The Pan Beneath the Tile
Liners, membranes, mud beds — the layer your shower stands on.
Not every floor job needs a pan rebuild — roughly half the Wethersfield floors we open have sound liners worth keeping. This page explains how we test (flood test protocol, weep-hole check, slope mapping), the two rebuild systems we install (PVC liner + mud bed, or foam tray + sheet membrane), and why we photograph and flood-test every pan before it gets buried in tile again.
- 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 Wethersfield
Floor systems we set across Wethersfield — grip, slope-fit and grout that lasts.
Slope-perfect standard.
Old-school grip, sealed.
Massage texture, sealed twice.
Lines with traction.
Wethersfield notes
Old Wethersfield owners want the 1920s tile saved, not smashed — regrout-first is the pitch that wins the historic streets. In Wethersfield we flood-test free whenever ceilings below show staining: Old Wethersfield baths need a light touch — regrout and seal the vintage tile, re-tile only what's failing. The ranch streets are the opposite: full surround swaps over keeper tubs. A sound pan saves you $500–$1,000 — we prove soundness instead of assuming failure.
Common questions
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.
Properly built: decades. 1970s lead and flat tar pans are expiring now across Wethersfield; modern liner and membrane systems outlive the tile above them.
Always — photographed membrane plus witnessed flood test. Any bidder burying untested work is scheduling your next leak.
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.