shower pan thick-bed mortar not thick enough

[Karl degroot]

I have almost finished rebuilding my stall shower but realize I did not put enough thick bed mortar in the pan. The 2×2 non skid tiles used for the floor are not flush with the drain (the top of the tile is 1/4 from the top of the drain) when I lay them on the already cured thick bed mortar. I will be using thin-set mortar to set the floor tiles but I need to bring them up nearly 1/4 inch. I think troweled thin-set will slightly raise them but I need them to come up nearly 1/4 inch. Can I float them with thin set? If so, should I wet the concrete first and trowel in a thin layer of thin-set and then use a notched trowel to finish?

[Steve L.Participant]

assume you mean the drain is 1/4 inch too high. You did pretty accurate mortar bed work. You can easily make up this difference with the thinset. Id recommend mixing the thinset mortar a little on the thick side. As far as wetting down the mortar bed goes, I dont see any reason to. Id recommend using a latex additive in place of the water in the thinset mix. The additive inproves the bond between the tile and mortar bed considerably.

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