The Right Way to Build a Shower

Years ago, while in the service I learned there were three ways to do just about anything.

• The right way
• The wrong way
• Uncle Sam’s way.

When I entered the trades and started to seek employment, I became familiar with the saying, “My way or highway. However, there are tasks which need to be preformed to construct a building which can be built correctly by two or more different techniques.

There are two basic methods for building a shower system today. Each of these methods require the shower-pan pass the leak or flood test of 24 hours. (If you are using a preformed shower pan some of them may not require the leak testing but consult the instructions and build authorities for their regulations.)

The old school method is called the water in/water out (WIWO) shower system.

This system has a mud bed liner, be it led, copper, hot mopped felt and tar. Traditionally the walls were floated stucco. Before, the water barrier is installed, then a galvanized stucco mesh which many mistakenly refer to as chicken wire and then a scratch and brown coat of stucco is added. The stucco may be applied using a one coat float system on Northern California. In this system the stucco mesh is applied directly to a suitable wallboard backer and then the brown coat is floated on it. This trend has been replaced by many who now use cement board (Durock & Hardibacker) are perhaps the best-known brand names, but there are many other valuable choices to be considered. The important thing is whichever system you choose to use be sure you have properly waterproofed your walls and shower pan correctly. This call for a separation between the walls and the pan to prevent water from wicking up the walls. The space is then filled with a good water proof sealant.

Building the shower pan is also a two-method system. Because the drains have weeps holes to allow water to escape the first layer of dry pack is slopped toward the weep hole on the first part of the drain to ensure no water is trapped and small rocks are placed around the drain to keep the weep hole from becoming clogged.

Due to the skill required to build this system another method has been pushed onto the market. This is known as the Sealed Shower System. Usually the shower floors are mortar (Dry pack) or a foam pan which is pre pitched toward the drain. There is a waterproofing membrane bonded to the slopped floor. There is a special kind of shower drain need in this system so that there can be a bond can be created between the drain and the membrane. Today there are painted or trialed on types of water proofing that can be painted on by applying multiple coats.  

The important thing is that this system demands that no water penetrates the surface.

So, which is the right way to build your shower may depend on your skill level, the materials available, and where it is going to be built. I would consider the sealed method over wooden floors and the water in/water out method on concrete and over wooden floors also.

Note: Images on this blog site are from a free source or taken by the author. No image or group of photos is intended to represent the people the author serves. The author does not care about Race (that is a politically correct term that he does not like because we are all of the same Race, the Human Race. He prefers the term ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender, marital status, disability, genetic information, national origin, source of income, Veteran or military status, ancestry, citizenship, primary language or immigration status.) He is a service provider for all people. We will all rise together when we band together and help one another. Joseph Erwin is a Real Estate Broker, DRE # O2131799, and a CA general contractor # B 696662. He’s a member of the CRMLS and The East Valley Association of Realtors located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California.