acrylic showers have thier place if you can live with it, it will be cheapest route. they do atleast dry out between showers, can be easily serviced. the only downfall of them is the wasted/lost space. In a average 32 acrylic the actual room inside is more like 28 1/2" and thats anywhere there is no shelf or handle, you loose another 9 inches in each corner, thats where they need the most support (for shipping) I am continuously asked about this question by my clients. Here is my opinion and why. I suggest the use of a poured cultured marble pan. we do the others but this is why. I do not like the way that the drain attaches to the liners in a wet-bed, I have been called back to 3 showers in the last 5 years where they have began to leak. none of the 3 were my fault, but all 3 had to have the floors removed, and rebuilt. all 3 was from the plumbers flange, 3 different plumbers were used by the homeowners. 2 leaked because the seal gave up on its own over time,(obviously they were not tight enough) plumbers had to pay me to redo. the 3rd I was paid by homeowner, because he admitted to plumber to using a toilet plunger to try and unclog the drain, that was full of hair. In doing so he blew out the seal, when the clog would not move. but there are more reasons than that. I have repeatedly been called in to redo showers here in the south (NC)because of mildew/mold. if you live in humid states rubber liners with wetbed is just not smart. it is just that a wetbed. Anyone can say what they want, seal it every year, or not the floor of a tile shower takes days/weeks to dry out after a shower. this combined with the fact that the floor and every wall contracts with temperature guarantees you that in a tile shower the corners Will crack no matter how small. relevent to leakage, no thats why the walls are sealed before the tile, it is enevitable that water will enter behind the tile in some small amounts. and move down to the pan. True they make caulking in every color that they make grout in, and should absolutly be used. but this does not take away from he fact that there is no possible way to keep water from getting under the tile level on a tile bottom shower floor. liners are not there incase the tile fails, its a working part of the shower system. and in this system (the cracks around the corners) there is an eco-system that is perfect for mold and mildew to survive, and spore out into the rest of your home continuously. cultured marble bases removes this continuous dampness, as well as having a standard flange that can be easily changed/worked on in case of any cause. Cultured marble pans are flanged on top, come in stardard sizes up to 4x5 feet, then you could build a bench all the way around the outside of that for a party shower. If you use cultured walls as well, corners are siliconed in, as well as a second sealed corner trim strip. so leakage is an impossibility, so is moisture retention. Recesses, and shelving no problem, even adding them later. smooth single no seamed surfaces are easy to clean and no maintainance. I make money if I do the tile, when I do bathroom remodels, I use outside contractor if they want the cultured marble and I make nothing for that. Facts are facts, I want my clients to get what they want, and what they need is info to make thier own decisions. Other people have said clean and dry your shower after use, I say what are they thinking. I want a VERY low maintainance place to get clean, not a place where I have to do maintainance every night, I wont dry me and the shower after every use. There is still the water in the cracks that you simply cannot get to to dry, along the bottom of the wall to floor seam. if you use the cultured marble base , and tile walls, you will have no worries as well, the possible problem is in the tile floor base.

phylhl-- Let me guess-- you're in Mass.? Copper pans, are, for all intents and purposes, outlawed just about every place else. The only reason they're still allowed in Mass. is because the plumbers union makes alot of racket to KEEP them legal. They've been outlawed elsewhere for three reasons. First, they're usually flat bottomed, and as TileTech alluded to, the pan membrane must be sloped so as to make sure all water that gets into the pan goes to the weep holes. Which brings me to point 2-- there are NO WEEPHOLES in copper pans. Any water that gets into the pan stays there, making for the perfect breeding ground for mold, mildew, and bacteria. Lastly, over time, the lime in the cement used to form the shower pan will corrode the copper, and I don't have to tell you the mess that'll make.

Beautiful steam shower you've got there AnnKathryn. What sort of stone is that? Wisconsin, KERDI is supposed to be approved now for steam rooms, though I don't believe that Schluter allows it to be installed over cement board. You'll want to check with their Technical Services department on that. I prefer to build my steam showers along traditional lines with mortar and metal lath. I've talked about my prejudice with my local Schluter rep and he's got me convinced that KERDI is an alternative with longevity but I'm still timid about hanging a couple hundred pounds of stone from a bonded membrane. He's promised to share with me enough case studies of existing installations to bring me around and I trust him on that. Best of luck, Shaughnn

Hi, I am hoping someone could answer another shower slope question for me. We also have a linear drain in a 45" x 70.5" curb less shower. The linear drain is at the end of the 70.5" length. From one shower wall to the front edge of the linear drain it's 65.5". The drain is 3.25" below the main bathroom floor. We have only had it installed for a few weeks, but the shower seems way too pitched and slightly dangerous (2" black matte hex). Our contractor says he does it this way all the time, but from our calculations and a review of code, the max should be 1/2" per linear foot and better would be closer to 1/4" per linear foot. Our contractor is NOT willing to redo this for free and said it would be complex to rip out and redo - which I do agree with the complexity of it. Is this enough "off" pitch to justify pushing back on our contractor? Or filing a complaint? He did agree to replace a rectangle area of shower floor tile with non glazed tile to make it less slippery. This was at my suggestion since I picked the original tile not expecting the feel of that kind of a slope! I would really appreciate any advice - this is weighing on our minds for safety and for any future sale of our home. Thanks in advance.