bedding stone shower tray on polyurethane foam

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Hi,
I'm fitting a stone resin tray into a niche in an ensuite bathroom. The manufacturer says that it must be bedded on weak mortar, which is fine, except in the position our tray will be, it is impossible. However, as the tray is over the garage, I can inject PU foam unde it, by drilling holes through the floor and then sliding the tray into place and injecting foam from underneath.

Any of you clever people out there see any reason why I shouldn't do this?

Thanks
 
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Well your guarantee will be null and void for one i suppose.

When these trays are cast, the bottom part is often untrue to a certain degree. Thats why a mortar base is required to offer support, make up the difference and to help level things up should the floor be unlevel.

If your floor is level and if your tray is cast level, then you may get away with it. If there is a chance that the tray could rock slightly, I wouldn't rely on the foam to offer any security long term. This could cause stress on your silicone seals.

Slide it in first, check for level, stand in it to test for moment, then make a judgement call.

If it was me, I wouldnt chance it. But then again, I get paid to do a proper job.
 
Hi,
Thanks for the honest opinion. In the position ours is, with the weight and size of the tray and only being able to get to the front edge, do you have any tips on how to place the mortar and fit the tray? The only way to get into place is to slide it on the floor, hence the mortar will be pushed out as I do.
Cheers
 
This is a common problem so I understand where you're coming from.

We do this.....

Do you know that plastic 'strapping' you get around packages? We use a length of that wrapped around what would be the far edge of the tray so someone can hold up that far edge by a few edges when it is being slid in. The other person holds up the front edge by a few inches. When you are far enough back, you both let it drop onto the mortar, and then stand on it to bed it into place level. It is awkward and requires a bit of strength, but it works very well.
 
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couple of battons 1"x1" 1 ft longer than the tray to slide tray along
mortar the whole tray area remove 2x2" strips of mortar [for battons to sit on ]
level the whole area place the battons on slide tray into place
carefully remove battons !!!
 
I have the same problem - Fitting a 900x 1200mm long tray into a U corner at end of shower room.

big-all - I like the batton idea to slide it on, sounds neat.

franklymdear - did you try this method? Work OK?

My MX stone resin tray weighs a tonne and is like a paving slab underneath ... close to a perfect level flat surface but has a few mm undulation near middle ..

I wonder if using gripfil would work .. any slight undulation not supported should be OK with the strength of the tray?
I'm mounting it on ply set on blocks on a concrete floor.

I am very suprised how heavey and solid these trays are .. it takes 2 people to just man handle it ... cant see it moving under its own weight.
 
Don't be fooled, whilst they are very heavy they seem robust but because they are cast they are very prone to cracking,
 
Can I use a bag of ready mix mortar ... or should I use a greater mix of sand to bed the tray onto a ply base?
 
big-all - I like the batton idea to slide it on, sounds neat.

I liked this idea, too, and just tried it today when installing a 1 metre square cast stone tray. It worked perfectly. I put down an even bed of mortar first using a home-made spreader, and the tray dropped onto the bed perfectly aligned first time. Strongly recommended method! Thanks "big-all".
 

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