Shower Pan and concrete slab plumbing

LTempleton

replacing my stall shower and Tub on a slab. When I removed my old shower, the slab was cracked which was good in a way, It made it easier to get at the copper pipe and drain running under the slab. So I went ahead and took advantage of this and added tape on the copper pipe to help keep from any possible freezing.

Now I'm ready to seal it back up..but...I had a thought. Please feel free to point out if this thought is crazy or even stupid.

I hate the idea of the next person who may have to access these pipes having to break though the cement, even though such is life on a slab.
Currently there is about 4 to 6" of loose gravel and then about 4" of cement. What if for just under the shower, (BTW this is a premolded 36 x 36 fiberglas shower pan) I poured more loose gravel, tamped it down well and then only put a very thin (like one inch) layer of concrete?
Would this work? Or be more likely to crack? Or should I just not care about the next guy...what if that next guy is me?

Also I read that its best to put liner under the fiberglass shower pans so they dont' squeek, kind of along the idea of underlayment for laminate flooring. Has any one heard of or experienced this?

heatherberry

We just installed a new bath in part of our house where the plumbers had to jackhammer up the floor and install pipes etc. We had to have it inspected and gravel with a small layer of concrete would have never passed inspection at all in my city. I would think it would not be the best idea.

i am not a contractor or anything like that, just going based on ispection that was done on my project. Its called a foundation for a reason. The foundation is very important no matter how stable the shower pan may seem it should still be supported will underneath.

In my opinon.

LTempleton

Thanks, and your right. After thinking it through a bit more I realized it was not the best plan. Better to have a solid concrete slab than access.