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

netuser schrieb:

I would never have a tiled sink or bathtub installed 🙂

Your loss! 😉
Even better would be both crafted from natural stone. Although I probably wouldn’t get that approved by my wife either.

Exactly, silicone joints are mainly for looks or to prevent water from sitting too long on the floor beneath objects or tiles.
In principle, it shouldn’t matter if waterproofing slurry, liquid waterproofing membrane, tapes, and sleeves are applied underneath. That’s the only proper way to do it. It doesn’t matter whether it’s timber construction, concrete, or something else...
So you could definitely file a warranty claim, as this is a defect! The problem, of course, is the interface. A shower tray is usually the plumber’s work, while waterproofing is typically done by the tiler. In your case, the tiler might have said, “Oh, if the shower isn’t going to be tiled, I won’t waterproof underneath.”
But the plumber should have objected. Or did the plumber install the tray before the tiler? Then the plumber should also have either raised concerns or waterproofed it themselves...

Tolentino schrieb:

...
In that case, you could definitely claim a warranty since this is a defect! The problem is usually the interface between trades. A shower base is typically the plumber’s work, while waterproofing is usually done by the tiler. Your tiler might have said, “If the shower isn’t tiled, I won’t waterproof underneath.”
But the plumber should have raised this issue. Or did the plumber install the base before the tiler? Then the plumber would have had to either complain or apply the waterproofing themselves...

Exactly right. Our tiler forgot to waterproof around the shower fitting.
The glazier (for the flush-to-floor walk-in all-glass shower) just installed the glass anyway (which he really shouldn’t have done), but the damage was already done.
Solution (expensive because repeated four times!): a sealing collar was applied to the installed glass panel, then another glass panel placed over it!
(The alternative would have been a complete removal of all four showers, which would have cost over $10,000.)
The invoice was sent directly to the tiler, so I don’t know the exact cost (probably around $2,000).
We were definitely not happy about the delay since this was almost the last trade to finish.
So as a homeowner, always make sure everyone does their job properly 🙄

Tolentino schrieb:

Or did the plumber install the shower tray before the tiler? In that case, they should have either pointed out the issue or sealed it themselves...

Unfortunately, yes 🙁
The substrate was prepared beforehand..., then the plumber installed the shower tray, and later the tiling was done, but I wasn’t involved in the process.
It’s frustrating, and I’m putting it on my list to complain about. Looking forward to the discussions once it comes to that 🙁

Tradespeople—first you can’t get hold of them, then they just complain and charge high prices, then they don’t deliver as promised, make mistakes, try to cover them up, and when you confront them with expert reports or photos (or both), they blame another tradesperson or even yourself.

There are really only a few exceptions who do most things right, and basically none who do everything correctly from start to finish. At least, I haven’t come across any.