Quick question (I searched, and I must be search-impared... and I apologize ahead of time for such an easy one...). What do I use for the wire screen under my mortar bed for my shower pan?

Will anything work?

Thanks!
Gale

Gale, please keep all related questions to one post topic so that everyone can follow along from the start of your original post.

If this is over a wood subfloor then you need galvanized wire lath and a minimum 4 mil poly or tar paper. If this is over concrete then you only need thinset as a bond coat then the mud pan.

Hi Randall,

Thanks for the reply. Sorry for the new post, but I thought since I was moving from "can I use a shower pan" as a base to "what is the mesh material made out of," it would be a new topic. I'll keep to this post from here.

It is over a wood subfloor. Thanks for the info on the galvanized wire lath. I'm having a difficult time here in the Seattle area finding it (which seems strange). The "normal" hardware stores around here (Lowes, Home Depot, Dunn) don't seem to have it. Also tried Tile for Less, but they don't have it either. Several have suggested another one, BMC, but they are not open today. So, I'll keep digging.

I had been asking generically for "the wire mesh material that goes under a mortar bed for a tiled shower pan," so now I'll be able to ask specifically for it.

Again, thank you for the reply!

Gale

Those stores won't have a clue what your talking about if you say its for a shower pan. They may recognize it if you ask for the lath used for a scratch coat tile underlayment.
If you can't find it in the tile or flooring department at the big box stores, then try a masonry supply retailer.
Also ask at the contractor desk of Home Depot or Lowes.

Gale-

You can try Master Wholesale in Georgetown South Seattle. They are a good resource. 206-767-6771

Thanks to you both! After I posted on Saturday, I tried McLendon Hardware. They are a ways out of my way, but they had it! So, I drove down there with my two kids in tow, and scored!

Hey All,

Another quick question: I'm assuming there is no harm in running the roofing felt up the walls just a touch so the base mortar bed does not seep into cracks between the stud walls and my backer board, correct? There are several places where the studs do not have a fully 'square' corner on them, and it has left an area that mortar would move into.

Here is the link to the roofing felt procedure: http://www.ontariotile.com/preslope.html

The mud should be dry enough that it doesn't go anywhere you don't put it. How out of square are the walls? Could this cause you a problem later on with the tile installation?

Is this a conventional shower with the PVC liner, and you're asking about the preslope at this point?

Thanks Kman for the reply.

The walls are not out of square. The 2 X 4 studs have some corners that are not square (the end of the 2 X 4 has some of it 'missing' or 'gone'). So, at the edge of the stud and the backer board, there is a "pocket" where the mud will go into.

Yes, conventional shower pan w/PVC liner, and yes, this is about the preslope.

Hi Gale
It doesn't matter if mortar goes into these pockets. The reason for the roofing felt or sheet of poly is to keep moisture contained in the fresh mortar bed alowing it to cure longer.
If you're running the felt up the wall the thickness of the mortar bed .... that's fine, but don't attach anything to the studs which may cause the backerboard to run slightly inward.

I understand Harry. Thanks. I was pondering the whole ease of 'breaking it out' when and if the time ever came to demo it (years in the future).

Another question: With this type of shower pan, I read in another post somewhere on here that the mortar above the PVC liner is 'wet' when it use (saturated with water). So, I'm assuming I don't need (or want?) to try to seal up the grout with a grout sealer? So:

-don't seal the grout in the pan
-do seal the grout on the walls

Is this correct?

Thanks again everyone!
Gale

Seal all your grout. Sealer still allows the grout to breathe.
As long as your weep holes are open and the slope is correct there should be no problems.

So,

I finally have my first layer of pre-slope down. But, I've run into a bit of an issue. When I was at Home Depot deciding on which mortar to use, I decided the 'general purpose' mortar was the winner. There was a 'sand mortar,' and in retrospect, I think this may have been a better choice.

Well, the mortar dried a bit "grittier" than I would have liked. I am concerned about 2 potential areas:

1-- I feel like I did not get a level enough grade from the outside edges (at 1 1/2" high) down to the drain (at about 3/8"). I would like to fill in some low spots to help make it a directly smooth transition from outside edge to drain.

2-- The grittiness of the mortar gives me some concern that it may be able to penetrate the vapor barrier further than I would be comfortable with.

Can I use something like a thin set mortar to put a very thin top coating on my base to make it a little smoother and hopefully consistent transition from top to bottom?

Is there a better option than using thin set for this purpose?

I really don't want to tear it all out, and I think it is fixable.

Thanks!
Gale

Alright, the underwhelming number of responses to my last post did nothing to solve my dilema, so I forged ahead...

Sorry Gale K, I never noticed the original post. Yes, if you used thin set to smooth it out, you did the right thing. It works great for that in thin layers, and you can fix it up pretty well.

Thanks for the reply Brian! Glad to hear I jumped the right direction.

I'm happy with how it's looking--filling in a few low spots here and there. The slope is looking great. I am probably doing one of the slowest jobs ever (just ask my wife for her perspective... ). But, I'll get there.

On to the vapor barrier!

O.K., next question: the vapor barrier at the shower pan curb. Harry's post: http://www.ontariotile.com/preslope.html doesn't show specifics on how to fold the liner at the curbing.

I saw a video a while back on 'how to cut the liner here for best fit,' but I can't remember where exactly they cut it.

The video also showed the use of curb corners, which Harry's photo shows as well. The tile supply store employee where I purchased my liner said that I didn't really need to use the corners.

I did some 'test folding' last night with a thin plastic material (not the shower pan liner), but I couldn't get what I would consider a satisfactory fold done.

So, my two questions are:

-How do I fold and/or cut the shower pan liner to get it around the curb successfully? (pictures would be great if anyone has them)

-Should I indeed use curb corners on top of the curb?

Hello? Does anyone have any advice on folding and the curb corners?

Thanks in advance.

Gale

Hope this helps you out a bit:
http://toolbelt.buildiq.com/tool-docs/SB/SHPCustomShowerPanSBS.pdf

The mortar and mesh on the curb will hold the liner in place and also hide the folds, so don't worry too much about bunching it up a bit on the curb, just don't end up too thick on the walls.

Thanks Pistol! I could not make that link work, but I wandered around on that site for a bit and found:

http://toolbelt.buildiq.com/media/16759/shpcustomshowerpansbs.pdf

So, I'm assuming that's the same doc or one similar.

That's the way I was 'going' to jump (found a similar link before, or maybe it was the same one), but didn't know if that was a preferred or 'easy' method. It doesn't look too complicated.

Pressing on!