Tile Question: Problem with shower drain?

Question

My tile around the shower drain began to collapse. I cut out the tile about 3-5 inches and noticed all packing sand. A contractor said there should be some packing sand around the drain, but not the whole floor which the guy at Home Depot told me. I need a quick fix, H.D. told me to just cement it, the contractor told me to go out further until I hit cement, remove the sand, then cement it and retile. Thoughts?

Answer 1

I think you should go with what H.D. guy told you!!! That is what I would do!!!

Answer 2

If you are after a quick fix,clean and vacuum  all lose stuff then use the grout that you would have to use anyway.

Answer 3

Tile will not stick on unstable surface.  Scrape all loose sand (Thin set ) and start over.  Use thin set in this situation.  U should  make sure all sand is cleaned out/ vacuum.