ᐅ Walk-in Shower in a Prefabricated House: Tiles or Shower Base?

Hello everyone

As the topic suggests, I am considering whether we should install a shower tray or tiles in our timber frame prefabricated house...
Basically, tiles look better to us and are also a bit less slippery.
BUT the issue of water and timber frame construction is always somewhat tricky.
Would a shower tray be "safer"?
Thank you

mEA does not matter (I have a solid wood house myself). Both, when properly executed (multiple waterproof coatings, corners, separate sealing tape, etc.), will be watertight.

I find shower trays somehow more hygienic... they are bright white, so you can easily see whether they are clean or not. Unfortunately, I don’t have any real knowledge regarding the question. 😉

I think shower trays are a bit like toilet bowls. If I had the money, I would have opted for a tiled washbasin and a tiled bathtub as well. Everyone has different tastes, after all.

Exactly, tastes differ and I would never choose a tiled sink or bathtub myself 🙂

Shower trays seem to be quite out of fashion, although I personally find a nice flat shower tray always stylish and not worse than tiled ones.
However, I guess that’s not the main issue here.

We also have a wooden house and had similar considerations as you did.
With a flat shower tray, you can’t go wrong and it seemed like the safe choice to us. In the end, this is exactly where we have our “biggest concern” in the house, since just six months after moving in, we had water damage when water suddenly came through the wood ceiling into the living room below the shower 😱
They searched for the cause but initially couldn’t find anything, the problem seemed not to be reproducible, etc...

It turned out to be a simple silicone joint that tore at the edge of the shower tray, allowing water to pour through depending on where you stood in the shower.
This means the plastic tray slightly flexes and the joints are subject to high stress!
Therefore, I strongly recommend paying very close attention to proper installation quality or ideally choosing a metal tray if you do not want a tiled shower floor.

As I said, this issue causes me the most worry in the house, and I am still considering making a warranty claim. The newly replaced joint has held up reliably so far, but it’s probably only a matter of time before this “maintenance joint” tears again 🙁

netuser schrieb:

...
In the end, it was just a faulty silicone seal at the edge of the shower tray that tore, causing water to flow in bursts depending on where you stood in the shower.
This means the plastic tray flexes slightly, putting higher stress on the seals!
Therefore, I strongly recommend paying close attention to proper installation and, if a tiled floor is not planned, it might be better to choose a metal tray.

As I said, this issue worries me the most in the house, and I am still considering claiming it as a warranty case. Although the newly replaced seal has been holding reliably so far, it’s only a matter of time before this "maintenance seal" tears again 🙁

A silicone seal is a maintenance seal. It is allowed to be non-watertight! Still, no water droplets should get through. That’s why a waterproof tape like Dichtband should be installed behind it as a "second waterproofing layer."