Schluter and Wedi.
Puzzled about how to build a shower? Need more information? Visit our site for shower pan liner tips.
We invite you to visit http://www.installingceramictile.net/showerpan for answers to your shower pan liner questions.
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