Rescue of bathroom (shower) floor

[alex trent]

 Currently down is 1/2 inch plywood, over that is cement board (Duroc).

Tile guy told my neighbor that he could get shower slope to drain with mortar uswed to install time.  I said no but they tried and does not work...pretty flat and water stands (surprise?).

Now is only 1/2 inch to put concrete to slope. Pretty thin. We do have some plasticizer which will help but my question is will it crack and that will compromise the tile gout and we have a leak.

Ideas to fix what we have in the other three cabins..we will deal with the fix of the first later.

[Redoverfarm]

This method will never repel water.  Water will penetrate the grout, durrock and eventually onto the plywood.  There should be a waterproof membrane tucked under the sidewalls which also need a waterproof membrane and then to the compression drain.  Not sure what size you have but some have been using a fiberglass pan and building the walls to drop the water into it. http://showerbase.com/?gclid=CKLCgIbLqrUCFbRQOgod8lsAHA  or http://www.installertools.com/cgi-bin/INTstore.pl?user_action=detail&catalogno=DUROCK-KIT

Not sure about a top coating to bond to the existing will work.  1/2" pitch would be sufficent providing that the area is not that large but in the center you would not have any mortar. 

To do it correctly you may be forced to tear out what you have and start over.

http://www.schluter.com/8_4_kerdi_shower_kit.aspx

[alex trent]

We have a waterproof coating on top of the Durock and up the side wall about 2 inches that works fine (at least for 18 months) in keeping water from penetrating to plywood , which is easily viewed from beneath.  I was skeptical but seems to work.  We jury rigged a simple drain to let any water pass down the drain pipe and not contact the plywood.

My question remains is 1/2 inch concrete base going to hold up to traffic(and what can we do to fortify it)...we need about half of that at most to slope to the drain. It is only 2 feet max, so 1/4 in 2 feet is plenty to make water run to drain.

[Redoverfarm]

We have a waterproof coating on top of the Durock and up the side wall about 2 inches that works fine (at least for 18 months) in keeping water from penetrating to plywood , which is easily viewed from beneath.  I was skeptical but seems to work.  We jury rigged a simple drain to let any water pass down the drain pipe and not contact the plywood.

My question remains is 1/2 inch concrete base going to hold up to traffic(and what can we do to fortify it)...we need about half of that at most to slope to the drain. It is only 2 feet max, so 1/4 in 2 feet is plenty to make water run to drain.

Wasn't aware of the waterproofing or I would not have brought it up.  If you are laying tile over the 1/2" just shooting from the hip I would say that it will not hold up.  What is preventing you from redoing the base.  Do you have tile on there now?  If so you will probably have to remove it to add the additional slope. 

[alex trent]

Unfortunately this is the one with the tile...which proves his method does not work...and three more not yet tiled. Putting more than 1/2 inch in is a pain but could be done.  OK...so how much do i need a a minimum..1 inch?

Not my place...helping out (a bit late) but i would like to do this right but not have to do more than we need to.

looking for a minimalist way to make this stick and not crack under the tile.  I agree that staring with 1/2 inch is scary.  I just figured someone would have a unique solution I have not thought of.

[Redoverfarm]

You might check with these guys.  They might have a fix that I am not aware of.

http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=11