Tile Ready Shower Pan -- Tips To Get One

A tile ready shower pan lets you skip the mud work. Or at least most of it... A shower pan the traditional way is a tricky installation. Lots of pros now skip the mortar and use no-mud shower pans. Here are tips for getting a tile ready pan that works for you...

1. Sorry... cheap pans won't work.

By that I mean those cheap drop in pans available at any building supply store. You cannot tile over a shower pan unless it's designed for that purpose. One main reason is that tile floors crack when they move. That means your tile floor will crack if the base flexes and moves. The cheap pans will flex and your tile floor will crack. Don't even consider a cheap pan as a tile base.

2. Standard size is best...

A real advantage of mud shower pans is the ability to construct the shower in any size and shape. A pan ready for tile most likely only comes in standard sizes. That limits what you can do. The Schluter Kerdi system does have the option to build custom sizes with very little, but some, mortar work required.

3. Speed is the real attraction...

Professionals use tile ready pans often because of time. There's no curing time required for layers with these showers. A shower base can be finished in hours instead of days. If speed matters, masonry construction comes in second.

4. It's not just the pan though...

These are systems. That means walls, drains and bases are all made to work together. The whole system waterproofs not just the floor, but the rest of the shower too. It's a good way to go...

5. What if you knew it wouldn't leak???

Building a traditional shower is tricky. There are several layers in a normal shower pan. Each layer has tricks. Getting the waterproof liner installed properly is tricky. Tile ready shower bases are almost certain to work properly if the instructions are followed. A leak-proof shower is almost a certain result of your work.

They don't come cheap, but the result almost certainly works right the first time. Building a shower pan from mortar is full of mystery. You can eliminate the mystery and suspense with the more modern pans... The tile ready shower pan is a fast way to get a leak-proof shower.

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