u/Working-Alfalfa-9001

In order to do a proper leak test in a shower pan the various manufactures require AT LEAST a 24-hour (and recommend up 72 hours) test... AFTER the pan has fully cured for a MINIMUM of 12 hours, most often 24 hours, and sometimes as long as 48 hours (again depending on the material/manufacturer) BEFORE you can even begin the leak test. I do not believe the vast majority of tile installers are really doing these tests as it's not practical for the working installer.

Assuming you are only installing a shower (and have no other work at the job site) this would mean a MINIMUM of two full work days of waiting around, ie. not working, for evey shower pan you build. This is not real-world stuff. No one can work like this and customers aren't going to be happy with no work being done for two-three days or longer.

Your honest thoughts and confessions?

So I've been installing since the early 90's and... to my knowledge... I've never had a pan or a job fail. I'm pretty well known in my area and get a lot of repeat business and referrals.

When browsing youtube and Reddit, etc I see so many videos and posts about shower pan failures, ones from popular installers with youtube channels (who shall remain nameless) who look like they do high quality work. One installer has several videos of his own install failures. It makes me think, what is going on here? What does he and others keep doing wrong? Is it the installer or the products?