Proper Way To Slope A Shower Floor

During the rough plumbing of the shower and tub the drain pipe ends were each encased in plastic boxes so when the slab was poured a void was created surrounding the end of each drain pipe.

Proper way to slope a shower floor.

If the wall is 3 feet from the drain the cement should rise by 3 4 inches as it goes from the drain to the wall starting at the half inch depth around the drain for a total height of 1 1 4 inches at the wall. I will show you in this video a step by step process how to do it. Are you looking for an easy way on how to slope a shower pan. The shower walls have been framed like any other wall with 2 x 4 studs generally 16 on center and pressure treated sill plates the lumber that sits on the floor.

The mortar bed on top of the membrane is exactly the same thickness along the walls as it is at the drain. For example a floor that extends 4 feet away from the drain should have 1 inch of overall slope. Clean and properly supported shower floor. Which will be the thickest because of the slope by placing the 2 x 4 right up against the curb and hitting it a few times with a hammer.

Mark this outer height mark along the wall with a pencil. Before we begin please understand that in a conventional mortar bed shower floor the slope of the floor comes from the sloped fill or pre slope which is under the shower pan membrane. The purpose of the slope in a shower pan is to encourage all water toward the drain. Despite what you may think water can and will penetrate all the way through the tile mortar and concrete above the shower pan making its way down to the shower pan.

To efficiently drain the recommended minimum slope for a shower floor is about 4 percent or a 1 2 inch drop per every 12 inches from the shower walls to the drain. To determine the proper slope measure from the drain to each wall and figure a quarter inch of slope per foot of length. The pre slope is a slight slope of the floor draining toward the shower drain created with dry pack cement before the shower pan is installed. And be sure to tackle all of the prep steps first.

The following five part series gives a basic overview of building a shower floor for tile. Mix up some concrete mix in the mixer.