Drains for your shower have come a long way in style and design! Drains can make a statement for your personality or can be utilitarian and functional, or a little bit of both! All will have to have a few things in common that will help you decide what will work for your hot mopped shower pan so here are the basics that will help in choosing the best drain body for your hot mopped shower pan.
- All drain bodies must be the clamping ring style.
- Placement of drain body in your shower should be taken into consideration when choosing the drain body and trim
- Fixed height and adjustable styles give you more options to choose from.
- Curb height will also be a factor in what option you choose.
Clamping Style Drain Bodies
Most shower pan liners (see other blog) will require that the membrane will need to be sandwiched between the bottom flange and the top flange by being bolted together. This will give a positive connection to seal the membrane as required by code. There are other methods, but when using a hot mop to waterproof your shower pan, the clamping ring style is required. The plumbing supply industry has a wide variety of clamping style drain bodies to choose from that will give you the flexibility to get exactly what you need to design your shower to your specifications.
Drain Placement
Over the past decade or so drain placement has played more of a role than ever in home building and bathroom remodeling. The advent of the linear drain or trough drain has played a major role in this move. The center of shower drain location is no longer the norm in the industry! Under the shower head close to the wall has become very popular, especially as mentioned above, with the addition of the linear drain and specialty grate trim or even tile in grates give your shower a bit of pizzazz, if that is your goal. Even when doing a center drain placement it can be upgraded to add a bit of character as the same options as with the linear can be found in the trim packages by many manufacturers.
Fixed Height & Adjustable Drain Bodies
Having adjustment in setting the height of the drain trim and not having can play an important role in the overall appearance and style of your shower. The more important role is in the practical application in achieving the best waterproofing detail for your shower. The top of a fixed height drain bodies will be about 2” off the subfloor, while an adjustable can range any where from ¾” to 3” off the subfloor. Fixed height drain bodies are more utilitarian in nature with fewer options for finished drain screens and shapes and sizes. They are the standard model used in the industry, be it production homes, single home builds or remodel. Why you ask? Most builders want a proven standard to use not only for pricing but for durability. A fixed height drain body will be used for the standard lay out for a shower. Which will be a square or rectangle shower with or without a bench seat, a center drain placement, and a
4 ½” rough curb height. It provides all the necessary requirements for the proper pre-slope and tile pitch, dry pack depth on floor for what the tile contractor likes, building code requirements, and coat effectiveness for both the builder and the consumer.
When using an adjustable style drain body your options grow considerably but not without compromises that may affect the final product in various ways. Drain placement is one of the options. You will be able to set your drain close to any wall, even underneath a floating bench, which gives you a more elegant look and you are not stepping on the shower screen if that is your wont! Adjustable will give you many different styles, shapes, sizes and finishes than a fixed height drain body. Also, many can be adapted to take 3rd party linear drains. Or the linear drain will come with its own adjustable drain body in a kit by the manufacture. Another consideration that many people use an adjustable drain body for is when at it lowest level of adjustment it can as low as 1” off the sub floor, hence the reason it works with the linear drain systems. Also, it being used with its trim piece it can give you the option of lowing your curb height to give that low profile effect. This can also be very helpful if you are thinking of doing a walk-in, ADA, or ADA complaint aka the curb less shower. This is very popular and can create its own series of complications, mostly in getting the shower area, Aka the wet area, of your shower lower than the rest of your bathroom floor. I will do another blog on all the ins and outs of how this can be accomplished, but for now using an adjustable drain body may give you enough clearance that is needed for the parameter’s that you have to work with.
Curb Height On Drain Bodies
More and more curb height has become nothing but standard. For years it has always been 3 2×4’s stacked flat, meaning 4 ½” high in the rough. The a trend that that is growing more and more common is a low profile or no step over (the curb) to get access to your shower. What needs to be taken in consideration is the minimum height that is needed to accommodate the parts of the shower floor. Which are as follows: pre pitch under the hot mop, the thickness of the hot mop itself, the dry pack (the base that needs to go down to support the tile) the thin set bed, and the thickness of the tile or stone itself! One or more of these items can be easily ignored when wanting a low-profile curb. It usually turns out that no accounting for the tile installers finished height is taken into consideration, as to where it finishes with reference to the rough height of the hot mopping. It is misunderstood many times, but the water proofing on the top of the curb needs to be higher than the finished floor of the shower, by as much as can be accepted by design criteria. Just building up the height of the curb when tiling will not keep the water from running over the curb and causing damage.
Now in the case of a ADA shower or walk in style the problem is usually addressed by extending the hot mop outside of the wet area of the shower. Certain cities in LA call for 4’ minimum requirement. Issues may still occur as water will migrate from the shower floor out in the outside of the shower and can cause damage to walls, trim, subfloor, etc. due to many factors pertaining to the installation of the shower as a whole. Look for future a blog or perhaps video that will go into more detail.
In Conclusion
Keep in mind the four major points when choosing your drain body
- All drain bodies must be the clamping ring style. See other blog
- Placement of drain body in your shower should be taken into consideration when choosing the drain body and trim
- Fixed height and adjustable styles give you more options to choose from.
- Curb height will also be a factor in what option you choose.
Ask your contractor questions about the pros and cons of the style of shower you want.
Summary
Article Name
Hot Mopped Shower Pan Drain Bodies: Making the Right Choice
Description
in this article, Jonny Gautney explains what factors to consider when choosing the best drain body for a hot mopped shower pan.
Author
Jonny Gautney
Publisher Name
DK Shower Pans
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