Squeaky acrylic shower pan

[bllama]

I installed an acrylic shower pan, which I bedded in some thinset mortar to offer some support. Unfortunately, the pan still gives a little and has a nasty squeaking sound that would drive anyone crazy. I can still access 2 sides of the underside edges of the shower pan so I tried to spray in some foam but to no avail, still squeaking like crazy. Any ideas how to get rid of such a problem. Worst case I could remove the denseshield walls and rebed it, but not sure how I would redo the drain connection.

 

[Jadnashua]

Thinset may not have been the best thing unless hte bottom of the pan was perfectly flat. Deck mud (5-1 sand to portland cement) or several other things that was heaped under it, and then the pan smushed down into it would have been better. You need to fully support the full depth of the thing. You don't need the lowest portions to be sitting on any depth of the stuff (they can sit on the floor) but any higher sections should be supported for just the reasons you mention.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[bllama]

remove & repair the shower pan & drain?

thanks for the tip. I can still take the pan up and redo it if necessary as the walls are not yet completely enclosed, but still concerned about removing the drain connection. Do you know of adaptors or drain connections that are appropriate for repairing shower pan installations? I assume i might have to cut away the 2" PVC drain in order to remove the pan, which would be dicey to do from the drain opening itself (maybe with a dremel with cutting wheel from the inside of the pipe. Is there any other options?

thanks again

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

try the pipe first

check the pvc pipe first. look underneath and see if the drain pipe is rubbing

on one of the sides of the wood floor (if their is one)

 

[bllama]

best drain fitting for acrylic shower pans?

i removed the shower pan last night and found that there probably wasn't enough mud to support the whole pan adequately. Also, there are 1x3 ledger boards to help support/level the pan and lastly, as you mentioned, the subfloor hole was pressing against one side of the pvc pipe. So i plan on opening that hole up around the pvc drain pipe and using more deck mud to bed the pan.

Lastly, i would like to replace the drain fitting in the shower pan with one that fits inside the 2" pvc pipe and that doesn't require pvc cement to make the seal, as would one that fit outside the PVC pipe? The type i had in there before had a brass body and a neoprene "V" gasket that fit around the pvc drain pipe to make the seal. It seams like just a matter of time before that seal gives out? Although it was nice when trying to remove the pan, as it presented little resistance when we lifted the pan. This is a new install so i can't say whether the drain fitting was leaking over time. I did do a few buckets of water in the pan when is was installed and no noticable leaks, although the celing below is finished, so it might take quite a significant leak before i noticed it through the celing plaster.

Any recommendations for fail-safe drain fittings?

 

[hj]

drain

Stay with the drain you have. One that fit inside the pipe, which no one makes anyway, would be too restrictive, and one that glued on the outside of the pipe would be more difficult to install.