As I understand, we would have to start at the drain and work outward.
Build forms with 1 X's? Thinking we will need a 1 1/4" slope inside the shower and then outside the shower...figuring like this:
1/4" rise from the drain to the shower walls, (a distance of
2 1/2') if centered would equal 1 1/4"...
if the shower is 38" it would be about a 3/4" rise to the side wall and the edge of the shower...then we would switch to 1/8" per foot from the outside edge of the shower, to the opposite wall (call it the toilet wall)...that distance is not quite 5' (total wet area is about 8' wide) ... that would be 1 and 1/4" rise also...
then we will need to slope down in the wet area threshold, to meet the dry area floor (dry area has the sink vanity-no door in between just open entryway), so will be a little bit of a step/roll up there
would we need to trowel out thinset then pour a concrete mix, like quickcrete or something... to stick it to the concrete?
Sorry if these are dumb questions, but want to be prepared. Dad and I have never done this...I appreciate any info/advise from anyone who has done this before :)

I found this on the John Bridge Tile forum...

Here is a link that might be useful: for shower floors

Two things you need to remember-- first-- with a curbless shower, you need a minimum of 2" of slope from the end of the wet area to the drain. Secondly, you need to slope the ENTIRE wet area at a rate of 1/4" per foot, not just the "shower area". IOW, you want to slope the whole 5'x8' area 1/4" per foot, that being 2". Run your deck mud level around the perimeter, and then slope it to the drain from there.

Let me ask you, though-- if this is over slab, what are you doing about waterproofing the shower base?

Hi Bill,
yes it's over concrete slab...
it will be kerdi drain and Hydroban...the entire wet area will be waterproofed

Wherever you are, in big box hardware stores there are a couple major manufacturers of bagged cement powder. Go see what names you see on the bags. Copy them down. At home, look up their web sites and get their technical support phone number. You know, it's a 1-800- call us for questions number.

Call the cement manufacturer and tell them you want to slope a floor of dimensions x feet by Y, and you want it sloped greater than 1/8" and less than 1/2" per foot.

They will tell you how many bags of WHICH product by name. Prooduct names are all different so do not rely on an internet person who may not be in your area. Years ago I relied (too much) on a world famous "world's friendliest" tile advice site and I got bad advice, delivered with style, in the general DIY project forum.

Call the manufacturer of the products you see in your local store. You will get the specific advice you need. Get the name of the specific product that the manufacturer of the cement mix tells you to get. No offense to those mentioned as good advisors above; they ARE good advisors. Do not rely on vague terms written with good style on an internet forum; it's not sufficient knowledge.

2/ you may want to find someone to hire. Someone who is comfortable with "a large area, sloped." Not someone who has just built shower bases and feels he can do it larger now.

For the record: I did call manufacturers of cement and then build two wet rooms with slope, in my condo. I have two floor drains outside the showers.

HTH

Hi Daviddro,
thanks for your reply...I appreciate your input. I've come across alot of different opinions on the subject on the internet for sure.
Someone recommended a concrete guy to my Dad today...He's supposed to come look at it Saturday, so maybe we won't have to do the slope. Will see.

I have concrete slab floors too. I felt confident that I could slope my floor WITHOUT being required to "build up" the floor with (insert vague term here, using words like sand, mud, hard, pack, mix), but nobody on the internet ever said this.

When I called the cement manufacturer I was stunned that they agreed with me, and so stunned that I called back to double check what they told me. And I called other cement manufacturers too. As for the internet advisor tile guys, I surmise that many of them were just guys "with buckets" who got a bit more proficiency than the average bear and were trying to make money with web sites (sponsorships, free product, ad revenue, etc). Even when I informed them of my findings, none of them said "thank you good to know". An ability to say "ok I learned something" is necessary for human progress, IMO, so GW forums are great because people who are experts still do get corrected often.

The cement manufacturers told me what to do to start with a "feather" thin layer of cement product on my slab, a layer that got thicker and thicker the more I moved in the direction of higher and higher slope. It was exactly what I had been asking for but NOBODY on the web could even admit that it was possible. At that time. Of course, today they all know so much more.... If you rely too much on free talk, the so-called know it alls will get you every time.

HTH

p.s. if you don't do a slope, it's your choice. (I had another drain in addition to the shower drain).

p.s. if you don't do a slope, it's your choice.

David, you had me up till that point. You're right-- it doesn't matter how you do it, so long as you get the proper slope to the drain, and the tile will stick to whatever you sloped the floor with. BUT---- you DO NEED that slope, especially with a curbless shower or wet room.

if no slope outside the shower that has the 2" drop.

sorry...I meant that my Dad and I may not have to do the slope if this concrete guy that comes today convinces us he will do a good job and do it right. If he does the slope, the plumber relocates and sets the (kerdi) drain, moves the toilet over...then Dad and I can just waterproof and tile the bathroom.
Thanks Bill and Daviddro. I appreciate yall's input. I'll put some pics of the project up soon for anyone interested.

I put a couple photos up...

Here is a link that might be useful: photos of project

Here are you pictures (it is very easy to post pictures from Photobucket into your post by copying and pasting the HTML code)

I was on vacation so I missed your question, I hope your project turned out well!

Hi mongoct...
Hope you had a great vacation... The project is still ongoing...will post more later...thanks:)

took 2 trips to my parents who live far away...got there and then had to wait 12 days on the contractor that did the mud sloped bed...then there were problems with it...finally got done though...these pictures show the finished bathroom except for 2 short baseboards...used hydroban with the kerdi drain...porcelain tile and spectralock pro grout. Dad and I built the recessed storage cabinet and purchased the door for it...

Here is a link that might be useful: pics of finished shower

link above will no longer lead to photos of bathroom...trying to paste them directly for anyone interested

Wow! I love that in-wall cabinet! Everything looks great, but that's something I don't see very often.

Thankyou therenee...my parents really love the shower...I came up with the in-wall cabinet idea when I remodeled my small bathroom in my home. I even made a recessed towel rack on it because the bathroom was much smaller...it looks like this:

At my parent's home, we put in a 2x6 wall there instead of 2x4, to have more usable space inside the cabinet...at my house, I still had more room than the newer homes, because of the old lumber that really was 2x4 and because we went with a little bit thicker sheetrock (5/8) on that wall to help with sound insulating