Retiling shower with ceramic tile--how do I do the floor?

Question

I have a shower that I want to re-tile the walls and floor. It originally had a fiberglass shower pan, but it was removed prior to our purchase due to leaks. I was told the contractor cut the fiberglass pan out and using concrete, made a new shower pan and tiled over it. The bottom 12 inches of the wall was retiled as well to match the floor but does not match the rest of the bathroom.

I have tiled walls before so I am not worried about that part, but do I just chisel the floor tile up and scrape the dried thinset before applying new thinset and tile? Is it this simple?

Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

Lowes and Home Depot have Saturday classes on home improvement projects. GO!

Answer 2

In theory it is, but sometimes the thin-set has a really good bond with the substrate.

The hard part is installing the floor tile at the proper and even  slope towards the drain.

Make sure to use a slip resistant floor tile for the shower.

If you use those  sheets of 1x1 tiles  glued together (Dal-tile)

you will have too carefully clean the thinset out of the groutlines before it dries.  ( potential big headache)

Good luck

Answer 3

Hey Fly, You are in a challenging predicament my friend. You surely may attempt to remove the tile and scrape the thinset from the existing mudbed, but "IF" it was properly installed I am afraid that will be nearly impossible, give it a try....BUT if it appears that you will be unsuccessful, you should bust it all out and start over, You will find expert Advice and resources here http://www.flooringprofessor.com/install...

BUT..BEWARE, building a mudbed for a shower from scratch should probably be left to the pros. if you really want to tackle it I would recommend you check out the Schluter Kerdi shower system, it will allow you to easily install  pre sloped components and curbing for your floor and create a truly "waterproof" shower (which is the latest technology, which is making traditional cement board installations obsolete do to their inability to block moisture vapor from entering your wall cavity,) more on the Schluter system can be found at  http://www.schluter.com/video_zoom.aspx?...

Hope this helps solve your dilemma! If you need more in depth assistance you will find email support on the flooring professor website.

Answer 4

Hi Fly,

Shower pan construction is something even so-called "pro" tile guys have trouble executing correctly.  There are a few different methods to use.  I recommend visiting the forum in the link below for a detailed walk through from some of the friendliest people on the net.