Fiberglass shower pans are a quick and relatively cheap shower floor. The traditional way to install a shower floor is to build a masonry base and then set ceramic tile over the base. As you can see, the skill level for installing fiberglass pans is much lower.
You can find standard shower pans at your local building supply store. These pans will be standard sizes, but you can special order other sizes and sometimes even custom sizes. If you have an odd drain location or size, the price for your application will be much higher..
Often a fiberglass shower pan fits into an existing location without replacing the walls. For your older ceramic tile shower, you can replace just the floor and enough of the walls to get the replacement pan in place. That's assuming the walls are still in good shape. Often the walls are damaged if water has worked behind the walls. The walls will often break as the floor is removed.
If you are installing a new shower, fiberglass shower pans can be used with ceramic tile walls or with fiberglass walls that match the floor. Often the pans are used in handicapped access showers so there is little or no curb and a special non-skid surface.
Compared to traditional masonry shower pan construction, fiberglass options have advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are: easier to install, quicker, cheaper, easy to keep clean. The traditional masonry and ceramic tile advantages are: lasts longer with proper care, looks better, less subject to wear and damage.
Note also that a fiberglass shower pan available at your local store is not suitable as a base for ceramic tile. There are tile ready shower pans, but they are different and more expensive.
Puzzled about fiberglass shower pans? Visit our site for fiberglass shower pan tips
We invite you to visit http://www.installingceramictile.net for free answers to your shower questions.
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