Guides
Dry pack, explained
What the layers under a tiled floor do, which one your job needs, and who builds which part. Written from the work, in plain words.
- What is dry pack mortar?Dry pack is a stiff sand and cement mortar packed by hand: shower floors sloped to a drain, level floors under tile. What it is, the mix and where it goes.
- Shower pan vs pre-slope: what each layer doesA tiled shower floor is built in layers: pre-slope, liner or membrane, mortar bed, tile. What each one does, the slope to the drain, and who builds which layer.
- Dry pack vs self-levelling compoundSelf-levelling compound pours flat; dry pack is packed by hand and can slope. Which one your floor needs: how far out it is, the tile, and whether it slopes.
- Scratch coat over metal lath: when a floor needs oneTile and stone on a wood subfloor need a solid base. What metal lath and a scratch coat are, when a floor or a wall needs them, and how they are installed.
- Curbless shower floors: what goes under the tileA curbless (zero-threshold) shower still slopes to its drain. How the floor is recessed or built up, why linear drains suit it, and what the mortar bed does.