In part, he's right...... if they're not put together properly. I just did a project about 2 months ago. Someone up here had an absolutely beautiful master shower put together, but the owner started having problems with mold growth and the pan not drying out, including the first course of tile. This woman was forever running a dehumidifier in her bathroom, as well as squeegeeing the heck out of the shower every time it was used. I told her there was no way this was right. The whole reason for ceramic tile is that it makes whatever it covers, virtually maintenence free! I made the suggestion to her that some time in the next year, she may want to think about gutting the shower and redoing it, because although aesthetically speaking, the installer did a terrific job, mechanically, I could guarantee what she'd find, that being a flat bottom pan and most likely plugged weepholes at the base of the drain. In addition, if she'd put a higher CFM fan just outside the shower, or even INSIDE the shower, and vent it to the outside, she wouldn't have to worry any more, and certainly wouldn't have to run the dehumidifier. About a week later, she called, and asked when we could start. Once I got in there and tore the shower apart, I found alot more than I thought. First, it WAS a flat bottom pan-- a copper one. As for the weepholes, I was wrong about that-- they weren't clogged, they just didn't exist. Also, there were two benches in this shower (it was a double his and hers shower), and both had been built inside the copper pan. However, neither bench had been AT ALL waterproofed, nor were the bench tops sloped properly. Actually, there was a slight slope back toward the wall, and there was about 3" of standing water inside each one of them. Matter of fact, I sopped it up into a bucket, and within about a half hour, they filled right back up agan from water that was still in the mud pan! Once we pulled everything apart, I took a drill and popped some weepholes into the base of the drain stem, and basically went from there, as if there was no copper pan there, building a "pan within a pan" using a urethane waterproofing goop called Ultraset from Hydroment. I did my preslope, "gooped" up the pan, and then floated it, building a conventional shower pan. Once the shower was all put back together, I told her not to worry about squeegeeing, and to let the vent fan run for about 5-10 minutes after using the shower, and see what happens. I got a call about 3 weeks later, just as these people were closing up the house to head down to Marco Island in Florida for the winter. She thanked me saying this shower was now a dream to use-- no smell, no wet joints any more, no cracked corners, and NO MORE SQUEEGEE! It's all in how it's put together.

Tempered glass is really only susceptible to shattering if it's hit by something that can scratch or chip the edge glass. Most items in a shower are soft; plastic bottles, elbows, even boney elbows. Metal shower heads can be hard, but they usually don't have much mass behind them, so they'll usually just deflect off the shelf if they collide. Though I don't have glass in my own showers, I've installed plenty of glass shelves in houses. In showers, medicine cabinets, and the one that always makes me cringe: in kitchen cabinets. I give the owners of the homes I've built an annual call. No one has ever told me about a broken shelf. Every few years one of the glass shops has a "let's break glass" demonstration. I was placing an order at the shop several years ago when they had a demonstration. I stuck around to watch, it's pretty amazing how much abuse tempered glass can take. I'm not scared of using tempered glass, but I respect that it still is glass.

The single piece bottom will be a bit easier to clean. However, it should have nothing to do with waterproofing, as that happens behind the tile. I tiled my niche with all subway tile. There are grout joints on the bottom ledge, and the soap residue and bottom-of-the-shampoo-bottle residue get in the grout a bit, but nothing to run screaming to mama about. And you can shed water with tiles by sloping them slightly out, it doesn't have to be 1 piece to do that. I like the look of a solid bottom piece, but if you don't, then have them change it.

@Trish Thanks so much! That is the brand my contractor wants to use. I had an old sample grout chart from 2017 so I ran to Menards and picked up another one in case there were newer colors. The Sterling sample on the new chart looks more beige, but on the one from 2017 it looks more like the grout in your picture. Crazy that the samples are so far off...most all of the colors on both samples look completely different. The K&B showroom had samples of Custom Building Products and we were thinking of using Ash, which is a light gray. We are doing the 2x2 of the same tile on the shower floor, but don't want too light of a grout color for there. And didn't know if we would want different color grout on walls and floor. Sterling might work for both (the gray one and not the beige one lol!). I definitely am going to do a mock up. Would be nice if they offered grout samples similar to those peel and stick paint samples. Those are a genius invention! Thanks again :)