Creating a level-access shower floor in a concrete screed.

Welcome to the latest edition of ‘Ask the expert’, where every month Shaun Hunt – Technical Manager of Impey Showers will be addressing issues relating to level-access and specialist showering for those with disability needs.

This month we will be looking at:

Creating a level-access shower floor in a concrete screed.


In order for a level-access shower floor to function correctly it needs to have an accurate drainage gradient to allow the water the drain effectively and the surface needs to be even to prevent pools of water forming.

When creating a level access shower floor in a concrete screed there are 3 main options.

Firstly, the wet screed can be shaped manually by eye. This can be incredibly time consuming and if the installer is inexperienced or in a rush to finish the job then there is the risk that the gradient will not be correctly formed which can lead to problems and call backs.

Another option is to chase out the solid concrete screed and retrofit a level access shower floor former such as a Level-Dec Advance.

Finally, and bar far the best option, is to use a level-access shower floor former designed to perfectly shape a wet concrete screed and provide efficient drainage.

Impey offers a product called Level-Grade which is the only product of its type available on the market. Level-Grade is a plastic matrix which when assembled and secured to the subfloor has a built-in gradient profile which guides the trowel of the installer to create a perfect drainage.

After Level-Grade is set into position and the waste trap and drainage pipes are connected the installer places shutters around the outside of the matrix and then fills it with a wet concrete screed mix and uses a float to shape the surface to the profile.

After the concrete has dried the shutters are removed and the remaining floor screed can be poured so that it finished flush with the outer edges of the shower floor area.

The shower floor can then be finished with slip-resistant vinyl, or tanked with a membrane prior to tiling.



Coming up next month.....

Choosing a suitable shower floor solution