Bodged walk-in shower - recommendation for fix

[astiling]

Hi, I had a plumber replace a bathroom a year or so ago and there is a problem with part of the flooring.

This pic shows the bathroom in its current state (I removed the offending piece of tiling:

On the right you can see that the bare concrete floor is now visible. This was previously a raised and tiled section - the base was some pieces of paving slab and wood battens with WPB (sp?) on top with tiles - as in this pic:

Unfortunately there was a slope from left to right on this tiling which caused spray from the shower to collect in the back corner:

I was concerned about this and took off the tiles to find the wooden board etc is all wet and rotten. Hence me removing the whole lot.

How should I progress with this? I'm thinking of starting as before for the base: attaching some battens to the concrete floor (screws+plugs) and creating a wooden frame (what type of wood will be best) and screwing this to the battens on the floor. With the frame properly constructed (slight slope back into the shower tray), I plan to tile onto the frame as previously.

I'm keen to do this right so any ideas on making this solid and impervious to water appreciated.

The tiled floor area will get wet when the shower is used so any other suggestions instead of tiling would also be appreciated.

I really hope the above makes sense & the pictures are there!

cheers
Adam

 

[wouldbplummer]

you could put some self leveling floor screed down the tile on top

 

[Jasonb]

I would put a timber shutter with a slight slope to it at the front of the raised area. Then fill the area with sand/cement screed laid to the required fall.

Once the screed is fully dry, about two weeks apply a tanking system such as BAL WP1 to th eslope and ideally turn it up the wall (this will mean having to remove some wall tiles) then tile onto the tanking.

When using mosaics you should tank all walls and floors as no matter what grout you use water will find its way through.

Jason

 

[nstreet]

Why have you not asked the tradesman to rectify this situation?

 

[astiling]

Why have you not asked the tradesman to rectify this situation?

Well they were supposed to come back and fix it as it was clearly not going to work without some kind of slope - they didn't despite lots of chasing. Now I'd rather do it properly myself rather than continue to harass them and at best end up with another poorly done job.

I would put a timber shutter with a slight slope to it at the front of the raised area. Then fill the area with sand/cement screed laid to the required fall.

Thanks Jason - how do you get a sand/cement screed to have a slight slope? I'm guessing you just use a flat piece of wood (or similar) and draw this down the screed, holding it against the wooden shutter? As this will be tiled over I suppose the finish isn't that critical.

The wooden shutter: presumably this is just there to create the frame to hold the screed and is removed after the screed is dry? If I did this, any suggestions for supprting the wooden shutter - just some heavy objects placed on the outside?

Once the screed is fully dry, about two weeks apply a tanking system such as BAL WP1 to th eslope and ideally turn it up the wall (this will mean having to remove some wall tiles) then tile onto the tanking.

Ha - told my wife I'd have it finished in a couple of days
The mosaics (wall & floor) aren't individual mosaic pieces - they are a tile which has mosaics 9x9 which you grout over so hopefully will be fine left as they are on the wall. Especially as the wall tiles go right round the shower and the area I'm working on is the least wet.

Thanks again
Adam

 

[Jasonb]

Surface will not be critical

Wedge/weight the shutter while the screed sets, then remove.

Even with the type of tile you have I would tank it, but you may be lucky, run a bead of clear sanitary silicon beteen the floor/wall tile junction once the grout has set.

Jason

 

[astiling]

Thanks Jason. Final questions (I hope for now at least):

The screed - is there anything I should do to prep for this or just make this up and fill the hole?

Any recommendations for mixture- couldn't see any idiots guide to this so will ask at the builders yard otherwise.

I assume the screed will stay in position and not level itself out?

Just so I don't make any crazy mistake with this - here is what I plan doing with the shutter:

I'll just fill in the cavity behind the brown wood shutter.

The main floor tiles are limestone - presumably the cement won't leach into these - it will be in contact with them.

Thanks again - all being well, I'll be doing this tomorrow!

 

[Jasonb]

A bit of unibond on the concrete floor would help but if not just make sure the floor is dust free and damp it down a little beforehand.

About 4:1 sharp sand:cement although you could by a bag a readymixed, don@t use building sand or bricklaying mix.

Make the mix fairly dry

There is a very slight chance of the limestone being stained, thats why it should be fixed with a white adhesive, just mask the edge of the tiles.

Jason

 

[astiling]

Cheers Jason. All seems to have gone OK - the timber shutter was just fine for wedging in the gap which made life a bit easier. I look forward to seeing how it looks tomorrow morning when dry.
Adam