Browse Forums Bathrooms and Laundry 1 Feb 09, 2007 6:54 am Hi all,
I love the look of the continuation of the floor tiles in the showers (even if it has a frame/semi-frameless) but I'm not sure of the practicality. We would like large floor tiles (quite possibly porcelain) and was wondering if anyone knows if they are slippery, if you need some sort of treatment to make them non-slip, and how difficult are they to clean in comparison to a preformed shower base? Are they worth the bit extra to have them or not? Thanks, Ray. Second Time 'Round Re: Tiled shower base? 2Feb 10, 2007 3:46 pm Hi Ray, my advice in a word.....don't! We tiled our entire bathroom floor then siliconed the shower screen over the top directly onto the tiles. I now spend half a day per month on my hands and knees with a bottle of Domestos in one hand and toothbrush in the other cleaning the grout! We're in the process of building an extension and I can tell you the ensuite is having a shower base, with replica glass splashback sheets ( "Akril", heard about it on this website) for the walls. No more grout!
Our tiles were standard floor tiles- they feel like terracotta but are cream-coloured- so aren't very slippery , even in the shower but I don't know about porcelain. Re: Tiled shower base? 3Feb 14, 2007 10:17 pm Hi Ray,
Like you, l also admire the appearance of the floor tiles in the bathroom continuing into the shower base. But my uncle, who is a builder, assures me that almost every shower of that type will eventually leak, due to movement of the walls and floor, no matter how miniscule. This movement causes hairline fractures in the grout and allows water to seep through to the substructure over time. His advice is to think of practicality over beauty or fashion, and to choose the preformed showerbases which are almost indestructable. Maybe someone else knows a surefire way to waterproof the tiles so that you can have beauty and practicality... Hope that helps. Re: Tiled shower base? 4Feb 15, 2007 9:07 pm I would like to put a vote in for tiled shower bases, which is what I have in our current unit and will use in our new house. They look great and are the only way to go, particularly with a minimal frame or frameless glass.
I don't have a cleaning problem. I clean the shower only once every 6 months and that mainly for the walls. I find the area that is at the interface between dry and wet about one-third the way up the shower is the worst affected by mould. The base is not the worst for mould. I should add that I'm the only one that uses the shower so it becomes wet once a day, but is dry a few hours later. That is, the shower is dry for 80% of the time. Now if you have three people that use the shower and they are spread throughout the day then the shower will be dry for only 40% of the time which means that mould have a far more favorable environment. I don't know anything about the potential leakage through hairline cracks, but after 8 years I've haven't noticed any problems. I would think that suitable under tile construction would ensure that things are waterproof. I would think that a shower base may create more cleaning problems and the interface between a shower base and the wall tiles would be silastic rather than grout and I've found that silastic is worse when it comes to mould and cleaning. Tiles shower floor is probably cheaper as well. Spend the extra money on a better frameless glass shower. In summary, I like tiled shower floors. They look great, don't use plastic and do not present a cleaning problem. Cheers, Casa Re: Tiled shower base? 5Feb 15, 2007 9:15 pm Just had a look at the Akril website (www.akril.com.au) at the showers in the gallery. I think they look ugly. Compare it to a tiled bathroom. Re: Tiled shower base? 6Mar 08, 2007 11:48 pm Our new house has tiled shower bases & to prevent moisture entering under the tiles (in case anything cracked), a thick waterproof layer of something (have no idea what it is - it was thick grey stuff) was applied over the top of the wall (Gyprock Aquacheck) & under the tiles.
I hate preformed shower bases. They're a nightmare to keep clean - especially in all those little grooves between the door & the base. But that's just my opinion. Re: Tiled shower base? 7Mar 09, 2007 7:55 am epiphany I hate preformed shower bases. They're a nightmare to keep clean - especially in all those little grooves between the door & the base. But that's just my opinion. I agree! And it's so much more noticeable when you have haven't cleaned them. [sneakersss] Re: Tiled shower base? 8Mar 09, 2007 1:38 pm epiphany Our new house has tiled shower bases & to prevent moisture entering under the tiles (in case anything cracked), a thick waterproof layer of something (have no idea what it is - it was thick grey stuff) was applied over the top of the wall (Gyprock Aquacheck) & under the tiles. I hate preformed shower bases. They're a nightmare to keep clean - especially in all those little grooves between the door & the base. But that's just my opinion. It was a waterproof membrane, ..supposed to be applied in all wet areas. If all you can see are obstacles, you have lost sight of the goals Re: Tiled shower base? 9Mar 09, 2007 7:19 pm We have a winner.
The best shower base is ... drum roll ... tiled floor (that is, not preformed shower base). It looks better, is cheaper and easier to clean. No downside, but I stand to be corrected. Just make sure the waterproof membrane is installed. beat that mould! 10Apr 11, 2007 11:01 pm a trick I learned visiting friends up north is to use a window squeegee to remove most of the moisture from the shower after each go. takes but a second and you'll have way less mould. i've also just learned that good microfibre will actually slice up mould spores, so I guess you could just use a microfibre sponge to similar effect. Re: Tiled shower base? 11Apr 22, 2007 12:09 pm I had this once and it was completely unpractic because of the corners. They are nearly imossible to clean. And it is much more difficult cleaning a tiled surface than a normal shower base. It is quite difficult to seal as well. I have seen poly marble shower bases last in excess of 30 years 1 4517 No, I even have sections of narrowness where the tiles won't slide up any further. When I manage some spare time, I might play around with the first DIY part of my… 7 4938 Thank you so much. We ended going with the terrain that’s part of our brick. 2 2545 |