What is a ladder in the shower?

Many decide instead of a bath to install a shower. It is necessary to do everything correctly - and drainage, and thermal insulation, and waterproofing, and drainage. The latter is also important. Many, doing repairs themselves, do not even know what it is.

Value of the device

What is a ladder? This is a complicated plumbing device. It provides not only the discharge of water into the sewer, but also performs other functions:

• Ensures a tight joint with the floor.
• It filters the sewage from strong contaminants, prevents frequent clogging in the sewage system.
• It makes it possible to clean the drainage system.
• Has a water trap, which prevents the penetration of musty air.

They produce drainage ladders made of anti-corrosion metal and strong plastic. When buying, you need to pay attention to the design - it should be strong, durable, do not violate the integrity of the floor. These devices can be either with one branch pipe, or pass-through, have different heights. It is important to know that the height of the ladder is important when installing the shower, since this indicator determines the height at which you want to raise the floor level.

What is a ladder, we figured out, now we need to understand how it is installed. This is a body with a flange, which hermetically seals the floor membranes. It installs a siphon with a grate, which makes it possible to create a water trap and protect the sewer from blockages. Before buying a ladder, you need to make sure that it is suitable for height, and also does not have any defects.

Installation of the ladder

Installing the described device, you need to understand that you have to raise the floor in the shower. Also, the floor is laid with a slope, so that the water drains towards the drain ladder. Usually it is raised to 15 cm, there is nothing catastrophic in this. The design of the floor is laid on a multi-layer system:

• Sound and heat insulation made of expanded polystyrene (approx. 5 cm).
• Concrete screed (approx. 4 cm).
• Laying of waterproofing material.
• Concrete screed with a slope towards the ladder (about 4 cm).
• Ceramic tiles that do not absorb water.

It turns out that the gangway with the shutter is immovably immured in the floor. The main thing is that its grille does not protrude above the tiles.

Guide to manufacturing a drain ladder

Having dealt with the question of what a ladder is and how it is installed, you can proceed to create an adaptation. Before you start, you need to set the thickness of each layer of the floor. The lowest point of slope is determined by the height of the ladder: by changing the thickness of the concrete screed, you can select the desired height, but the ladder should not be above the tiles. The minimum slope of the drain is 1 cm, if it is made smaller, the water will merge very slowly.

The gangway from the wall is set to the size of your tile. It is best to stack the material from the ladder to the wall. The seam between the tiles should be no more than 2 mm. Installation of the ladder according to the above algorithm will reduce the number of tiles being cut, the floor will be much more beautiful. All angles are considered problematic places, where there are constant stresses and motions, and this can damage the waterproofing. It is better to be safe and glue all corners with sealing tape. For reliable protection against water penetration, it is recommended that you first lay the tile on the floor and then on the walls. Knowing what a ladder is and how to properly install it, there will be no problems with the work.