ᐅ Tiled shower floor – sooner or later problems caused by the silicone seal?

annab377 schrieb:

Only that with shower trays, the joint is not "standing in water" because it is positioned higher. In tiled shower floors, water sometimes stands at these joints (at the rear joint near the drain, it probably always does).

With the shower tray, only the water running down the wall "stands" there. The actual water does not stand at these joints.

This is basically not correct either. Water doesn’t flow toward the joint because the slope of a tiled shower floor directs water towards the channel or drain — so it slopes away from all four edges of the shower, away from the wall joints!
If water is "standing" at the joint, then either the slope is incorrect or the drain is blocked, and water is pooling up to about 1cm (0.4 inches) high in the shower 😳 The drain often doesn’t even have a silicone seal but is "only" grouted.

Take a look at system diagrams or illustrations of drains, then you’ll see that nothing actually happens there even in those cases.

And if someone is too concerned that the silicone joint will not withstand the stresses, they can ask the contractor to apply an MS polymer joint instead. You should have the material ready, as the contractor usually does not bring it. However, this needs to be done at the beginning, as it cannot be changed later. Once silicone has been used, it must always be silicone, because nothing else will adhere reliably in that spot.

Our silicone joint was applied in August 2017 and is still intact.

As already mentioned, the tiles are just the surface covering over the waterproofing – the joints between the tiles are not waterproof either. The biggest disadvantage of tiles is the buildup of deposits (dirt/limescale), which simply doesn’t look good for very long, especially if you have very small tiles. The advantage is the better integration of underfloor heating.

Lumpi_LE schrieb:

The biggest disadvantage of tiles is the buildup (dirt/limescale); they just don’t look good for long,

I can confirm that. Many neighbors have a white residue. We don’t, even though our tiles are matte and uneven: we squeegee the walls and floor after showering.

Lumpi_LE schrieb:

As already mentioned, the tiles are just the surface layer on top of the waterproofing – the grout lines between the tiles are not watertight either.
The biggest disadvantage of tiles is the buildup of deposits (dirt/limescale), which simply doesn’t look good for very long, especially with very small tiles.
An advantage is the better integration with underfloor heating.

I don't understand that either. I should be able to place the shower tray directly on the screed, right? Of course, it would then be 2–3 cm (about 1 inch) higher than the tiles, but the underfloor heating should still work then, shouldn’t it?

That’s not the case either. There are no heating cables under the shower. The big advantage of the tiled shower is complete barrier-free access. We have it so that even in the case of care needs, a chair can be brought in.