spongy & cracked fiberglass shower pan

[lector]

Can I use a can of insulation to fill the spongy shower pan before fiber glassing the crack ?

[Redwood]

If your shower pan is already cracked and is spongy from not being bedded properly I would recommend biting the bullet and having a new shower put in.

Foam will not offer proper support and patching seldom works. Put those together and it spells rot and mold finally ending with a much bigger job...

[pushkins]

Agreed, it's coincidental this was posted now, I just finished a job where we had to replace 4 floor joists and 40 sq. feet of subfloor (and tile etc...) for this exact reason. Client had a cracked fiberglass shower pan that was moving, from one side he pumped in 3 cans of spray foam and added silicone to the shower pan, patted himself on the back for what he thought was a job well done and on the cheap. 8 months later the whole lot needed to come out, including floor joists, subfloor, tiles, vanity cabinet and toilet, ended up being almost $8K by the time I finished.

Fix it right the first time !!!!!!

[lector]

Thank You

Thank you guys for responding so rapidly to the nfg in the unit.
I see where this is going but I just can't afford it right now.
Does it matter that it's a ranch with a slab floor? Do you think a patch would give me a couple of months ?

[pushkins]

There's no way to say how long a patch will give you, it's trial and error, the bad part is that the error side is expensive.
With a concrete slab you either see the water leak quickly and easily or it does massive damage to bottom plates and studs before you know whats happening.
If your looking at a cost effective (temporary) solution then patch it with fiberglass at the very least that will slow down the water mitigation, at the best it will stop it albeit a temporary solution.

[HayZee518]

Just a quick shot in the dark. Can you remove the drain and basket? from inside the shower? Is the shower pan real, real dry or does moisture come out when you press next to your crack [no pun intended]
If you can say it's totally dry then you may be able to use a poly shower pan installation. It the same stuff that is used under a tile shower floor. Use weldwood contact cement, same stuff used for formica to glue down the membrane to the shower floor. Use copious amounts of silicone sealer between the membrane and the flange, basket assembly and let it dry. This way you'll have a continuous sheet of poly in all directions with no cracks. Oh yeah go upward onto the four walls about 6 inches and apply a bead of silicone to seal the exposed edge to the existing walls. for the corners, make a reverse hospital corner just like you would make up a bed sheet.

[lector]

Thank you all

I have decided to just use my wife's bath room till I can Afford to replace the shower in mine... It will driver nuts but that is what she gets for being so darn OCD... Again I thank you all for your replies and I am sure you have saved me money...