Shower Durock meet PVC Liner and mortar bed

[light guy]

My plumber's convinced me to let his guy install the pvc shower liner / pan. There have been a few problems, from what I have read with the job. I am hoping I am not too late and will be able to continue making forward progress soon.

1. I framed out the curb myself and it was perpendicular with the walls. After he mortared, the curb is crooked on the right side. He said I could adjust it with thinset, but it is 3/4" out of square over only a 20" run. He said most curb mortar jobs are not exact?!?! The problem is, if I build out the tile on that side to be square, that portion of the curb will be thicker than the rest, requiring a larger tile profile. He said since the glass and frame is going over the seam between the two 4" tiles, I would be ok. I think he is going to thinset it out to be square. Should I be happy with that?

2. I have no slope in my shower! There is maybe 1/4" on the long side and none on the other three. He told me I could fix that when I tiled . I said no way! He plans to come back on Monday and apply thinset to make a slope on top of the existing mortar. Will I have a problem with that?

3. I was under the impression I was to durock the walls after the pan was complete but from what I have read I was supposed to install the durock between the liner and the final mortar, 1" above liner. Since he is coming back to do a slope of thinset, should I install the durock down to the floor now? And get this! The liner tapers in towards the shower a good 1" on the back corner at the bottom. Won't this affect how the durock lays? I have since read about notching the studs 1/4" behind the liner but I think I'm too late for that. I think his plan is to break back the mortar and mesh on the walls of the pan and pinch it back up against the wall. He said he thought I was cementing the walls so it would have been ok. Oh me oh my!

Any help much appreciated!

Thanks,
Chris

[Shoeless]

I think I have more questions than answers for you. Do you know if your pre-slope is actually sloped?

A good place to start on your questions would be the Liberry. There's a great post called Shower Construction Info. Here's a link to save some time.

Shower Construction Info

The second post has a nice cross section of a shower. It will answer a lot of your questions.

That said, I'm just a DIY guy, but I don't know how you would ever get your shower to hold water after pulling the edges back and putting concrete backer in. I would think there would be great opportunity to puncture your liner and end up with a mess... I'm sure someone who know a lot more than I do will chime in soon. People are pretty helpful around here.

[Brad Denny]

Wow Chris,
Welcome to the site, but you may not like what your are going to receive.
All of your concerns are legitimate, and cause for a redo in my book. Hope the check hasn't cleared. You might wanna take a look at this thread to get a good idea of how it should be done step by step. Even if he does offer to tear it out, I wouldn't allow him another shot. If you are planning to do the tile, you can do the pan. We can help. Be sure to bookmark this thread and keep all questions contained here, and keep the pics coming.

[Brad Denny]

Quick on the draw!

[light guy]

Whew, one thing off the plate. I could feel under the liner in one corner and there is 3/4" of dry mortar under the pvc liner. I just poured water down the drain and it all does flow correctly, no buildup. The slope is not exactly 1/4", closer to 1/8" per foot, but I think it will do. Now the only problem is that bulging back corner of the liner. Maybe I should consider having the tile guy scratch coat the shower and call it a day? Then I would be able to come out the 1" I need and I would be able to return the edges of the finished tile back to the wall with 1/4 round. Since that was their plan, should I go with it?

Thanks for the quick response, and yes, the check has cleared.

Chris

[Brad Denny]

Well Chris,
When a hiccup like lackadaisical workmanship and smoke blowing occurs early in the process, it may be good to nip it in the bud before it goes any further.

As I understand it, you are going to have the plumber's guy take care of all mud work and you install, or are you just keeping them honest? Either way here to help, just makin' sure.

Also, what have you decided to use to waterproof the walls?

As to the question of whether or not to let the guy scratch coat the wall, that would be fine, but are you planning to finish yourself or hire someone else to do so? Most guys would prefer to take care of a project start to finish, so choppin' up all the work may result in difficulty getting it done correctly and no one liable for anything.

At this point, dropping back to punt would guarantee a good nights rest in the future and possibly save all the material you will be putting in this shower, IF you have serious doubts to the quality of the pan.

If you want to tackle the project from start to finish or any point in between, we can walk you through it, we just want it to last and work properly for years to come.

[cx]

Welcome, Chris.

I gotta agree with Brad here. Time to cut your losses and start over on that pan.

Not at all sure what your guy was thinking with the lath and thinset on the inside of the pan liner, but it's just gonna cause you grief. Even if it doesn't leak (was a flood test done at any point?).

And your curb being out of square as much as you describe, and the lack of proper slope to drain (this guy's a plumber?), I just don't think it's worth trying to save any of it at this early stage of the construction.

Take your lesson. Take your losses. Start over and do it correctly.

Might wanna consider a Kerdi shower, too.

My opinion; worth price charged.

[Brad Denny]

I missed the lath on toppa the pan. Definitely a no-no. Here's a link to Schluter's page for Shower Kits, as cx mentioned. It would be the way to go, especially with mud walls.

[Davy]

Yep, what the others said, you have a mess there. Pull it out and start over. find the weepholes in that drain, can't tell by the picher if there are any or maybe they are full of cement/thinset.

[light guy]

I filled up the base last night and it did hold water overnight. I just have to figure out how to get the darn backerboard set in there and how to straighten out that curb. The tile guy is going to pay me a visit today and tell me what he thinks about the job his brotherr did. I will let you know what he says. Thanks all for your support.

Chris

[Brad Denny]

Hey Chris,
It is good that it didn't leak, but you need to be confident of how well it is going to get all the water out of the pan assembly if you plan on using it day in and day out. If water sits in that pan, never finding its way to the weep holes, you'll have a science experiment for a floor inna year or two. Might feel the guy out as to how good he feels about that when ya'll meet. As for the curb, there's all kinds of ways to fix that, we are just a little gun shy on saving this one if its gonna fail on ya anyway.

[light guy]

So I have gotten the pan done to a satisfactory condition I feel. I had to put the durock just above the pan since I had to put it on after the pan was complete. The bottom of the durock overlaps the liner by about 5 inches. No screws through the durock into the liner and the whole thing seems pretty secure. I plan to continue putting the durock mesh tape and thinset on next. Then I will redguard the whole thing. Does this look like it will work?

Thanks,
Chris