Building a Shower Floor From Scratch - Part 1 of 2 - With Shower Pan Membrane

What is you have plywood and not cement. Does the process change

Thanks. I found a video literally the same about 5 yrs ago when i did my shower. Now I’m helping my son, and frankly, I saw quite a few videos that seem like shortcuts or lack of understanding of water intrusion and mold, etc. so this is the first video that I give 5 of 5. Thank you.

Ive been studying your videos im about to attempt it. My question is how many bags of sand and how many bags of concrete? Great information thank you!

I'm not sure if you still check comments but in your video the initial shower flange is sticking up and you did your pre slope to that. But mine is flush to the floor and so my pre slope would taper down to basically nothing. Is this correct? And would it be better to mortar the preslope if its going to be thin like that so its still strong? I'm building a house at 32 and trying to do everything I am able to in order save money and learn a long the way. Just don't want to make any expensive mistakes. Thank you for all of your well explained videos!

Thanks Rusty! I sure appreciated your expertise! Made the job pretty easy!!

Have never thought about using brick as a curb.

What are your thoughts on bonding your preslope drypack to the concrete with a thinset slurry? Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with this wonderful video.

This video is my bible to re-doing my parents tile shower. Someone screwed them in 2019. It destroyed the framing in the walls from all the water damage from the shower leaking. I'm a finish carpenter and don't know much about tile. Especially when it comes to the pan this video helped so much.

What do you think about using a decoupling membrane between the subfloor and dry pack rather than wire lath?

Thank you very much!

What if I don’t have a concrete floor?

Hello Rusty!
When I mount my shower drain down to my wood floor, how high do I want my flange sitting to ensure my presloap is thick enough at the drain?

Thank you sir!

This is one of the few correct videos out there. I’ve seen so many “experts” give really bad info.

Thank you for this - super clear!

Thank you for the video. It is very informative and helpful. I might missed it, but how long should I wait after installing the first layer of drypack under the membrane? Same question for the second layer....how long should I wait before proceeding with the installation. Thank you again!

Thank you for the brick tip i never thought of that

Does the flange sit flush with the floor? if not, how high should it be above the floor?

I am going to try and do my bathroom now, I think I can do it

Great vid. I do shower installs as well. 🤘

i have a question about the step process. What material do you use over the mesh? Cement or the packing and then thin set? I see on the video you laid the floor tile first and the step last. I will be using this process for my home project this week . Your video really helped me. Thank you

thank you (*L*).

Excellent description

Hey thank you so much for the video of the dry pack thing that was just awesome. It makes better sense to me to do it that way

Outstanding instructional video, and you're a remarkably likable guy. Still working up confidence to do this.

I have a question, how does concrete works with expansion and contraction and the movement of the house? Is there any setback that create cracks overtime?

I love just listening to you work, even if I weren't redoing my tile shower pan! So happy you demonstrated a brick curb! I got the pan done, and am replacing only the lower 6 inches of tile and tile backer (2 inch curb over drain + 3 inches of waterproof membrane over curb). But the remainder of the old wall tile that I want to save is set in a 2 inch thick shower wall. 1/2 inch gypsum board nailed to the stud wall, 1/2 cement board (with diamond lathe in corners), thin layer of white mortar material, and 3/4 inch of fat mud and diamond lathe, then tile. It is 2 inches from studwall to top of the tile. Can I just build up my wall with three layers of cement board? Should I I bite the bullet and learn how to mud the walls? I am also concerned about the seam where the old wall meets the new. I clearly cannot tape it, but was going to push as much thin set between the two as I could when I put thin set over the nail holes in the top one inch of the new backer board. I guess I will know how mudding the walls will go once I finish mudding the curb. I am just using Quickcrete type S masonry cement, maybe I should get something like Custom Float bedding mortar if I do the walls too. Wish me luck!

This is so helpful!!! Thank you for doing these :)

If you use bricks, can you just do 1 row. I'm needing a low step in floor, issue lifting up my legs!

I Noticed when you removed those tiles that there was just about no glue at all . Yikes.

Good work amigo.

Great use of voiceover while showing the clips

Watched 4 different videos and Rusty's is by far the most comprehensive and clear. Thank you Rusty for explaining the overall process. I could not find another video that did!

Thank you! This is perfect for helping me remodel my new(older) home! I wish you lived close I would have you here to help!

I'm seeing some installers place thin set on the slab prior to the first pre-slope. Should I add that step or is it not necessary? Also, when installing the backerboard, some installers are stating that the hardibacker should not touch the drypack/mortar bed as it would allow water contact and the water will mold or rot the lower 6-10 inches of backerboard. They place a thin spacer there to keep backerboard elevated by an 1/8th or so ... Any thoughts on that? Thx for sharing your wisdom, I hope that you are enjoying the good life, Rusty!

Too much work!!! Go buy a shower pan of any size you want.

Thanks so much for this video, I've learned so much! Not sure if you check the comments on here still, but I have a question about the dry pack, I assume it's possible for it to be too dry? I did my best to mix it to match what I see in the video, it held together mostly when I squeezed it, and no water squeezed out, so I did the preslope. That was two days ago, and I just went to check it, and some parts seem solid, but others I was able to scrape it up like it was hard dry dirt, and light taps with a hammer makes it chunk up easily. I assume it's not supposed to be like that and I made it too dry?

Why did you use bricks for the shower curb exactly? I have never seen that in my life. If you water proof correctly you wont have to worry about water. Thats the purpose of all these great products they have these days.

I mean bricks will work fine obviously but with stuff like schluter or mapeis products. Done right you won’t run into an issue.

No Red guard?

Awesome job! Thanks

Thanks much. Most skilled mechanics like me could figure this out after watching your video.

How much working time with mix

Nice video on this subject...oh yeah, you remind me of one man who used to narrate, "meanwhile back at the ranch, the Duke boys..."

is this the same process if this is on plywood????

Hey Rusty... Is the cement mix for the pre slope the same sand/mortar ratio as the dry pack above the pan liner?

Can you start this process on a plywood subfloor? This is for a 2nd floor shower remodel

I'm confused about the first layer of sand and mortar. Is it just put on the plywood and wood on the sides? no liner needed? do you use treated lumber?

How high off the sub floor should the drain assembly be before you install the sand/cement pre pitch?

Rusty, in your video looks like you had a cement floor base. Is there any changes you would make for a wood subflloor? Thanks.