Straight answers

We can, but it depends on what has already happened. A lot of the time people call after the tile is already in, hoping the pan can be sealed from the top. It does not work like that. It depends on how the pan was built and where the failure is actually coming from.

To give you a straight answer, we need to see pictures first, to know whether a patch is even possible or the whole pan has to be redone.

Usually within the next day. A pan is normally dry enough to step on about two hours after we finish, and that is when the flood test can be done.

Call or text. Send pictures, measurements and the address so we know the job is prepped the right way. There is no charge for a quote.

It depends on the job every time. A house is one price and an apartment is another. Call or text with pictures and measurements, and we will quote it.

Yes. CSLB License #1092967 · C-61/D-12. We carry general liability insurance and workers’ comp.

Yes. Our pans pass any city inspection in San Diego County. The things an inspector cares about are the ones we do on every job: a proper pre-slope, the membrane turned up the walls and over the curb, reinforced corners, and a flood test that holds water.

Three layers of 15lb felt paper and four layers of hot asphalt, with yellow fiberglass mesh reinforcing every corner and seam. It all goes down over a cement pre-slope, and it turns up the walls and over the curb.

Yes. We lay a pre-slope with cement so all of the water drains toward the drain, before we start the hot mop.

No. We do tight, straight corners, reinforced with yellow fiberglass mesh. A rounded corner is quicker to form and leaves the membrane stretched thin exactly where it works hardest, which is where pans fail first.

Yes. Hot tar has a smell, and we tell you up front, before we start.

No. Demolition is normally done before we are called, and we do no tile work. We work with tile setters, and they set the tile over our pan.

Yes, on our own work. Every pan we build gets a water test — sometimes we run it, sometimes the contractor runs it once the pan has dried. If it holds water, the pan was built right. If something goes wrong because of how we built it, we come back and fix it.

What we cannot cover is damage done to the pan after we leave. Our work sits open until the tile goes on, and other trades work over it. A nail driven where one does not belong, or a ladder set down inside the waterproofing, damages the pan, and the guarantee on it ends there.

Two kinds of job carry no guarantee at all: repairs to a pan somebody else built, because we cannot see what is behind another contractor’s work, and a shower that is not prepped to the standard the pan needs. If you want that work done anyway, we will do it, without a guarantee.

We can repair it, but we cannot guarantee the project, because we do not know what is behind another contractor’s work. If a mistake is ours, we go back and fix it.

You cannot tell from the outside whether it is the shower or the plumbing. To find out you have to open it up: remove the tile and the cement and see where the leak starts. It could be a hole in the pan, or a cracked pipe connected to it.

Usually one of three things: there is no waterproofing, there is waterproofing but it was done poorly, or there is a hole in it from a nail.

If there is no tile on it yet, we inspect the whole pan. We look for holes, check how many layers of waterproofing were used and what type of drain is in, and work out where it is most likely leaking.

The drain has to be set and flushed. Blocking has to be around the walls, and the curb (dam or threshold) has to be in place. When that is done, we come in and do the job. The full list is on our hot mop page.