How to Install a Walk-In-Shower

1 Put up the wooden frame for the shower walls. Have a plumber rough the plumbing so its ready for you to lay the shower pan. Measure the area from the center of the drain opening to the wall. Use 1/4 inch for each foot it measures to the wall as your scale for the slope. If the distance is 3 feet, the concrete is 3/4 inches at the wall and drops to 0 in the center of the drain. This allows the shower to drain properly. Mark the height on the wall and draw a line all the way around with a straight edge and level.

2 Lay 15 pound roofing paper on the sub-floor. This prevents the wooden sub-floor from absorbing the water from the concrete too rapidly and compromising the strength of the concrete. Overlap the edges of the paper where one sheet ends and the next begins. Put a layer of wire mesh over the roofing paper and nail it down every 6 inches. This is also to give strength to the concrete.

3 Mix the concrete. Use 1 part of Portland cement to 3 or 4 parts of sand. You'll need to add enough water to create a firm dry ball that doesn't crumble to pieces if you drop it from a low area. Pack in a ledge of concrete all the way around the edge. Put a thin layer of concrete around the drain and press the drain into place. When you fill in the area in between using a steel floating trowel, you'll automatically get a slope with the outer wall higher. Use a board to level and smooth the concrete.

4 Allow the concrete to dry overnight. When it's dry, hang the backer-board for the walls. Allow the backer-board to set atop the concrete. Use galvanized screws for the walls. Put the backer-board on both sides of the threshold and on the top. When you're finished, coat the shower pan with thinset.

5 Use the fabric liner designed for the shower pan and place it on top of the thinset. Smooth it into place. If you need to put additional pieces so the floor area is completely covered, overlap the material. Allow it to dry and then cover it with cardboard while you lay the rest of the fabric liner. Make sure you cover the seam where the wall meets the concrete. Fold a strip in half so its six inches on each part. Put thinset on the walls and shower pan. Put the top half of the folded strip on the wall and the bottom on the shower pan.

6 Overlap the fabric in the corners from two directions to make sure its watertight. make sure you cover the threshold completely. Put a layer of thinset around the drain and use the special strip of fabric membrane made for the drain. You can waterproof the walls with the fabric if you like. Simply apply the thinset and hang the fabric as you would any wallpaper. Allow the entire area to dry overnight or longer before you test it to see if it's waterproof.

7 Plug the drain, fill the pan with an inch or two of water, and allow it to set at least 8 hours. If the water level doesn't drop and no water stains appear, you have a waterproof shower pan. Release the water and allow the area to dry. Decide how you want to finish the shower. Most people find that this type of shower pan is perfect for ceramic tile.

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