I have a 1200mm x 760mm shower tray to install on top of a bed of
mortar. The tray is heavy and is to be fitted into the corner of the
shower room so it can't be lifted by two of us, one at each end or side.

So, how do I get it into position without disturbing/destroying the bed
of mortar?

TIA

--
F
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F wrote:
I have a 1200mm x 760mm shower tray to install on top of a bed of
mortar. The tray is heavy and is to be fitted into the corner of
the shower room so it can't be lifted by two of us, one at each
end or side.
So, how do I get it into position without disturbing/destroying
the bed of mortar?

Interesting puzzle - I wonder if there's an approved pro answer?

My nearest guess would be to lay a couple of 'rails' into the mortar, slide
the base along them until it's positioned, and then gently slide them out.
You could use smooth batten, broom-handles, copper water pipe, or anything
else of appropriate dimensions.

The weak spot in this would be if the far side of the base was going to
suddenly 'drop' as the battens were withdrawn. You might have to embed
something solid in the mortar at the far side to stop it from dropping too
far.

Owain wrote:
F wrote:
I have a 1200mm x 760mm shower tray to install on top of a bed of
mortar. The tray is heavy and is to be fitted into the corner of
the shower room so it can't be lifted by two of us, one at each
end or side. So, how do I get it into position without
disturbing/destroying the bed of mortar?

Slings and a pulley.

Once the tray is down cut the slings. (The parts below the tray
have to be sacrificed.)

Mmmm, yes -
You'd need to rig a temporary frame or scaffold for the mounting point, but
it's a graceful and accurate solution.

On 28/01/2006 14:16 Steve Walker wrote:

I wonder if there's an approved pro answer?

That's what I was hoping for: the professionals' 'trick'!

My nearest guess would be to lay a couple of 'rails' into the mortar, slide
the base along them until it's positioned, and then gently slide them out.

That was the only solution I could come up with but I was bothered that
the void left by the rails might introduce a weak spot in the tray's
support. However, I hadn't thought of copper pipe so that might not be
too much of a problem.

--
F
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F wrote:

I have a 1200mm x 760mm shower tray to install on top of a bed of
mortar. The tray is heavy and is to be fitted into the corner of the
shower room so it can't be lifted by two of us, one at each end or side.

So, how do I get it into position without disturbing/destroying the bed
of mortar?

I do it with a couple of battens set in the mortar. You can either drop
the tray's far endge onto them, slide it into position and withdraw
them, or, simply rotate them 90 degrees to drop the level of the batten
and leave them there. Something like a bit of 3/4" x 1/4" lath works ok.
For removeable supports 15mm pipe is fine.


--
Cheers,

John.

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F wrote:
I have a 1200mm x 760mm shower tray to install on top of a bed of
mortar. The tray is heavy and is to be fitted into the corner of the
shower room so it can't be lifted by two of us, one at each end or side.

So, how do I get it into position without disturbing/destroying the bed
of mortar?

Cast a big slab of ice in the freezer, place on top of the mortar, slide
it on, turn on the heater.

F wrote:
I have a 1200mm x 760mm shower tray to install on top of a bed of
mortar. The tray is heavy and is to be fitted into the corner of the
shower room so it can't be lifted by two of us, one at each end or
side.

So, how do I get it into position without disturbing/destroying the
bed of mortar?

TIA

Gawd! screw a batten to the wall (so it will take the weight of two people
feet resting on it) a couple of inches above the mortar then position
yourselves at both ends of mortar with a foot on the floor and other foot
on batten, then lower tray onto mortar.

--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

Owain wrote:
F wrote:
I have a 1200mm x 760mm shower tray to install on top of a bed of
mortar. The tray is heavy and is to be fitted into the corner of the
shower room so it can't be lifted by two of us, one at each end or
side. So, how do I get it into position without
disturbing/destroying the bed of mortar?

Slings and a pulley.

Once the tray is down cut the slings. (The parts below the tray have
to be sacrificed.)

Owain

I see, how would this sling and pully be constructed?

--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

On 28/01/2006 15:34 Ian Stirling wrote:

Cast a big slab of ice in the freezer, place on top of the mortar, slide
it on, turn on the heater.

I like it! Seasonal, too.

--
F
(Beware of spam trap - remove the negative)

I did it with removable battens. It was less of a prob than I expected.
I dropped it on the roughly spread mortar bed after 'walking' it to
the back whilst lifting the front edge only, and wiggled it about until
it was sitting on the battens - then lifted again at front edge to drop
more mortar into the voids.
cheers
Jacob

The3rd Earl Of Derby wrote:
F wrote:
I have a 1200mm x 760mm shower tray to install on top of a bed of
mortar. The tray is heavy and is to be fitted into the corner of
the shower room so it can't be lifted by two of us, one at each
end or side.

So, how do I get it into position without disturbing/destroying
the bed of mortar?

TIA

Gawd! screw a batten to the wall (so it will take the weight of
two people feet resting on it) a couple of inches above the
mortar then position yourselves at both ends of mortar with a
foot on the floor and other foot on batten, then lower tray onto
mortar.

Sorry, I can't see how that's going to work. 1200x760 isn't enough space
for two men to bend double towards each other, and there would be no way for
them to grip the inner side of the tray whilst it's being lowered (assuming
flush to wall). They'd have to 'drop & shove' the last 4" or so, which
probably defeats the purpose?

John Rumm wrote:
F wrote:

I have a 1200mm x 760mm shower tray to install on top of a bed of
mortar. The tray is heavy and is to be fitted into the corner of the
shower room so it can't be lifted by two of us, one at each end or side.

So, how do I get it into position without disturbing/destroying the
bed of mortar?

I do it with a couple of battens set in the mortar. You can either drop
the tray's far endge onto them, slide it into position and withdraw
them, or, simply rotate them 90 degrees to drop the level of the batten
and leave them there. Something like a bit of 3/4" x 1/4" lath works ok.

Yes, that's definitely the way - dead easy, and worked like a charm for
me, on my own, with no knackered back ensuing!

If you google this newsgroup you'll find the method mentioned several
times in the past, in some detail.

David

I have a 1200mm x 760mm shower tray to install on top of a bed of
mortar. The tray is heavy and is to be fitted into the corner of the
shower room so it can't be lifted by two of us, one at each end or side.

Too late to install a Coram 1200x760 instead of the resin? Weighs less than
25kg, so can be lifted by a single person and doesn't need a mortar bed.

http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/55-1970

I've got one (well 900x760) for my loft conversion, where keeping the
installed weight down (there's already a 220kg water cylinder sharing the
joists) is as important as ease of fitting (which will be on my own
unaided).

However, if you're fitting a resin one into a corner, rather than alcove,
you can carry it by the corners with just a little weight on the outside
corner to keep it from tipping forwards.

Christian.

Cast a big slab of ice in the freezer, place on top of the mortar, slide
it on, turn on the heater.

The advantage of this method is that you can lay the mortar mix dry and not
have to make it up first with a bucket!

Christian.

On 30/01/2006 13:30 Christian McArdle wrote:

Too late to install a Coram 1200x760 instead of the resin?

Too late - yes. It's been standing on the landing waiting to be
installed for the last 10 months! Three weeks holiday in the west of the
USA and then summer got in the way!

http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/55-1970

Ah! The same Plumbworld who found that my shower was 'damaged' two days
after they had emailed me to say it was ready for despatch. They told me
they had placed an order with the manufacturer and that I would have to
wait for a fresh delivery yet they were able to despatch one the
following day. When the shower arrived it had the wrong shower head. My
email to them asking for the correct one to be supplied is still waiting
for a reply after 7 days (even longer than they took to reply to
previous emails). Their standard paragraph in their responses would seem
designed to warn off anyone who expects decent customer service: 'PLEASE
DO NOT KEEP EMAILING IN WITH THE SAME ISSUE. WE DEAL WITH ALL EMAILS ON
A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, IF YOU EMAIL US REPEATEDLY THEN YOUR
ENQUIRY WILL BE GIVEN THE TIME OF YOUR MOST RECENT EMAIL AND YOU WILL
PUT YOURSELF TO THE BACK OF THE QUEUE !'

Certainly won't be dealing with them again, especially when I can order
from Screwfix at 5:50pm one day and receive the order before 11:00am the
next.

However, if you're fitting a resin one into a corner, rather than alcove,
you can carry it by the corners with just a little weight on the outside
corner to keep it from tipping forwards.

The positioning of the waste is different from that of the tray it
replaces (ie coincident with a central heating pipe!) and so I've had to
put the tray in position a few times. I've found I can straddle a corner
and lift the tray by carefully gripping the waste outlet and rotating
it. I may be able to use this technique to lower it onto the mortar bed
with someone holding the 'lower' end off the mortar until the tray is
horizontal. However, I've got a couple of battens ready to slide it on
if need be. Tomorrow (today) will tell...

--
F
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