Just finished putting in my pre-slope and laid the membrane. So I'm ready to put in my second layer of mortar.

How dry is dry when mixing the mortar. I had some problems getting what i thought was a good mix. I got it to a state so that i could form it (but barely). Found this tough to pat down. I found I couldn't press it down, rather had to pat it real hard to compact it.I gradually increased amount of latex mix, but started getting on the sloppy side (suctioned to my float). Should I stick to the dry and be very patience in trying to build my slope? Any other way to determine that I have the right consistency?

FYI - using Versibond from Home Depot

Thanks

Hi
I'm a bit confused. Are you saying you are using Versabond for your mortar bed?

Your sand mix should be just wet enough that it stays together when you take a handful and squeeze it in your hand. Packing it down is the right thing to do(this is where the term dry pack came from) Once you compact it down, you can work to form it into the slope you want with out it moving around and leaving holes. Once you get it level around the parmeter of the shower, you can use a straight peice of wood to "cut" or scrap it down to the slope you want. Then finish it with a wood float. A wood float works best since it doesn't bring too much water to the surface like a metal float does..so you don't get that sticking to the trowel problem you mentioned.

Hi Hotdogger, Bri's right about the texture of the sand mix. It should be mixed dry so that after you squeeze a handful, your hand isn't wet. It should be wet enough so that you can squeeze it into a ball.

If you used Versabond then you used a modified thinset mortar when you should have used sand-mix which is available at most hardware stores for 5 or 6 dollars per bag.

Let us know what products you're using.

Harry - I used the instruction on this site re: shower pre-slope mortar bed to use a mortar mix. I went to "the big orange store" and talked it over with them and they suggested I use the Versabond Bonding Mortar. This is what I used for my pre-slope below the liner. I was planning to continue to use this for my pre-slope on top of the liner.

Will I be okay with this? If I have to go to a sand mix can you tell me exactly what I'm looking for? I'm not really sure and the guy at the store may not have known what he was talking about.

Home Depot to the rescue again! ...ok..save that left over Versabond for the installation of the ceramic. I can see the confusion now...they do call it a bonding mortar instead of thin set.
Go over to the section that has the portland cement and other bagged cements(no where near the tile section)and buy a bag of quickcrete sand mix.(not mortar mix) you'll want the concrete sand mix..it has portland and sand already mixed in the bag. It's a bright yellow bag: here's the link
http://www.quikrete.com/catalog/product_1103.html
You can mix this the way Harry and I discribed it above. Don't worry about the Versabond under the preslope..it will still work fine..just very hard to work with,as you know.

Thanks Brian and Harry! Life is much easier now. I wasn't looking forward to working with Versabond again for the pre-slope.

Off I go to Home Cheepo - Gideeyup!

Damn Home Depot!
I'm going to add intructions to try and keep this problem from happening again.

What's done is done, but Bri's got you back on track.

H*** D**** !

Better addd this one to the file, Harry!

This is a terrific site! The tips and instructions I found here convinced me to tackle a shower tiling project myself. I have an upstairs unfinished shower and want to install granite tile (galaxy black from blackmarketcarpet.com). The shower area has greenboard in it currently. Should I remove it and replace it with wonderboard or can I cover the greenboard with the wonderboard? The shower pan liner that was installed (by fiberglass waterproofing systems in Austin, TX) is made out of fiber and clear resin. They did not use a pre-slope, so I am stuck with creating the enitre slope (using quikrete sand mix!) above the liner. Will this cause problems? Thanks for you help.

Hi Anton

If the substrate that is installed is otherwise ready to use, then I would not tear it out and instead waterproof it with a product like Laticrete 9235 or Schluter Kerdi.