The Pan Beneath the Tile
Liners, membranes, mud beds — the layer your shower stands on.
Under every tile shower floor sits the pan: a sloped bed plus a waterproof liner or membrane that catches what grout lets through. When Cromwell showers leak into ceilings below, the pan has failed — torn liner, flat spots, clogged weep holes, or a 1970s lead pan giving up. A pan rebuild replaces that hidden layer properly: pre-slope, liner or bonded membrane, sloped setting bed, flood-tested before tile. It's the difference between a floor that lasts five years and one that lasts thirty.
- Flood-tested diagnosis. Plug, fill, mark, wait — proof of pan integrity or failure.
- Two proven systems. Liner + mud bed (classic) or foam tray + membrane (modern).
- True pre-slope. Water reaches weep holes instead of sitting under tile.
- Clamped drains. Membrane mechanically locked at the drain, never just cut around.
- Photo + test record. You see the pan and the test results before tile covers them.
Pans that hold in Cromwell
Floor systems we set across Cromwell — grip, slope-fit and grout that lasts.
The workhorse — grippy, cheap, perfect.
Vintage grip, endless joints.
Spa texture, expert grout.
Modern lines that turn slope.
Cromwell notes
Cromwell's 80s subdivisions are all hitting surround age at once — the same yellowed unit in fifty houses on one street. In Cromwell we flood-test free whenever ceilings below show staining: Builder-grade tub-shower combos from the 80s and 90s dominate: one-piece surrounds, plastic trim, grout-free but ugly. Homeowners keep the tub footprint and gain everything by tiling the walls properly. A sound pan saves you $500–$1,000 — we prove soundness instead of assuming failure.
Common questions
We plug the drain, fill the pan two inches, mark the level and wait — typically 24 hours for diagnosis, shorter for post-build verification. Any drop means pan failure, located and shown.
Both, matched to the job: liner-and-mud for custom shapes and maximum durability feel; foam tray + sheet membrane for speed and precision slope. Same warranty either way.
Intermittent staining usually means pan or wall-joint failure (shower-use correlated); constant damp means supply plumbing. Our diagnosis separates them free — different trades, different bills.
Keeping sound walls saves 60–70% versus full rebuild. A floor+pan job at $1,500–$2,800 replaces a $6,000–$12,000 gut when walls qualify.