Shower Pan

thom943

I have a question for you guys that do tons of bathroom remodels, i mainly do finish work and kitchens but get an ocassional bathroom. This bathroom that were gonna start remodeling next month has a typical walk in shower, the shower floor is tiled with that 70's green octogan shaped crap that I wouldnt put in a dog house kinda tile. Its actually in great shape tight grout lines solid no craking. We are going to do the hole shower with new tile, is there any way to just tile over the existing tile thats already there just on the floor, If I have to I'll rip everything out and float a new shower pan, but if everything is sturdy and solid the way it is and could work, It would be nice just to throw the tile down over the existing floor.....What are some of your opinions.....

angus242

Before you even get to the tile over tile question.....the bigger concern is what do you plan to do with the existing drain?

Double-A

No double posting. Please post your question once and in one forum only. Folks will see it. I promise. Really. Yes, I'm sure.

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send_it_all

If the tile is in excellent shape, and the main problem is the color, save the customer some money and call in a tub reglazing company. They can paint it all white. I believe they can actually do any color, but white and almond are the most common with the company I use. They would probably charge about $650.00 to do a typical stall shower. Have a nice frameless door installed and call it a day.

thom943

Angus,
Im not sure if it can even be done, i have not ever heard of that befor, thats why I was asking to see if it was even posable, if it is, then the next question would be the drain, to find out if there is an adapter for such a sitution. I dont really think there is any way around it" wich i really dont mind" The customer is paying for the remodel. i just wanted to get some thoughts from others to see if that might be an option. If it is an option then my thoughts would be on to what the conditions are under the shower floor. I dont want to put frosting over a rotten cake.....But from what I can tell it's a solid floor......

angus242

I know under the proper circumstances, tile can be installed over existing tile. I don't know about the drain situation. However, I personally will never install tile over any existing flooring. I always demo down to the subfloor and go from there. I don't feel I can warranty my work unless I know what's going on under the tile. On top of that, you're talking about a wet location. I understand people are looking for deals these days and we're all trying to stay busy too. However, I won't compromise how I install tile under any circumstance. It's my way, or I won't take the job on.
I think you're asking for trouble with tile over tile on this job...not to mention the drain height issue.

genecarp

Big Big Mistake

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johnny P

This is ur best bet,and it would probably be even less if u just have them reglaze the floor.

johnny P

I agree 100%.I wouldnt tile over tile in a shower pan,and it would probably only take u about 30 min to rip out the excisting shower floor surface,the substrate is probably in the form of a wetbed instead of a backer board.Reglaze or rip the sucker out

The Marble Guy

Tear it out period end of story. Dont stake your reputation on not wanting to do what has to be done. Probably needs new step boards anyway. Pull all but one after you demo the walls slip your pry bar under it and raise it up. Usually it`ll crack into three or four peices. Put in a new shower pan liner and drain. Start fresh and dry bro.

tmg

g/l

threaderman

Agreed .It takes very little time to demo a shower floor.You would be doing the owners an injustice by keeping the old drain in.Every shower pan I do I break a little concrete and install a new 2 story drain [obviously I like vinyl pan material].It doesn't take a lic. plumber long at all to install a new drain.

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go dart

to leave the old pan and tile over is a "shortcut". we on rare occasion tear one out thats been doubled. could be sorry to tile over existing, never sorry if you opt for a replacment

Bud Cline

Trying to cover over an existing shower could be a huge mistake.

Here's some things to think about:

The additional thickness of the new wall tile may cause issues with reinstalling the valve hardware.

Removal of the old tile would end that issue.

The additional thickness of the new floor tile would cause the need for the floor drain to be raised to accommodate the new height of the tile.

Removal of the old tile would end that issue.

Typically shower floors are built so that water permeating the floor through the grout over the years can drain through weep holes deep inside the floor assembly. Over time the weep holes can become clogged and ineffective.

Removal of the old tile would end that issue.

In addition to the weep holes tile shower floors also depend on evaporation to constantly dry the sub floors interior. This evaporation is only possible through the existing grout joints. Adding new tile over these grout joints could preclude any future evaporation.

Removal of the old tile would end that issue.

As time goes on odors tend to develop in wet tile shower floors. To continue the use of an already aging shower and covering the only means of evaporation would/could certainly increase the odor factor.

Removal of the old tile would end that issue.

Not worth it! Remove the old shower and start over.