Shower pan issues

[Donuts]

So I have a person installing a cement shower pan for me so I can tile my shower floor and walls. he put about 6 inch height of hardi backer board on base of the walls and then green board up to the ceiling after that. Then he put the liner down and put the liner of the hardi backer and poured a very gravely cement down. When I saw this the next day I notced the drain was not only a little crooked, but some cement was covering part of the finished drain. I liked at this and thought everything was being done wrong, but what do I know, I never installed a shower pan. I brought all my concerns to the person doing work and he assured me it was going to be fine. When he tested the drain, a couple days later. No water was going down and he said he would need to rot out the line, old houses always have these problems, I said I think some cement went down because it looked like the cement didn't hold to the angled pitch and it leveled it self a bit and cement was in the drain now. He said that would be impossible. Well we had to cut a hole into my new kitchen walls after they just got put up and painted to access the bathroom plumbing and remove the shower drain because it was full of cement and he cut out the cement around the drain. So he put all new plumbing back and put solar seal? Around the drain that attaches to the liner and plans to pour cement to replace what he cut out. Is this ok to do? Or does all the cement need to be replaced once you cut out a portion of it? Doesn't the vinyl shower liner need to be on the other side of the hardi backer and should there be like 2x10s between the studs to hold that shower liner in place. I would love to hire someone else but this contractor did a lot of other things around the house and a lot of the work is already paid for. Sorry for the long story but I just need advise as to how to proceed with getting this shower done, and sooner the better before he says he is complete.

 

[Jadnashua]

The guy doesn't know what he is doing. FWIW, green board has not been allowed in wet areas for decades, and does not meet building codes. The preslope needs to be smooth and sloped a MINIMUM of 1/4"/foot to the drain, and be without birdbaths or reverse pitches. Generally, this is done with what is called deck mud...a mostly sand mix with some cement in it to hold it together. The sand:cement ratio is in the range of 4-5:1 sand:cement and packs like wet beach sand. It's really tough to use a wet cement mix with gravel in it, and that would be entirely incorrect to use on top of the liner. The drain needs to be a clamping drain made for a shower with weep holes. It really needs to be level to work and look good. SEcond, not all cement boards are created equal...HardieBacker is classified as a fiber-cement board and is NOT approved for use below the surface of the pan (i.e., it cannot be buried in the pan!). The instructions clearly state this, and the industry guidelines as written by the Tile Council of North America (TCNA) do not allow it. That manual describes all of the different approved methods of building a shower that will last. They do not get into specific product details, but methods - if you know a bit, you can infer what products they are talking about.

I can just see how he would try to get the liner down so that it is waterproof over the curb. Personally, I ask questions on fixtures, plumbing, HVAC, etc. here, but anything dealing with tiling, prefer www.johnbridge.com. Look in their 'Liberry' to see how a traditional shower is supposed to be built and feel free to ask questions there as well.

The guy is NOT doing anything correct. Any statement that 'I've been doing it like this forever with no problems' is bogus...people just don't know, and accept it. A correctly built tiled shower should last until you tear it out to remodel, not because it failed in some way. Unfortunately, there are LOTS of people that haven't a clue, and this guy seems to be one of them.