Shower Pans

[suraklyn]

I'm continuing my search here...

I'm rebuilding the shower stall in my master bathroom, and I want to pull up the shower pan for various reasons.  However, my shower pan isn't screwed into the studs along the wall flange like I thought it would be.  I suspect it's glued down.  Any thoughts as to how I can pull the pan out?

I'm considering getting some kind of abrasive blade for my circular saw, cutting around the drain, and then just yanking the pan up in pieces if I can... however, if there's a better way, I'm all ears.

I'm really just trying to avoid a costly call to a plumber to yank the thing out for me -- if that's possible.

[Justin B.]

You're on your own, but once you figger it out you can do ours!  

Can you work a putty-knife under the edge and sort of start "peeling" it up?  Maybe some judicious application of the heat-gun?

Since you have compressed air you can just go by HF and get a cut-off tool (probably less than $20) and a pack of cut-off blades.  I'm sure you've seen me use one over here...

[fastcataz]

I've pulled them with a long pry bar. Just make sure you are not breaking up your floor...

[suraklyn]

I might try cutting a notch in the threshold with my sawzall and shove a pry bar in there.

I think I'll cut around the drain first... I really don't want to screw that over while I'm trying to wrestle the bulk of the pan out.

[suraklyn]

OK.  So I cut a notch in the threshold and slid a pry bar underneath the pan through the notch. It loosened the pan right up.  I just need to take down more of the wall around the pan so that I can actually maneuver it out...

[suraklyn]

And it's out!

I had to tear back about another foot of the tile and cement backer board so that I could maneuver the pan out of place, but I got it out.

I exposed some of the wood framing in one of the half walls where I suspected termite damage, and although the damage isn't massive and the wood itself feels pretty solid, I think I'll be doing a little bit of repair before I slap new greenboard and cement board back up.

I'll post some pics a bit later... I'm sure the old man is pretty interested to see what kind of trouble I've gotten myself into.

[suraklyn]

http://www.suraklyn.com/projects/mastershower/before/

[Ed Miller]

Looking at those pictures made me tired!  My shower is all one piece for the floor and walls.  The ceiling looks like a separate piece.  I don't know how I would get it apart; probably with some violence like you did yours.  I hope I don't need to.  

[suraklyn]

I kinda wish mine would have been all in one big piece, then maybe I wouldn't have had the leaking issues I was having with the grout and stuff.  It was leaking enough water through cracks in the grout (I never noticed the cracks until a plumber came out to check for leaks) that termites invaded the wall behind the shower.  Major headache.  Sucks too... I buy my first house, and a few months in I get to deal with termites.

Suffice it to say... I made a pretty quick turn around to repair the cracked grout in my second shower to prevent this from happening there as well.

[mikethebike]

I'm just replacing my bath with a shower and it's driving me mad.  The hard part is planning which to do first as it has involved changing pipework, replastering,tiling etc. Deciding which bit to do in which order is really frustrating as some bit can't go in or come out until others are done first etc. ( and with two women in the house chipping in their advice along with their moaning about not having a serviceable bathroom - aaaaaaaargh!) I'm also waiting for the tray and cubicle to arrive so that I can get all the measurements spot on.  I'm plumber, electrician, plasterer, tiler etc. etc. etc...............

[suraklyn]

I considered having a plumber come out and rotate my tub around so that I could build a bigger shower stall... but then I started thinking about the price tag associated with that and how cheap I am.  Problem solved.

I'm all for doing the job myself so long as I feel comfortable with it.  As it stands right now, I'd probably tackle anything in my bathroom aside from plumbing that is inside the wall or in the slab -- so long as it's outside the wall, I'll take a stab at it.  I might pay someone to texture the walls once I pull down all the wall paper though...

I just plain suck at texturing.  I tried repairing some patch work the previous owners had done, and although it's difficult to tell just by glancing at the walls where I've touched up the texture, I can tell it's vastly different and not as good.

[mikethebike]

Practise makes perfect!

[montmil]

Newer homes can be hit by termites as easily as a fifty-year old crib. They're not picking on you. BTW, a requirement of most mortgage companies is a Wood Destroying Insect Report. These are limited to visual inspections only so no wallboard is cut into or shower pans lifted.

I note in the photos some water damage to the floor joists along with some minor termite activity. The cellulose in wood and wood products -note the paper missing on the drywall- is what the little rascals are after. They feed on it... tastes much like my ex's cooking. :-P

Moist soil is termite heaven. Termites can only survive in moist soil and darkness. Hence, they will build hollow tubes of mud up foundations, pipes, framing -whatever- to reach their food source.

Suggest you look very closely at the area where the plumbing risers enter the structure. The rubber sheathing is no barrier for the hungry buggers. Also, tub boxes, the square hole through a concrete slab, are necessary to prevent water leaching out into the home if the drain pipes leak heavily. See where we're going here? An opening directly into your home, darkness, soil, possible moisture in the soil either from a small drip or ambient conditions... Welcome termites! Supper's ready.

For background reference, in another life in a galaxy far awy, I carried a Texas Structural Pest Control Board license which included real estate inspections and consulting. Crawled many a house...

Also, there is always an expansion/contraction issue where tile meets plastic. Grout the tiles but use a mildew resistant caulk at the tile/pan junction. It has to flex a bit with temperature changes. That's where grout cracks get started... and water leaks... and termites.

Repairing and upgrading the shower area is no biggie. Actually, I did basically the same thing in my master bath area last June. I cut a hole through a wall to remove the old bathtub and install a new one. They was easy as all the ceramic tile was taken down, I, too, found evidence of some termite activity. Replaced a couple studs, reinforced a few more, did some plumbing pipe upgrades.. then called an exterminator (former brother-in-law) and had the tub box treated while it was wide open.

Tub in. HardiBacker over the studs, then new ceramic tile and fixtures. My labor was free and all materials and support goods came to less than $500. Had an estimate pushing 4K. My brain sez I made $3500 extra during June.

I recommend the Home Depot DIY books for anyone attempting home improvement projects. Be it electrical. plumbing, tile, whatever. Reference information is the best tool in the shop.

Monte

[suraklyn]

Thanks for the thoughts, Monte.  I'm actually doing a lot of what you're suggesting.  I had the pest people come by yesterday afternoon and treat the sandtrap under the shower pan... they filled that thing all full of poison.

After I pull down the rest of the walls around the shower tonight, I'll be doing any repairs I need to do the surrounding structure.  I'll slap some new green board up and cement board on top of that... I also had the same thought about caulking around the joints rather than grouting for the same reasons you bring up -- in fact I did just that when I repaired the cracked grout in my other bath.


Although I haven't pulled up all the walls yet, I'm pretty encouraged by the minor termite damage I see so far.  I'm hoping that I caught the activity early enough that no major damage was done.  The pest folks seem to think that we did, so here's hoping.

[montmil]

...I'm pretty encouraged by the minor termite damage I see so far.  I'm hoping that I caught the activity early enough that no major damage was done.  The pest folks seem to think that we did, so here's hoping.

Takes a l-o-n-g time to do any really serious structural damage. Most folks see the paper gone on the drywall and freak. That's how contractors get to drive new HDs.

Quick structural strengthener is to scab on some new 2x4s next to any damaged studs. Framing nailer gets 'em secured to the sill plate and, if youre wise and don't pull the drywall all the way to the ceiling, just wedge in what you can't hit with the nailer.

I love projects like yours and mine. My $500 final tab included a brand-spankin'-shiny-new PorteCable framing nailer that I got to keep. "Honey... I need to go get another new tool. OK?"