When people are designing a bathroom they have a lot of options that face them when they are thinking about the design of their shower. I am sure of one thing… they want a shower pan that NEVERLEAKS. With that in mind I can offer the following generic advice on the different types of shower pans out there in the market place. One thing is certain… Buyer Beware! Unless a pan carries an approval designation from a plumbing standards board such as iapmo or nspc, you are taking your chances and inspectors will generally be a pia, require the filing of a code variation and ask for a watertest. Pans that are sitebuilt or that are cut or modified will usually fall into this category. There are some others out there that say they are approved to use in all 50 states but when you read the fine print and check the warranty you find that you are probably taking a chance with that. There are also some that are trying to skate by the inspector with shaky approvals that don’t really meet jurisdictional requirements. With any kind of custom shape and size you are usually facing this requirement.
Shower Pan Choices from simple and cheap to complicated and pricey are listed going down the page. The Shower Pan Man assumes you want to build a solid long lasting shower and are not trying to polish up some turd house and sell it to a sucker for a profit.
1. Fiberglass receptor: Light-duty product that is covered with an off white gelcoat. These came out in the fifties and they were very inexpensive and still are for an obvious reason. They don’t resist stains well and are also prone to spider-cracking around the drain assembly. You get what you pay for. Made with toxic resins, this fiberglass option is not a durable or very green option. Usually only one generic color and very limited basic stock sizes available. No watertest required. These simply dont look good for very long and are one of the worst choices you can make. $150
2. Paint in place shower pan membrane: While becoming quite popular, this product comes in a bottle like liquid rubber. You are effectively building the equivalent of a swimming pool liner by painting a series of layers in place. Obviously, this product is entirely dependent on the diligence of the installer. It must be painted onto a pitched subfloor such as cured concrete. Tile can be installed directly over this type of liner with mortar but it is usually necessary to build a mortar bed since there will have to be some futzing over the way the drain collar and the tile meet up. I worry a little bit about bringing the chemical butadiene styrene into an occupied space where the windows are closed and kids are present. It is a product that requires plenty of ventilation and even though it smells somewhat benign it can be hazardous to people’s health. Watertest for this type of pan is mandatory. $150
3 Cultured marble: Made of stone dust added to an acrylic or fibergass resin, these products hopefully will phase completely out of the market some time soon. Prone to staining and cracking these pans are a nightmare. They have been the cause of a lot of bath remodel projects. With this and the gel coat fiberglass you get what you pay for. Track home builders tend to use these a lot because of the low cost and the fact that you can get a modular shower panel system that will install cheap and easy. Junk at any price. No watertest required usually. $200
4. Custom solid acrylic: Often called solid surface since they are made of acrylic composites, these pans are quite popular because they fit into that seamless, panleized, no grout shower sytem that people tend to like. They are not cheap and can have many of the setting and spider cracking problems that cheap fiberglass pans have. Usually available in some custom sizes, these products have to be installed professionally because the raw materials have to be cut with a router and sanded just right in order to avoid causing stress cracks in the material. Available in lots of colors, they are nice products, but the solid methacrylate is made up of some pretty hazardous material for the planet and its occupants. No watertest required if they carry an approval. $1000
5. Cast Iron coated with porcelain: Offered by some of the big fixture companies and made in China, these are cast iron bases covered with porcelain like the old bathtubs. Heavy to maneuver into place and prone to chipping if mis-handled, these products are medium priced and quite serviceable but come with the problem of not being very slip resistant. Usually just available in white and biscuit and just a few sizes, you need to plan around the available sizes. Some folks may find these quite nice, but I consider non slippery and neverleaking to be my major criteria. I suppose you could always put the seventies flower power anti skid stickers on them. Oh, nostalgia. No watertest required. $450
6. Acrylic backed with fiberglass: These are probably the most common pans on the market today because of their medium price and their availability. Most plumbing supplies and home centers keep some cheap version of these available in two or three sizes. This product is fussy to use since it is usually set in gypsum plaster and they are prone to shifting and settlement depending on the quality of the installation. Some of the more expensive ones have a foam fill on the underside that makes the leveling very easy and you can set in thinset. As with any product, the really well made versions of these that are backed quite heavily with fiberglass are “not” inexpensive. One of the beauties of these products is that they are quite easily repaired if chipped on the surface. In fact, fine sandpaper and some colored acylic resin are all thats necessary to make a repair. They can be prone to spider-cracking around the drains like the cheapie fiberglass and can also get quite slippery. Quite a range of sizes and in fact some colors are available in the market if you can wait for special orders. Once again, fiberglass is pretty toxic stuff and dont we all want to see toxic stuff phased out. No watertest required. $450
7. Custom terrazzo and concrete cast pans: Both made of relatively porous concrete… mortar, sand and stone, these products come in some standard (very heavy) sizes and can also be made to order or cast in place. While they can be built any size, they are generally requiring a liner system and these are really specific to the manufacturer. There are lots of cast terrazzo and concrete pans out there from the fifties that are causing problems for people now and are generally ripped out and replaced. There are some new varieties coming on the scene that are made with lightweight aggregate and acrylic modified cements that are very surprising. Once again they are not cheap and if they are custom made a watertest and an extra step in the construction process is required. $1000
8. Ready to tile over or tile ready fiberglass shower pan: These products are a factory made version in standard sizes of the toxic site mixed and applied fiberglass pans. Basically a hard shell liner that you can apply tile to, they are also rigid and prone to cracking if installed incorrectly. The weight and strength of the shower pan is critical to its performance so the heavier the pan is, the more durable. It is a product that you must install the drain into so as with any of the shell style pans up to this point you can get a leak from a poorly installed or improperly tightened drain. If you pay top dollar for custom made construction and shipping you can get custom sizes and drain placements with this product. If you are willing to go around the toxic chemical exposure and fire codes you can have someone come into your home and build one of these in place but they stink up the place for days and the offgassing will eat your brain. Watertest required. $500
9. Site made ready to tile fiberglass: There is a lot of controversy over these types of pans. There is a lot of exposure to highly hazardous conditions by taking these wickedly toxic chemicals out of controlled environments to fashion a shower pan in the home. Many builders swear by them but I have personally seen lots of leaks with this process. You have complete flexibility over the size of the pan. but in this case, the liner put in place is usually flat to the plywood floor and once built up with mortar they can collect water under the mortar and grow mold and mildew. If you have a leak with this method you have to tear everything out. Architects are no longer specifying these because of the legal implications of exposing clients to the chemicals, off-gassing and risk of fire and explosion. A pitched underfloor substrate has to be installed and a watertest is required. $1000
10. Tile Ready for tile-redi over urethane: This type of pan seemed like the answer for awhile. Their dark color were making people think they were rugged, but you will realize that they are only glorified styrofoam cups and can arrive in a thousand pieces if mishandled by the home center or trucking company. If you can get one shipped to you in one piece and manage to get it in place without accidentally breaking it, it can be quite serviceable but only with a three year warranty. Unfortunately, many people have cracked them in the setting process because you can’t “stomp” the pan into place in the gypsum like you can with the fiberglass pans. Matching the right type of setting mortar to your install is tricky. Seems like you have to install them with gypsum and some folks on the tile sites say that you have to paint waterproofing on them. that you have to use straight cement mortar or they dont warranty it. Once installed they require epoxy mortar to set the tile which is wickedly hazardous and very tricky to work with…fast setting and expensive. MSDS says to wear a respirator and throw your clothing away if you get it on you. Yikes! In addition, epoxies and urethanes are not the cleanest materials on the planet and have some issues with offgassing and exposure to phthalates and isocyanates. Lots of sizes and drain placements but kind of expensive when you think you have to buy flashing and drain trim which is kind of cheaply made. Also, important to note that their is no weep system in the drain assembly so there is potential for water, mold and mildew accumulation under the tile no matter what they claim. $700+
11. Vinyl liner ready for tile-over systems: While they are quite a good and cheap system, few people install them properly. They require a pitched underfloor construction, which few tradesmen provide or know how to do. If that is done correctly and then the subsequent mortar beds are shaped properly to promote proper drainage, you still have the problem of having porous screed mortar under the tile. Using a high strength mortar instead of sand mix is critical. Having seen too many of this type simply polluted with mold and mildew this method is not my favorite but I have also seen many last forty or fifty years. Also the folding of the corners is quite difficult to do. If a first rate carpenter isn’t involved with this process it can be disastrous, since there a lot of cutting and fitting and notching and shimming of wood members to accomodate the folds in the corners and at the shower pan curb. Respecting the expiration dates on the adhesives for the vinyl liners is critical. Many installers are not able to properly fashion the curb and corner pieces and they don’t bother to order them ahead of time so I have seen these dummied together so many times I lost count. Always watertest! $750
12. Kit type, mortar in place liner systems: Complex, lots of parts and steps in this method. Just the same these imported shower pans are a pretty solid alternative if you can stand taking that many tools out of your truck to build it. Fifty-odd tools are required to install one of these perfectly. Setting drain assembly, cutting and laying pitched underfloor, mixing mortar and installing drainage sheets in mortar and then skim coating the whole mess. This type of pan is one of the few decent options for custom size showers. Its been around a long time and the companies that make them are pretty solid, but they are generally quite expensive since the warranty only comes when a certified technician has installed it. Substrate and watertest required. $700+ labor
13. Last and best option: When the warm rains come on a starlit night, strip off your clothes and go out in the yard with your best gal and a bar of healthy, organic soap. Wahoo. No cost, no mortar, no chemicals, no leaking, no watertest, no maintenance.
Hope this helps. Please patronize our ad sponsors on this page.
Shower Pan Man