Building a Shower



When Jake purchased the old house, he didn't know the shower needed to be replaced. But it wasn't long after he moved in before he knew how much the basin pan was leaking and that the walls and sub-floor were being damaged. His brother recommended that he not delay repairing it, so Jake read up on building a shower in order that he would be able do the job correctly. After a few days of studying, he decided he had learned enough about shower construction and plumbing to build the shower.



The first thing he needed to do was to get the right tools. He talked to his brother again and borrowed a skill saw, hack saw, hammer and s set of screwdrivers. Then he went to the hardware store and purchased a level. While he was there he decided to get the materials that he would need to build it, and he ended up leaving with Portland cement, sand, PVC pipe with the connectors, a two-piece drain (two-piece is required to make it leak-proof), faucet, and shower head. He wanted the shower to look good, so he went to the tile store and picked out some nice colored tile and a tile cutter. He also got some thinnest mortar, grout, and grout sealer.

Back at home, his brother had already torn out the old shower, using a crowbar to loosen pieces of tiled concrete board, as well as the leaky concrete pan on the floor that was supposed to catch and funnel the water to the drain, but didn't. Now, only the 2 x 4 studs of the former walls and floor were exposed. Jake arrived with the materials and entered the bathroom to inspect the shower work. All the pipes were visible and accessible, making the new installation easy. With bro's help, Jake got the materials inside along with all the new materials, except the concrete board. They left that outside so that when they cut it with the saw it wouldn't create a lot of dust in the house.