NEVER done it. But WOULD IT WORK?

[Michael Young]

Fiberglass resin adheres to damn near everything. Had a homeowner last week with a tile shower that is leaking. She needs a new shower liner. The tradition way - tear out the tile, install a new pan, TEST, set in the new tile....

But, Fiberglass resin adheres to damn near everything.

So idea popped into my head.

2-part CLEAR liquid epoxy resin. block off the drain. CLEAN the bejesus out of the tile. POUR a layer, approx. 1/8" thick of clear resin to coat the bottom of the shower, right overtop of the tile. let it cure. You've just installed a clear WATERPROOF coating that should SEAL your leaking shower liner.

That's all I got. Anything you guys can add to weigh-in here? Is it a shit idea? would it work?

 

[Plumber69]

I knew someone that did this. I don't know how long it will last

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Derek Sutherland]

I'm not sure this will solve all scenarios. What if (and it does) the drain backs up due to hair clogs, etc... As designed, the water would come up the pan liner through the weep holes. Depending on where the liner was compromised you could still leak in that scenario. No/Yes?

 

[Michael Young]

I'm not sure this will solve all scenarios. What if (and it does) the drain backs up due to hair clogs, etc... As designed, the water would come up the pan liner through the weep holes. Depending on where the liner was compromised you could still leak in that scenario. No/Yes?

The weep holes are in the threaded part of the drain. it will still dump through the primary drain. I don't think the weep holes would be a problem. The idea is to spread the epoxy coating all the way to the lip of the drain. It should create a perfect seal. I've never done this before. But I'm thinking it would work. But thank you for scratching your head on it. that exactly what I'm looking for. Input from other professionals.

If is does work, think about how awesome that would be for all of us.

 

[Derek Sutherland]

The weep holes are in the threaded part of the drain. it will still dump through the primary drain. I don't think the weep holes would be a problem. The idea is to spread the epoxy coating all the way to the lip of the drain. It should create a perfect seal. I've never done this before. But I'm thinking it would work. But thank you for scratching your head on it. that exactly what I'm looking for. Input from other professionals.

If is does work, think about how awesome that would be for all of us.

Yes the weep holes are in the threaded part of the drain. The idea is if water gets on the PVC liner it should, using gravity, gradually find it's way down the weep hole and out the drain. However, if the water backs up there is nothing stopping it from going the other direction - back up the PVS liner. If you have a leak on the PVS liner then you still have a problem.

Something else to think about. The liner, if designed correctly, should go up the wall a min of 6 inches. Your backer board should come down and sit on top of it. The idea is if water also gets behind your tile and it finds it's way down the wall, the PVS liner is there to catch it and down it goes to the drain. That's part of the whole design with this type of water proofing.

I'm not a professional but I just did my first shower and I think I understand how the water proofing works If not I'm in big trouble because I'm 2 days away from firing it up lol. Best of luck - hopefully you will get other opinions. My personal opinion is that it may work under the simplest conditions but it won't make it water tight.

 

[Koa]

I think you will need to etch the tile and make sure it’s extremely clean of soap residue, including the grout. How are you going to stop it from flowing down the slope of floor? And the walls? You mentioned fiberglass and epoxy resins. They are different. Epoxy will yellow over time since it is not UV resistant. How are you going to make it slip resistant? I use a lot of West Systems epoxies. They have very good tech help. You might try calling or emailing them.

 

[FullySprinklered]

If you can make it look nice around the drain, you might be on to something. I've demo'd tile that was stuck on tile with mastic. Came up pretty easy. Lot of water over the dam since then in adhesives technology, so it might be worth a try. Glad I'm not there.

 

[Michael Young]

I think you will need to etch the tile and make sure it’s extremely clean of soap residue, including the grout. How are you going to stop it from flowing down the slope of floor? And the walls? You mentioned fiberglass and epoxy resins. They are different. Epoxy will yellow over time since it is not UV resistant. How are you going to make it slip resistant? I use a lot of West Systems epoxies. They have very good tech help. You might try calling or emailing them.

I called one of the epoxy manufacturer's. He did mention using an ultra-clear type epoxy. He suggested using a palm sander to clean (and scuff up) the original tiles. He said scuffing them up will improve the adhesion to the existing tiles. The manufacturing expert suggesting that using a decorative effect so bubbles would not be visible.

He said their product was not really designed to be used this way. So i asked, "if you were about to spend $3000 to replace a shower liner, would you grab a bucket from the shop and give it a try? Do you think it will work?" The expert at the manufacturer told me he'd probably try it.

 

[Michael Young]

I think you will need to etch the tile and make sure it’s extremely clean of soap residue, including the grout. How are you going to stop it from flowing down the slope of floor? And the walls? You mentioned fiberglass and epoxy resins. They are different. Epoxy will yellow over time since it is not UV resistant. How are you going to make it slip resistant? I use a lot of West Systems epoxies. They have very good tech help. You might try calling or emailing them.

I haven't given any thought to slip resistance. Do you have an idea for slip resistance?

 

[Koa]

Rubber bathtub mat, throw some silica sand or other non slip additive on wet epoxy and vacuum off when set, sand the epoxy to roughen it up a bit, stick on 3M non skid strips, teak floor grate or tiles.

I wonder if you could use thickened epoxy to glue a layer of tiles over old ones and then use epoxy grout. You could come walls with tiles a bit.