What Is A Shower Pan Liner And Installing A Shower Liner

If tile shower floors were waterproof then a shower pan liner would not really be an issue and the question about what is a shower pan would not even be asked. But shower floors are NOT waterproof which means something has to be done about that issue or water ends up all over the place. A shower pan liner or membrane is there to stop the water and keep it within the shower base.

What you get to keep the water in the base is not really a pan at all.

What Is A Shower Pan Liner

You could call it a vinyl shower pan since in most cases what you get is just one layer of vinyl often from Oatey that forms a pool of sorts that is the water barrier. It's usually a sheet of PVC membrane that stands between the water in the shower and the rest of the house.

This whole exercise is unneccesary with acrylic shower bases and a tile ready shower pan is another matter as well.

For most shower pan installation the base is built of mortar and the construction is a layer at a time coming up from the subfloor.

You get a presloped mortar layer in place and then the pvc shower pan liner is built into the base over that sloped layer. There are a number of complications but the liner is the real working part of the base and everything there is to either get the liner where it belongs or to just serve as a base for the tile.

Getting the picture of how to install a shower pan liner is complicated because the liner membrane is buried within the base and cannot be seen, much less modified, once it is in place. That makes the whole process of shower liners a mystery in a way.

Installing A Shower Liner Complications

If setting tile on the floor of a shower was all there was to building a shower pan it would be quite simple. What you can't see is what makes the whole construction of masonry shower bases such a tricky process.

Installing a shower pan liner and getting it installed properly is part of the key to getting a waterproof shower. Once you realize that the shower floor does not stop all the water it is quite clear that something must be done and with most showers what gets done is the installation of the one critical layer, the liner membrane, that keeps the water where it belongs.