Are you considering tiled shower floors for your hotel or multifamily project? While tile is a popular choice for single-family homes, it's probably not the best option for high-traffic properties. Here are three reasons why you should consider alternatives for your shower floors.
#1: The Slope
One of the biggest challenges with tiled shower floors is ensuring proper water drainage. When water pools, it can create hygiene and odor issues, floor damage, and slipping hazards. To prevent this, a ¼-inch slope per foot towards the drain is required.
Unfortunately, creating the right slope during tile installation is always subject to human error. The installer has to slope the mud bed just right. A shower pan, on the other hand, typically features a built-in slope as well as a textured surface that can help prevent slips and falls. This makes them ideal for large properties like hotels and multifamily properties where safety is key.
Another benefit - the built-in slope makes installation much easier and faster.
#2: Grout, Grout, Grout
Due to the porosity of grout, tiled floors are prone to mold and mildew. They require ongoing maintenance like regrouting and sealing. While this might not be an issue for a single bathroom, it quickly becomes a headache when dozens of rooms need to be cleaned or shut down for maintenance.
In contrast, our shower pans are one piece, non-porous, and completely groutless. Permanently sealed, they resist mold and mildew. And, they won’t ever require regrouting.
#3: Lengthy Installation
Tiling a shower floor is a complex process. In short, the installers build up a mud bed, lay tiles, grout, leave it to cure, and then come back to seal. This takes days to complete - days that your hotel room (or apartment) is sitting empty, not collecting revenue.
In contrast, most shower pans are simply placed in the shower and hooked up to the plumbing. Multiply this time savings by dozens of showers, and you get a drastic reduction in overall installation time.
What Kind of Shower Pan?
When you’re designing showers for commercial properties, shower pans are an ideal option. For the utmost durability, consider solid cast marble shower pans. Unlike some other pans, these aren’t hollow. Extremely durable, they can withstand guest after guest, tenant after tenant. In fact, our cast marble pans weigh around 200 lbs! Learn all about shower pans in this post.
Although tiled floors may feature a variety of colors and designs, they come with many drawbacks. Commercial properties should look for options that are less labor-intensive and lower maintenance. Due to the sheer volume of showers, shower pans can save time and money while still achieving a sleek and sophisticated look in the bathroom.
