Mold and mildew are two of the most common problems faced by homeowners in their shower area. Since mold and mildew require a moist and humid environment to grow, any water accumulation over, or under your shower floor can become a breeding ground for them. Therefore, it is important that you have a perfectly pitched pan liner as well as tiled floor to ensure that water is effectively directed towards the drain weep holes, and does not accumulate over the pan liner or the tiles.
A typical shower consists of a layer of mortar in between the pan liner and the tiled floor. Since water can easily seep through the tiles and grout on your shower floor, the mortar layer gets wet easily. Unless a proper environment is available, the mortar layer tends to remain moist for a long duration of time. Further, water can also accumulate over the pan liner in case there is not adequate pan liner slope to direct the accumulated water to the drain weep holes. This problem can be solved by having your pan liner sloped towards the drain weep holes. This slope will ensure that water does not accumulate over the pan liner and does not act as a breeding ground for mold and mildew.
The standard slope, which is accepted for a pan liner to ensure effective drainage of water to the drain weep holes, is 1/4” per foot. It is crucial to build the right slope since an inadequately sloped shower will result in puddling and accumulation of water, and over sloped floor will not feel right. In order to achieve this perfect slope of 1/4” per foot, you can use Pre Pitch, which is a unique screeding tool. Pre Pitch can be effectively used on plywood sub floors as well as concrete sub floors, and is ideal for shower areas of all sizes. Pre Pitch will further ensure that water does not leak through the pan liner and damage the sub floor.
In order to prevent mold, you also need to ensure that the water from your shower area does not spread to the surrounding areas. This can be effectively achieved by building a curb around your shower area. A curb will act as a dam and will prevent splashing of water to the surrounding walls. Since the walls and floor around the shower area are susceptible to getting wet and mold growth, you can prevent it from occurring by building an effective curb around your shower area.
Thus, we can see that two of the most important tools to prevent mold growth are a properly sloped pan liner and an effective curb. Pan liner slope will prevent accumulation of water, and a curb will ensure that water does not splash around to the surrounding walls and floor. So while designing and building a shower area in your house, it is essential to consider these factors in order to ensure that you do not face the problems of mold and mildew in the future.
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