Shower with Mud Pan Tile Job

The shower is in a 30 year old house. The homeowner did a lot of work deciding exactly what they wanted, including marking the walls with dimensions and locations for two nooks. The old shower doors and a small amount of tile had already been removed by the homeowner by the time these pictures were taken. The homeowners wanted everything about this old shower stall removed, including the mixer valve, shower pan and drain.

These pictures show the condition of the shower by the time I arrived on the scene.

This is the shower stall after everything had been removed and the new shower drain had been placed. A hole had to be cut into the floor to reposition the drain flange to land in exactly the middle of the floor.

This picture shows the rough shower stall after the new mixer valve, mud pan, and cement board were installed. Under the mud pan is a heavy vinyl liner cut to drain into the shower drain. Embedded in the mud is expanded metal mesh. The mud pan slopes into the drain. The pan curb is made of three 2x6's ganged together, covered with the vinyl liner, and wrapped with the same expanded mesh material used in the mud pan.

The vinyl liner comes up the walls about 12". Overlapping the liner is 6 mil poly to provide a continuous impervious barrier against moisture penetration into the wall cavity or the subfloor beneath the mud pan.

The wall with the mixer valve features a recessed nook for soap. On the opposite wall is a 12" square recess for bottled products.

Extra bracing was installed where the cement board and sheetrock come together to support future shower doors.

An combination exhaust fan/light fixture was just outside the shower stall, and a new light fixture was installed in the shower stall. Ducting for the exhaust fan was run to a roof vent to enable moist air to be removed from the attic space.

The walls were covered with a 12" porcelain tile. The edges were tiled with a matching bull nose tile. The nooks were trimmed with bull nose, and the back wall of the nooks was covered with the same 2" mosaic used on the floor. The tile was installed up to a pre-existing moulding strip. After the project was completed, the homeowner removed the wall paper strip and applied new paint to the sheetrock walls.

These pictures show the frameless glass doors provided and installed by Fountain Glass of Olathe.

The project also called for work around the tub. A few months earlier the homeowner had a plumber install a new Roman Tub fixture. The fixture was placed with the understanding that it would have to be relocated to accommodate the new tile. A plywood base covered with cement board provided a solid base for the fixture to be secured to.

Bathtub prepared by homeowner. Old tile and wall paper were removed, and a new 8" Roman Tub fixture was installed. The fixture had to be reinstalled for the new tile.

Tub after the new tile had been installed. Platforms on each end slope slightly to return any water splash back into the tub. A combination of 12" porcelain tile and bull nose was used to surround the tub recess. The project also required repair to the sheetrock on the bench faces at each end of the tub. After the grout cured, a sealer was applied.