How To Fix A Tiled Shower Floor

How to Lay Tile Over an Existing Shower Flooring

Bert spent 25 years working equally a domicile-improvement and residential construction contractor in fundamental Florida.

Read on to learn how to tile over an existing shower floor! A new tile shower floor helped transform this common bathroom into a work of art.

Past Famrnylongras – CC-By-SA-iii.0 | Wikimedia Commons

Can Yous Tile Over Tile in a Shower Floor?

As a tile shower floor ages, its imperfections chop-chop turn into an eyesore.

Each settlement scissure in the grout creates a pathway for water to seep into the concrete subfloor. A low spot lets water puddle. Both of these problems promote mold and mildew growth in the grout and subfloor, which darkens the grout in the problem expanse.
Many shower floors take cut tile with sharp or rough-looking edges. The bad cuts tin turn an otherwise good-looking tile floor into an amateurish-looking maintenance nightmare.

Laying a new layer of tile over the existing shower floor can solve these issues without removing the sometime tile and grout. Below, you'll observe instructions for prepping the old flooring tile, installing new tile over it, and finishing the task.

Preparing the Existing Shower Floor

About proficient tile setters will tell you lot that a high-quality tile projection always starts with subsurface preparation. A tile shower floor uses a mortar and sand mixture every bit a subfloor. The tile setter dry packs the mortar mixture in the shower pan. He then cuts in the floor's slope with a straightedge. One time dry out, the mortar gives the tile a solid surface to balance on. An improperly created subsurface causes loftier and low spots in the finished flooring. Sometimes it takes as long to prepare the subsurface as it does to lay the tile.

How to Prep the Floor

Remove the shower drain cover and fix it aside.
Stuff a rag into the top of the drain hole. The rag prevents debris from falling downwardly into the drainpipe.
Hold i finish of a bubble level on the drain opening and slide the other finish of the level beyond the existing tile'south surface to check the floor'south slope. When measured from the bleed opening to the furthest wall, the level should evidence about ane/four-inch of slope per human foot. Slide the level beyond the floor and marking all high and low areas with a wax pencil or permanent marker.
Put on all condom equipment, including safety glasses and leather piece of work gloves.
Remove whatever raised tile using a hammer and chisel. Do not worry about damaging the neighboring flooring tile. A single raised tile tin can hold enough water to create a pool.
Remove all of the old caulking material from the perimeter of the shower flooring, including the caulking covering the bottom half dozen inches of each of the wall'southward corners.
Thoroughly make clean the entire shower stall, using whatever household cleaner that removes soap scum and hard-water deposits.

Fixing the Slope

Mix a white-colored thinset in a bucket, using the thinset manufacturer's instructions. White-colored thinset will not bleed through the new shower tile's grout.
Dampen the floor with water.
Fill any dips or missing tile in the existing tile floor with the thinset, using a flat trowel to feather the thinset into the surrounding tile.
If the existing shower flooring does not take the proper gradient, build up the depression area with thinset.
Run a straightedge beyond the floor'southward surface and shave off whatever high areas of thinset.
Permit the thinset dry out before standing.
Double-bank check the floor for slope and dips with the level. Continue to add thinset to the problem areas, as needed. If the added thinset created a high spot, rub the high spot with a sanding stone or cinder cake.
Clean up all of the debris.

Preparing the Drain

Mount a shower drain extension ring, a 1/four-inch-thick plastic band, on top of the existing shower drain. The extension ring's mounting screws secure the band against the tiptop of the existing shower bleed opening. Apply a ring of the same diameter as the existing shower flooring drain opening. Nearly extension rings commodities direct to a four-inch diameter round drain opening.
After the new tile flooring dries, the ring will hold the drain encompass flush with the new shower floor tile'southward finished surface.
An adapter can catechumen a circular drain cover into a square comprehend. The square cover makes cut the tile around the opening easier. If using a foursquare embrace, mount the adapter to the extension ring now.

Installing the Shower Floor Tile

Make a bucket of white-colored thinset, using the manufacturer's moisture-mix ratio, if applicative. Most shower floors require about i gallon of thinset.
Spread the thinset on the shower floor with a notched trowel, starting at the far corner and working toward the shower curb. Simply cover equally much of the floor as you can reach with a canvas of tile. When working on a larger shower floor, consider laying about half of the tile at a time, completing the far half first. If the thinset rolls with the trowel, add a piffling more than water to the mixture.
Position the first total sheet of shower floor tile against the nearly visible corner. If you are working in a larger shower, start at a far corner and work back toward the door. Shower floor canvass tile has several rows of small tile that are held together with a mesh backing. The small pieces let the tile follow the slope of the flooring. The backing keeps the grout joints between each small piece even. Lay each full sheet of uncut tile on the shower floor.
Practice not install the tile surrounding the drain opening or any cut pieces of tile almost the shower walls however. Adjust each full sheet of tile until the grout joints between the sheets match the joints betwixt the individual pieces of tile. Lightly tamp the tile into the wet thinset with a grout float.
Measure the space between the full sheets of tile and the adjacent wall. Transfer the measurement to a sheet of tile. Layout the cuts surrounding the bleed opening, using the drain embrace as a template. Make the cuts with an electric tile cutter or a prepare of tile nippers. Set the cut tile in their respective spots on the shower flooring. Lightly printing the shower floor tile into the wet thinset with a clean grout bladder. Wipe whatsoever backlog thinset from the grout joints with a wet sponge.
Cheque the floor for high and depression spots with the chimera level. Tamp high spots down with the grout bladder. Add more thinset to any low tile. Wash the flooring with a damp sponge. Wait near one 60 minutes earlier continuing.
Inspect each grout joint for thinset. Often while tamping the floor, excess thinset will fill the grout joints. This thinset will bleed through the grout roofing it. One time the floor has stale, any excess white thinset will stand out confronting the grout; white grout makes white thinset look grey. Advisedly run a handheld grout saw across any thinset. The saw's carbide blade will cut a groove in the thinset. Vacuum whatever debris from the grout joints.

Use the nipper's blades to shape the tile so it fits tightly against the floor drain. — Utilise the nipper's blades to shape the tile so it fits tightly against the floor drain.

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Finish the New Shower Flooring

Mix sanded tile grout, using the grout manufacturer'due south directions, in a bucket with water. Always follow the manufacturer's powder grout to water ratio.
Go on to stir the grout until all of the dry out powder has mixed and the wet grout has a compatible color.
Dump the grout on the tile floor and printing the grout into the joints with a rubber grout float. The grout must completely fill up the cavity betwixt each fix of tiles.
Cut in the corners with the edge of a margin trowel. The margin trowel will requite the corners a 90-degree cut.
Clean the floor with a damp sponge, using round wiping motions. Wait 24 hours before continuing.
After the grout has dried, polish the tile's surface with a clean dry rag. Clean whatever leftover grout on the tile that the rag will not remove with white vinegar and a stiff-bristled nylon castor.
Let the floor dry completely.
Run a bead of tile caulking around the perimeter of the shower floor, covering the floor-to-wall grout joint.
Let the caulking dry completely earlier using the shower.

This article is accurate and true to the best of the author's knowledge. Content is for informational or entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional person advice in concern, financial, legal, or technical matters.

Questions & Answers

Question: My shower tile floor doesn't have whatever cracks. However, I hate the style and color, and I desire to install a pebble floor. Two tile setters take told me that information technology can be installed on elevation of the existing flooring, but people at the tile store said information technology is was not a good thought. Now I am not sure what to do. What is your professional person opinion?

Answer: Every bit long as the existing floor is solid with no major settlement bug or loose tiles, then the tile setters are right. It is possible the tile salesman wants you to rip upward the one-time floor and subfloor and then that he tin sell y'all more than just the thinset and pebble-tile you need to give the shower a facelift.

Question: I have been told by several tilers that you lot cannot put tile over tile because it will crack. Are y'all sure you tin do this successfully?

Answer: The new tile volition not crack when properly fastened to a not-flexing solid subfloor. If your existing shower floor flexes, the new tile will crack in the same areas. Look for large grout or tile cracks that run across the unabridged floor. These cracks are evidence of a subfloor problem that needs to be addressed get-go.

Question: Would it be possible to tile over existing shower wall and ceiling tile? I take heard some mixed advice, and take seen very few related manufactures on the subject area.

Answer: I wouldn't desire all the extra weight on the ceiling. I would not trust the drywall to a higher place to hold two layers of tile, grout, and thinset. The wall tile is oft possible. However, other issues need to be kept in listen, such as, the extra tile thickness means the shower valve often requires longer escutcheon screws, glass enclosure's size needs to exist adjusted, and and so on.

Question: Is it possible to take the tile off of the shower curb and the walls to re-tile, but get out the existing shower flooring tile in identify and follow the steps outlined here?

Answer: Aye, this is a common project.

Question: My tiles are crack due to foundation settlement. Tin I put new tiles over the cracked tiles?

Reply: The new tile will crevice again if the foundation continues to settle. If you redo the shower floor, remove everything down to the subfloor. Make sure the subfloor is solid and then install a pan membrane, slope the flooring, and install the tile. The membrane not only catches water seepage, merely it creates a barrier that prevents minor subfloor settlement cracks from transferring to the tile.