Real Estate

Shower tray tile construction

Shower tile construction is a mystery unless you’ve seen it done. You can’t see how a shower tray goes together because all the construction details are covered! This article describes the basics of how to do shower tile construction.

First of all, do you have a leaky shower and that is why you are interested? The long-term solution to a leaky shower is often to replace the entire shower floor. But perhaps that is not necessary. Shower floors require some maintenance. The grout will absorb water and break for a long time. The maintenance required is to keep the grout on the shower floor sealed.

If the grout has cracked causing the leak, you have a couple of options to stop the leak. One is to dry the cracked area well and seal the leaks with silicone caulk. The other way is to dig out the damaged grout and re-rinse the defective area. But in any case, be sure to check the walls and floors where you had moisture from leaking. It may have structural damage.

If you want to build a shower tray, either for a new or replacement shower, these are the basic steps.

Build a good solid subfloor.

Lay a covering such as tar paper over the subfloor.

Install the drain, considering the height of the finished floor.

Build curbs or thresholds.

Lay a layer of masonry approximately two inches thick sloped toward the drain.

Place it on a synthetic rubber membrane which should be an effective barrier against water.

Install top coat of masonry. This layer is constructed of wire reinforcement and is sloped towards the drain like the bottom layer.

After sufficient drying time, lay the tile.

Rinse the tile.

Let cure for a few days and you are ready to seal the grout and enjoy your new shower for years to come.

As you can see, there are only a few steps and each step is quite easy to learn.