leveling a floor

[jjb4900]

ok, my bathroom floor is out of level 1/2" - 3/4" of an inch from front to back.....need to set the shower base soon before the tile guy comes. I've been wracking my brain to figure out the best way.....this thing is very heavy, probably close 150 pounds and it has a flat bottom. I'm thinking of boxing out the square where it's going to sit and use self leveling cement and sit it on that when it's done, I know the best is probably to set in mortar or whatever and wiggle and move it till it's level, but being it's so heavy and not much room I think that would be a nightmare............any thoughts?

Edited July 15, 2016 by jjb4900

[virgil]

Can you not just shim it on the low side? 

[jjb4900]

Can you not just shim it on the low side? 

that's my other thought, get shims in place and then put down the mortar and squish it down to the shims.....I was just thinking leveling the whole area in one shot would give a nice flat area with no messing around

[moog5050]

Floor leveler - see lowes or home depot.  Like concrete specifically but used to level floors.

[jjb4900]

Floor leveler - see lowes or home depot.  Like concrete specifically but used to level floors.

that's what I was thinking, box out the area where the base will sit and fill it in till level and set the base on that....I think it's easier and possibly a better option then playing around with shims, Like I said, this thing is heavy and once you put it down its tough to slide around and play with, and it has a flat bottom so no real voids to fill with mortar to stiffen it up.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

if you are using a leveler the subfloor under it needs to be very rigid if the cement will "feather" from 0 to your depth. last thing you want is flexing and thermal movement in that or it will crack. 

 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

.

 

Edited July 15, 2016 by Culvercreek hunt club

[Culvercreek hunt club]

if you are using a leveler the subfloor under it needs to be very rigid if the cement will "feather" from 0 to your depth. last thing you want is flexing and thermal movement in that or it will crack. 

 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

JJB. is the shimming required at the door side of the room or at the "back wall" away from the door? If is is low in the room and the door is OK, I would rip up the sub floor. used 2x6 to splice on the sides of the existing floor joists and put new 3/4" plywood down on the floor.  In an old hose it is a perfect time this way to inspect/improve the drain lines if flow had been an issue. 

Edited July 15, 2016 by Culvercreek hunt club

[jjb4900]

JJB. is the shimming required at the door side of the room or at the "back wall" away from the door?

door side.....it's new 3/4" plywood on top of 2x8's screwed down more than enough, the area is about 3'x4' that the pan sits on.....I'm going to let the tile guy worry about the rest of the room....it sits in a nook, so will only really have access to the front when i go to set it.

The back wall is actually good, it's gotta be raised towards the door.

 

Edited July 15, 2016 by jjb4900

[Culvercreek hunt club]

damn. they should have shimmed before the plywood. Might sound silly but if the slope is in the right direction so the base will drain and the floor is straight (not level but straight) why shim? you doing tile or stone walls in the shower? A good tiler could make that disappear and then you dont have to worry about transitions that look bad at the door.  

[jjb4900]

it slopes towards the shower door so my concern is the water won't drain and will pool along that edge of the shower...shower sits sideways in the room. I'm assuming the tiler will have to level the rest of the room as well and that should bring the tile up to the same height as the shower pan, right?

Edited July 15, 2016 by jjb4900

[jjb4900]

when I told the tile guy about the slope he said don't worry about it he's going to level the room with mud anyway......oh, and it actually has to come up to meet the floor at the door.

Edited July 15, 2016 by jjb4900

[jjb4900]

yeah, the more I think about it I think I'm gonna pop up the floor and maybe add 2x6's it already has 2x8's sisterd to the old one which would have to be ripped out.....I was just hoping for a easier way.

[moog5050]

Culver should know!  I like the idea about ripping up plywood.  No concerns on cracking once properly leveled.

[reeltime]

i would agree with culvert, take up what you need to level it by sistering 2x's to make it level and then put down new subfloor. if the base is not level it will require shimming the wall units which will make the whole installation process harder and potentially weaker.

 the base unit needs to set on a flat hard level surface, the formed in stantions all need to contact the floor so the base does not flex more than its built for.  have seen poor installations cause leaks and or cracks a number of times.

[jjb4900]

i would agree with culvert, take up what you need to level it by sistering 2x's to make it level and then put down new subfloor. if the base is not level it will require shimming the wall units which will make the whole installation process harder and potentially weaker.

 the base unit needs to set on a flat hard level surface, the formed in stantions all need to contact the floor so the base does not flex more than its built for.  have seen poor installations cause leaks and or cracks a number of times.

the base is a solid resin/limestone pan about 150-200 lbs.....it has a flat base no ribbing underneath so it basically will sit almost flat on the floor except for a thin layer of structolite (recommended by the manufacturer)....

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Pain in the butt but I think you are going the right way. Better to have it perfect now than the wish you had later.