An alternative to store-bought shower trays are do-it-yourself trays, since even a non-professional is quite capable of making their own efforts and making a tray on their own. This will save money, and at the same time show your imagination and creativity.


The choice of height, shape and size

When planning your bathroom renovation, did you decide to install a shower tray or a shower enclosure? You have several ways to implement this idea. Buy a ready-made shower cabin, buy a ready-made shower tray or make a shower cabin with your own hands.

The advantages of self-production include the following arguments:

  • significant cost savings;
  • the ability to make a pallet of any shape and size;
  • choose a decorative coating, in accordance with the design of the entire room;
  • install exactly the shower equipment that you need;
  • choose or order an individual fence.

As a result, you will have an exclusive shower cabin, the quality of which you will be absolutely sure. In this article, we will tell you how to correctly build a shower tray, what materials and tools you will need, and help you avoid mistakes during construction and decoration.

We choose a place for the construction of a shower tray. It is advisable to place it near communications, but this issue is not fundamental, with proper wiring of communications, you can make a pallet anywhere in the bathroom. Pay special attention to the screed and waterproofing of the floor in the room:

  • For a city apartment, a lightweight screed and a lightweight pallet design are best suited.
  • In a private house or in a country house, the weight of the structure matters only when organizing a bathroom on the upper floors of the house. In this case, it is necessary to calculate the permissible load on the ceiling.


Choose the shape of the pallet. It all depends on your imagination, experience in construction and the size of the room. Equally important is the convenience of the future pallet for all family members. For example, if you have overweight or elderly people, the size of the pallet should be large and preferably streamlined. The absence of sharp corners will be a guarantee of safety.

Choose the height of the sides of the pallet. The choice of pallet height options is huge, you can do without a side at all by purchasing a special ladder or building a mini-pool. However, these options are mainly available only to owners of private houses, since the installation of a shower drain "in the floor" requires raising the overall level of the floor and a larger layer of screed. The mini-pool is a very heavy structure, and completely filled with water, it can lead to the collapse of load-bearing structures or ceilings.

The standard height of a shower tray can be considered as the height of one brick from the inner surface of the tray.




Preparatory work

When a plan for the future design is ready and all calculations have been made, it is worth purchasing all the necessary materials, these can be:

  • ladder;
  • bricks;
  • cement mortar and sand;
  • waterproofing mastic or other materials of a similar purpose;
  • waterproof film or roofing felt;
  • finishing materials and glue or mortar for laying a decorative coating.

You will also need the following tools and mounting materials:

  • roller or brush;
  • marker;
  • perforator;
  • screwdrivers;
  • Master OK;
  • building level, beacons;
  • screws, dowels, plugs and gaskets.

First stage- this is the preparation of the base on which the pallet will be built. We clean the surface of the floor and adjacent walls. If the floor does not have an initial concrete screed, then we make it. We prime the base. This is done necessarily in order to waterproof your future structure and in order to prevent the formation of fungus and bacteria during operation. If there is a desire to make the pallet even more comfortable, then under the draft floor, you can lay the "warm floor" system.






Second phase: we dock the ladder with the sewerage with pipes at an angle, firmly fix it. The angle of inclination of the drainage system must be at least three degrees.

Third stage- fill it with a cement-sand mixture or lay out the base and sides from bricks, taking into account the height of the ladder and the slope to it. Next, we carefully seal the entire structure. The pallet is ready for finishing.

Manufacturing

The pallet can be made from cement or ready-made concrete blocks or bricks can be used. Bricks are better to buy not silicate, but ceramic, as this type of brick is resistant to water.

For a wooden floor, it will be correct to make a concrete screed and lay a ladder on it, and then raise the pallet to the level of the ladder. In this case, it will be necessary to make formwork and wait several weeks until the concrete hardens completely. In no case should cement-lime compounds be used to level surfaces. It is necessary to take only clean cement and sand.


Features of the installation of the ladder

A sewer drain is a drainage system from a pallet. Usually plastic models are chosen for bathrooms. They are lightweight, easy to install, easy to clean, and resistant to aggressive household chemicals.

Modern models are equipped with a siphon, which prevents the penetration of unpleasant odors from the sewer into the room.

The drain hole of the ladder can be located in the corner of the pallet, or maybe in the middle of the structure. Keep in mind that it is much easier to make the right slope to a drain placed in a corner.

The shape of the ladders can be different: square or figured, round or oval, as well as triangular. They can be equipped with various gratings, gaskets, seals, with different diameters of the siphon and outlet pipes. There are entire shower trays that perfectly disguise themselves as tiles and the drain will not be noticeable at all.


The main thing to remember when dealing with water is high-quality waterproofing. Any joints and assembly points are mounted only using gaskets and seals. Even if they are not provided in the purchased ladder, it is better to purchase gaskets separately and additionally treat all joints with a special silicone sealant.


The installation of the drain usually begins with the installation of pipes, which must be firmly fixed in the pallet so that no influences can move it and thereby violate the tightness and reliability of the system. Be aware of the slope of the drainage. If your pallet is lower than the sewer drain, then it will not be possible to achieve at least 3 degrees of inclination, in this case, raise the level of the pallet and provide the necessary drainage slope. When the entire drain system is mounted, we install beacons of the level of the height of the internal space of the pallet. Beacons help to make the correct slope of the future pallet. Next, we proceed to the formation of a rough base.


Step-by-step instruction

Considering that each specific case must be considered separately, and that all the options for the features of your particular way of arranging a shower tray, let's take a typical example: the tray is made of concrete.

  • The floor and part of the wall that will adjoin your shower must be thoroughly cleaned, coated with a waterproofing compound, for example, bituminous mastic with a high adhesion index.
  • Then a ladder is installed and poured with a concrete screed. The level of the floor must be such that the subsequently laid tiles are flush with the drain. That is, the thickness of the tile plus the thickness of the adhesive for the tile is provided. Make sure that the slope of the floor is directed directly towards the drainage outlet.
  • After complete drying, install a wooden formwork, the width of the board should be at least 4 cm, and pour the sides. Masters advise with a thick layer of poured concrete to wait for complete drying for at least two weeks.

Sealing the seams with the wall and finishing waterproofing

As already mentioned, waterproofing is the most important stage in the construction of a shower tray. The first sealing of the seams between the floor and the walls should take place during the preparatory stage, when either a film, or better, several layers of roofing material will be laid on the floor so as to completely close any gaps at the junction of the walls and the floor. After that, the floor and adjacent walls are carefully treated with a waterproofing compound - it is applied as a primer mixture in an even layer. The required layer thickness is determined according to the instructions on the package. It would be ideal to lay a special waterproofing tape along the joints of the walls and floor.

The next waterproofing layer is done after the base of the pallet has dried, before the start of facing work. Paint again with the same mixture, lay a special tape at the joints. After finishing work, treat all joints of the shower tray with walls or fencing with sealant.


Finishing materials and their installation

A self-built structure can be finished to your liking, the only requirement for a decorative coating is moisture resistance and anti-slip properties. Information about these indicators can be found on the packaging of tiles or other finishing materials. Laying tiles on the floor and walls of the shower tray is no different from installing ordinary tiles on the floor. A notched trowel is taken, tile adhesive is applied, then the tile is pressed well and evenly. It is desirable that the joints between the tiles are minimal.

It is easier to install, practically does not slip and makes it possible to realize creative abilities. If the shower tray is adjacent to walls or partitions, you can completely decorate the adjacent space with mosaics or lay out mosaic panels on the walls in harmony with the base.

After complete drying, it is required to wipe the seams between the tiles or mosaics with a moisture-resistant grout.

The corners of the side can be trimmed with special corners to avoid injuries. Don't forget to pick up a shower.

If all right angles are maintained and the surface is well leveled, then the mosaic will lie flat, beautiful and pleasing to the eye, and the shower tray will serve for a long time and without fail.