I have a shower in my basement. It is made of fiberglass and plastic. I recently had to rip out the old drain as it was leaking badly.
DSince the old shower is built into a wall, I was trying to avoid having to rip out the whole shower to remove the floor to replace the drain. I concocted a drain that is used for toilets and attached it on top of the shower floor. It no longer leaks. The problem I now have is that the drain is about 1/4" above the shower floor.
Is there anything I can use to raise the level of the shower floor to the drain? Floor level, concrete or something?
Concrete is too heavy and I wouldn’t like that resting on the floor of the fiberglass shower. Not a good bond, either.
There are plastic grates (used in locker rooms, gyms, garages, big showers) that can be added and cut to fit, even around the drain. I would first look to this option, just to get the floor elevated. You would then want to protect the feeties by adding a shower mat.
That’s a tough one, because a perfect, custom fit is going to be touch to accomplish.
You are gonna have to find a good supplier who can let you flip through some books and look over various products to be ordered.
Adding this: dang it… you need the water to come up to the drain level. Scratch my idea.
Cement or floor leveler (gypsum based) will not bond to plastic type materials. Possibly a paint-on bonding agent like Thorobond would resolve this, but the flex factor in the floor would probably doom the effort under use.
Bondo or fiberglass (not my field) should bond well if the surface is made slightly rough with 80 grit sandpaper. The wear factor for unfinished Bondo might be an issue, as might the hygiene factor. Fiberglass is probably the best choice. Of course slip resistance should also be considered.
Fiberglass is not the easiest of materials for the unexperienced. If you use it, wear latex gloves or you will regret it.
Or a thick rubber sheet, glued down. That sounds easy.
It sounds like you are talking about a one piece shower stall. I am a little curious what exactly took place with the repair, such that you couldn’t get the replacement flush. Did you install the new hardware on top of some old hardware? Is it really that much more work to remove the stall and do a proper repair?
One solution now would be to tile the shower pan, but I doubt mortar is going to bond with acrylic or fiberglass. You could check with Mapei, Target or some other tile products manufacturer and see if it is one of their approved substrates. You would certainly need to roughen the surface with sandpaper or other abrasive before hand. If it flexes at all grout and/or tile is likely to crack.
Perhaps you could use with one of the acrylic aggregate type products becoming popular for dressing up concrete surfaces - like Stoneffects
I would recommend a trade or DIY forum. These guys may be able to help.
Thanks for all of the ideas. I had actually thought about a thick rubber mat. I even found some at Lowe’s and Menards that would have worked had the been wider. If I went that route, where could I find a mat that would fit?
Again, this unit is not leaking any water now. It would be too costly and time consuming to tear out the shower as it is built into the wall. It is a basement shower and does not get used a whole lot, so I am looking for a quick and inexpensive solution.
I also thought about some kind of floor leveler that I could pout into it until it comes up to the level of the drain. Any water proof products out there that wouldm work in that cap.?