Pete summarized the main points nicely, though I'd disagree that solid surface pans are all ugly. Plain, perhaps, but I don't think they necessarily detract from the look of a beautifully tiled shower. But in the end, aesthetics are a personal opinion, so only you can decide if it matters to you. One more thing no one mentioned: pre-fabs are idiot-proof. If tiled floors (and all the stuff that goes underneath) are not installed correctly, you can end up with a mess on your hands. But you don't often see GW horror stories entitled "my contractor screwed up my solid base shower!" :-) My sister has a tiled shower floor and complains of discolored grout. That's what drove me initially to do a solid surface pan. Ease of install and idiot-proofness were bonuses for this DIY-er. And I like it fine. We're done with all the bathrooms in our house, but now that I'm much more informed about shower construction, I'm likely to try a fully tiled (and kerdi'd) shower in a future bathroom project, should it materialize someday.

That was a different base, where the sides came up the walls about 12 inches. Now, this place has what looks like two kinds of bases. One looks like the Kerdi base, which they call their preslope. Unfortunately, there's no waterproofing that laps up the walls, and the shower bases where it DOES have an integrated membrane that goes up the walls, first it doesn't look like it goes up enough, and secondly, you'd run into the same problem as the other bases with the framing needing to be perfect.

Kel~ I hope the tub comes out easier than you think. How disappointing. :o( I'm glad the electrician at least showed up, but leaving broken glass all over.... sheeesh!??! Well, we have a great electrical crew. They were installing switches and plugs even in unpainted walls today, just to have something to do. ;o) LOL! They plan to bring an additional 2 men (workers who finished up jobs and must have nothing better to do) to our site tomorrow. This, and I haven't even ordered my lighting yet. Oops! They did install the recessed lighting in the master bed/bath today, and hooked it up. Woo--hooo! I have to say I am loving the lighting. DH was in there after dark, and I looked out our RV window and saw the glow from that room lighting out on the little private porch off the master. And it was such a thrill. :o) Sometimes it's the little things. The finishers have not been here for a week, and said they would come this evening? Nope. The tile crew (a big one, thank goodness!) arrived this morning and worked hard all day. Lots of backerboard layed, and they worked on the master shower pan. Yippee! Nevermind that if my finishers don't show soon, my tile crew will pass them up (as will our electricians). Only the 1st floor is finished. There's a bit of trim work drywall to be hung on the 3rd floor, and the hanger said he'd be back Monday. Nope. HVAC supervisor came out to discuss pads with dh. They will be installing our units soon. All 6 of them. LOL! The concrete man arrived today and discussed paving our driveway and out to the barn. We've got to get that done.... the rain the past few days is turning our old, graveled driveway into a mud bog. Not good when it's uphill to the house. LOL! DH and I are painting (and beginning to wonder the wisdom of "saving those bucks". I love to paint, but I'm already tired... LOL)! We painted the walls in the master bedroom and dh's office tonight. Whew. Will I ever stop seeing big white spots of primer? :) Can you tell we're so thrilled that work was being done on our house today?! Last week was a ghost town around here, and it was honestly depressing. Now this week, things are hopping. Sortof like labor pains.... once everyone starts showing up and getting busy, you forget how mad you are at them.... ha, ha. :o) Hope our busy work place continues.... and I hope that tomorrow brings all sorts of activity to your site, Kelntx. Just wanted to tell you to hang in there and keep hoping. It's amazing what one day of a busy crew on a house can do for progress.... and your nerves! ;O) Now... don't tell me I jinxed myself with all of my happy talk....... :O)

The 'premium', as they call it, is a better material with more choices in size and color. The pan is treated as any other pan/base with the tiled walls coming down over the edges. I'm having the walls tiled, just don't want tile on the floor. The preformed bases are made with a slope and a drain location of the end, center or a grate-type drain along one end. Here is an example.