Mud Shower Pan Thickness

When building a shower pan it is critical that it be designed so that the water drains towards the adjustable drain assembly in the center of the shower area. It is also essential that the mud shower pan thickness be substantial enough so that it doesn’t crack or have little to no structural strength.

Thus it is extremely important to build a shower pan that that has a pre-slope that will funnel water towards the drain and be of minimum thickness for the concrete shower pan to provide structural rigidity.

Also keep in mind that the mortar thickness in the pre-slope should be ½” to 1” thick.

For example, if the shower pan pre-slope layer thickness is to be ½” thick, and if the run distant from the drain center to the shower wall is 2 feet, the height of the pre-slope mortar bed on the shower walls should be one inch thick.

Using a 2 or 4 foot level, mark a line on the felt paper at the appropriate height, based upon your calculations.

Once you’ve installed the pre-slope mortar and the shower pan membrane liner you can pour the base mortar layer over the shower liner, but don’t do this until you first install the adjustable drain assembly into the shower drain and adjust the height of it by simply rotating clockwise or counterclockwise.

The shower pan base mortar layer thickness should be approximately ½ to 1 inch thick. Since the shower floor already has a pre-slope, just apply a base mortar layer that has an even thickness throughout the shower floor area.