How To Tile A Shower Floor Without A Pan In A Step By Step Approach?

When it comes to remodeling or upgrading your shower and tiling the shower floor, the typical option is to use a shower pan. 

There are lots of reasons for using shower pans when you have to tile a shower. Sometimes, you may want to avoid the shower pan and tile a shower without it.

Here, I will go through a bit about shower pans and how to tile a shower floor without a pan. So, if you are looking for ways to tile your shower floor without using any pan, this is the place for you. 

Let’s’ not waste any more time and jump right into it.

Steps Of Tiling A Shower Floor Without A Pan

Here, I will go through all the steps that you should follow for tiling a shower floor without using any shower pan liner at all. 

Let’s’ get on with the steps very quickly.

• Preparing The Floor

The first thing you have to do for tiling a shower floor, whether you are using a pan or not, is to prepare the floor.

To do this, you simply need to clean up the whole concrete surface or whatever surface you are working with.

Make sure you are cleaning the surface also and adequately leveling it. If the surface has bumps or unlevel parts here and there, the tile installation will be a big failure. 

Then, you will need to go through the process of using plywood and the backer board.

This is the part that makes the whole process completely different from the process of using a shower pan. The plywood and backer board work as a replacement for the shower pan to keep the tiles from directly contacting the concrete surface. 

This preparation step is what makes the difference between tiling a shower floor with and without a pan. 

• Set The Layout 

Next, you have to check the layout and how you will be setting up the tiles on your floor. Typically, this process is done after you set up your shower pan on the floor. 

Since you are not using a shower pan here, you have to do that directly on the floor unless you use alternatives to the shower pan.

Setting the layout just means placing the tiles without using any adhesive material and checking how you will need to place each of them. You have to do all this while keeping the drainage system in the center.

Based on the layout, you will adjust some pieces of your tiles, and you may even need to cut some of them to change the layout of your shower floor. 

Well, cutting the tiles is a separate process that I will not discuss in-depth here. You can just use various tools for this purpose, depending on the type of tile you are using.

• Mixing And Spread The Thin-Set Mortar 

In this step, you should prepare and mix the thin-set mortar you will use for the shower tile installation. It’s entirely up to you what thin-set you want to use. 

This highly depends on the project you are dealing with.

If you were using a shower pan, then you would have to consider an extra step where you would have to use extra support for the drainage system.

That part comes with the shower pan itself. 

As you won’t be using any shower pan here, you won’t’ have to worry about that.

You can simply jump into spreading the thin-set mortar on your shower floor. You can just spread a straight layer of thinset first. And then, move on to using your trowel. 

Make sure you use a single direction and trowel the shower floor thoroughly. It’s’ something that you have to keep in mind, without the proper direction, the tiles won’t’ set on the floor.

• Setting Up The Tiles 

After applying two layers of thin-set mortar on the backer board, you have to place the tiles. You can simply follow the layout you had in the earlier steps to make sure you place the tiles correctly. 

Because once you place the tiles, it will be very difficult for you to recover from them if you make any mistakes.

When setting up the tiles, you should begin from the center of the drain. This will give you the proper measurements, and the tiles will adjust on the floor perfectly. 

After placing the tiles, you will need to tamp them properly. Start from the corners and work your way to the center.

Then, all you have to do is wait for the thin-set to dry, and the installation is done. You can simply end up with a finishing clean on the tiles to make it look neat. 

And that’s it for the shower tile installation without using any pan at all.

Why Do You Need A Shower Pan?

Having a shower pan is almost like a necessity when you are tiling your shower. It’s’ so important that you need to install it to get the best durability and longevity out of your shower tiling.

The purpose of having a shower pan is to create a waterproof surface where you can lay all your tiles on. A shower pan is very crucial even if you are planning not to use tiles on your shower. 

Because without a shower pan, you won’t be able to protect your shower floor from all the leaks and damages from water.

Many people think grout and concrete are enough, but they are not completely waterproof in reality. Sure, you get some level of protection, but sooner or later, you will get to see the repercussions that you can’t’ even solve right away.

Why Might You Not Want To Have A Shower Pan?

There are several reasons for not wanting a shower pan when you are tiling your shower floor. The first one is the fact that a shower pan can be quite expensive when you try to get a good quality one. 

This is why many people want to avoid using a shower pan when they are tiling their shower floor.

Another issue with the shower pan is the installation. It’s not something that everyone can do. It’s’ important to understand the angles of the slope for a shower pan to work and drain accordingly. 

Without a professional installing the shower pan, you may just end up throwing your money out of the window with the shower pan because it won’t’ do its job effectively without proper installation.

This may raise the question of whether you can install a shower pan yourself or not. The answer is yes, you can if you have the experience or knowledge of doing this work beforehand. 

Other than that, you will need to opt for professional plumbers. That will lead you to spend a good sum of money on the labor cost along with the shower pan itself.

So, these are crucial reasons anyone would want to avoid a shower pan in their shower tiling. This is why here I will go through some ways and steps you can follow for tiling a shower floor without using a pan.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

There are several common questions that a lot of people have regarding installing shower tiles without using any shower pan. Let’s’ check them out –

Conclusion

In short, knowing how to tile a shower floor without a pan can help you save up quite a lot of money. Because shower pans can be quite expensive, the installation labor can also be very costly.

Usually, it’s not recommended to avoid a shower pan. You must use a shower pan when you are tiling shower floors as there are some problems with not having a shower pan on your shower tiling.