I am about to pour a floor in a new home. I installed the shower drain and want to build
A walk-in shower. Can I simply tile over the new floor.

Even with a sloped floor going to the drain you can apply tiles.

Think of an institutional application,say a hospital shower floor or a school gym shower floor.. they were small squares on a fiber mesh backing,The installation was with thin set and press in,cure and grout.

Just saw an ad on Fox News this weekend for Home Depot and their classes on doing exactly this.

Hi all..

Not clear on your answer KBC... are you saying they can or cannot install tile directly over the floor? Let us know... OK?

My answer to the question is that you CANNOT just lay tile down over the floor... not if you are planning on installing walls and a threshold at that shower.

At a minimum, you can install a paint on shower membrane... like red-guard... sold at home depot. Better yet, installing a vinyl membrane is easy and cheap. Best of all, a copper pan, but that is usually reserved for high end houses and almost never used in a basment or on slab.

If you want to discuss more... let us know...

Mark

I'll clarify.

In my home I have an existing shower with a concrete floor,sloped to the drain near the middle of the floor.

I have had floor tile installers comment about me installing tiles for this floor.

They have said YES,that I COULD do this.Existing tile walls(from a ceramic silo,recovered for this use) and the concrete floor below(I would have to acid wash the painted floor to prep for the tiles)but I can install sectional tiles on a thin set base(perhaps raising the drain to the thickness of the new tiles)but it would be the same as any other tile installation.

I got you!

Sure, if a floor is sloped toward the middle of the floor and there will be no walls or a threshold then I see no reason you can't just set tile down and go, but most people won't be doing work like this. Most people will certainly not be installing tile on a "ceramic silo,recovered for this use" as you have done with yours (or will do).

Most people will have walls made of concrete board and a threshold and they will want to protect them from mold/mildew/leaks, etc... ;)

Perhaps one plumber could let us know more about his particular setup so we can better advise?

We'll see soon enough...

Mark