The hole in my floor is repaired and I'm ready to re-fit the repaired shower tray. Errr, I'm stuck .
To stop the tray from cracking I'd like to bed it onto that expanding foam stuff, BUT I've read some really dire warnings about 50:1 expansion rates and have visions of filling the entire bathroom with it LOL.
I know Everbuild do a low expansion foam that stays at about the same level it extrudes at, is this what people use? or is there another recommended foam?
Secondly how do i get the foam into the cavity between the floor & the underside of the shower tray? Once the tray is offered into place there's no gap big enough to get the nozzle of a can into the four corners of the room. OH seems to think I can squirt a blob onto the floor and then place the tray on the top, weight it down and leave it to cure?
Finally, would Sikaflex 512 be any better at sealing round the (hopefully) foam supported tray once it's been screwed into place?
I would use Bathroom silicone sealant for sealing the shower base to the sides .
Bigg-robbs idea of filling before fitting sounds like a good plan to me . If you want the tray inplace first , drill some holes from underneath that can be used to apply the low expanding foam thro . ( drill holes before putting shower tray inplace , so you don't drill thro it ) . Afterwards refill the holes if necessary .
I have recently replaced the ABS shower tray on our 2002 Eccles with a GRP one. The original tray had a piece of 12mm blue styrene foam as the support for the standing area. This was reused and stuck to the underside of the tray with non setting mastic as well as mastic on the floor to stop it moving. This allows the tray to be removed in the future. I wouldn't use Sikaflex. The edges were then sealed using silicone seal. If you cannot get styrene, you could consider expanded polystyrene but this may crush over time.
You don't say what the tray is made from but ABS tends to deteriorate when some chemical cleaners are used on it (same reason mouthwashes are a no-no with plastic sinks) and I'm not sure how expanding foam would affect it in the long run.