Hello,
I have an unfinshed basement that i am working on to complete. I have
80% of the sheetrocking up in the basement and am working on completing
the plumbing for my bathroom so it can be sheetrocked. I bought a 3
piece shower to put in my bathroom and when working on it last night i
steped down from one of the seats in the shower and heard a slight
cracking sound like the base had cracked. I looked at the base but
didnt' see anything as far as cracks or damage goes. The shower seems
very sturdy and rigid but should i rip the thing out and get it
replaced without even seeing a crack or would it be wise to try and
pull it up and put some quickcreat underneath it to give it some added
support and just go with it? I should have maybe done the quickcrete
option right away but the shower seemed very sturdy and rigid from the
getgo and sits darn near right on the floor so there isnt much of a gap
between the shower and the floor. Any suggestions? Thanks for the
help in advance.

Hello,
I have an unfinshed basement that i am working on to complete. I have
80% of the sheetrocking up in the basement and am working on completing
the plumbing for my bathroom so it can be sheetrocked. I bought a 3
piece shower to put in my bathroom and when working on it last night i
steped down from one of the seats in the shower and heard a slight
cracking sound like the base had cracked. I looked at the base but
didnt' see anything as far as cracks or damage goes. The shower seems
very sturdy and rigid but should i rip the thing out and get it
replaced without even seeing a crack or would it be wise to try and
pull it up and put some quickcreat underneath it to give it some added
support and just go with it? I should have maybe done the quickcrete
option right away but the shower seemed very sturdy and rigid from the
getgo and sits darn near right on the floor so there isnt much of a gap
between the shower and the floor. Any suggestions? Thanks for the
help in advance.

If it's a fiberglass/epoxy shower-base it's not likely to crack enough
to actually leak. Do you have an access-port in an end or the back
wall so you can inspect the underside? I wouldn't worry about it,
but a flashlight and a 4" hole in some drywall would give you some
piece of mind.

Thanks for the response.
Yes i could view underneath it and will do that tonight. You are
correct that it is fiberglass and seems very ridged so didn't think i
should need to put a base underneath it.
Thanks again.

I like to sit these things in a bed or mortar. I build up a dam out of
cardboard to contain the mortar until I set the pan down. If you can do
this w/o much trouble I would do it. If you cant easily pull out the
pan but you have access you could try and get some loose mortar
squished under (Never had luck with this aproach) or try to squeze some
construction adhesive in there, or some spray foam (minimal expanding),
or shim it where its not supported.

Once you finish things off, if you do nothing, it will always flex and
bug you every time you step in. Ask me how I know.

"No" wrote in message
ups.com...
I like to sit these things in a bed or mortar. I build up a dam out of
cardboard to contain the mortar until I set the pan down. If you can do
this w/o much trouble I would do it. If you cant easily pull out the
pan but you have access you could try and get some loose mortar
squished under (Never had luck with this aproach) or try to squeze some
construction adhesive in there, or some spray foam (minimal expanding),
or shim it where its not supported.

Once you finish things off, if you do nothing, it will always flex and
bug you every time you step in. Ask me how I know.

As an alternative to your suggestion---my base has a slight flexing when
weight was put on the edge of it. The cement floor was not exactly level and
that's what was causing the slight movement. The fix was about 4 cans of
expandable foam sprayed under the base until it began to start coming out
from under the base. When it was dry I trimmed all the excess with a razor
knief. This was the suggested by the manufacturer of the shower. Then end
result was no more flexing and the base has been rock solid since.
MLD

Thanks again for the responses. Do you remember the kind of expandable
foam that you used for the job? I want to make sure i don't get
something that expands to much and causes me more problems. This
sounds easier than the concrete option also.
I looked under the shower last night and it looks as though it maybe
sits an inch off of floor.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks again for the responses. Do you remember the kind of expandable
foam that you used for the job? I want to make sure i don't get
something that expands to much and causes me more problems. This
sounds easier than the concrete option also.
I looked under the shower last night and it looks as though it maybe
sits an inch off of floor.

Don't specifically remember the name, but it was in a can and we got it at
Home Depot. Same kind of stuff that is used for filling voids around outlet
boxes etc. It comes with a small dia. tube that can be attached to the
nozzle. I wouldn't worry about it expanding too much as the excess will
find its way to the outside. I just kept pumping it under the base at
different locations until it started finding its way out. As I noted, this
method was recommended by the manufacturer of the shower and after it
hardened I just cut the excess off with sharp knife. You might want to ask
around to make sure that this will do the job for you since an inch of space
seems quite large. Having said that, I don't know how much space was filled
under the base when I did mine. But the foam did the job and the base is
solid.
MLD