How to Install a Bathtub on a Mortar Base
A bathtub's weight increases by several pounds when water fills it, making the tub move slightly while expanding due to heat and weight. To prevent this, you can lay a mortar bed which keeps the tub in place and prevents its expansion by supporting it and "hugging" the base of the tub, keeping it from sinking down. You can use mortar, or a mix of cement and sand, to establish the base. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Run a tape measure on the dimensions of the top side of your tub. Measure the length and width and draw a chalk line on the subfloor outlining these dimensions.
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Put a wooden beam about 4 inches thick on the subfloor along each length of your chalk lines, and hammer in some nails through the point where they intersect to hold them together.
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3
Blend the mortar compound according to the instructions written on the bag you purchased.
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4
Pour a small amount of mortar once in the middle of the area you drew out. Level it out using a finishing trowel. Repeat this process until you reach half the thickness of the wooden beams you laid.
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Sit your tub down on the mortar and use some extra wooden beams to prop it up against the wall. Measure the level of the tub using a leveling tool, and adjust it until the bubbles in the leveling tool sit in the middle of the tool.
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6
Remove the wooden beams that held up the bathtub after two days. Hammer out the wooden beams that held the mortar in place.
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7
Put the front skirt on your tub if it came with one. The tub is ready for use.
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References
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