Tiling a shower room floor

Jo
by Jo
How to get the correct floor levels
  2 answers
  • You have a few options, from drop in pieces like Schluter or building up a "dry-mud" base. Personally I choose Schluter do to their whole system design & waterproofing abiliities
  • I use the Schluter system also. But have done Mud floors as well. Depending upon the size the shape of the floor sometimes that's the only way to do it. I place my shower drain into position first. This provides me with my lowest point that the water needs to drain to. Then I place a rubber mat down to use as my last line of defense against leaks. Then I fasten one inch wide strips of wood on the walls on all sides of the shower. Noting I do this before I put any cement or green board up. Using a level I make sure that these are high enough and level all the way around so there is a pitch from the wall to the drain. Using pre-mixed cement and sand mix. (I have mixed my own but the pre-mixed stuff always worked best) I mix the mud using just enough water to make the mix into a snowball shape with out any extra water. Dump it into place and using several different lengths of wood sticks I float the mud mix from the wall sticks to the drain. Then using a steel float I pound the mud mix down. Adding as needed until I get a smooth and pitched surface. I leave the small sticks on the wall as once I place the wall materials up the wood gets covered anyway. I use the Schluter Kirdi on the walls and floor, then tile as needed Be sure to follow the directions carefully with the shower drain assembly to prevent mud cement from filling the overflow emergency drain holes on the shower drain. There are tons of U-Tube videos on how to do this.