Tiling in a shower tray

[ss]

When laying a new shower tray is it better to tile to the floor then put the tray in or put the tray in and then start to tile above it?

[Fredxxx]

I placed the tray in place against the wall and tiled above. Otherwise there would have been a gap!

YMMV

[newshound]

Use one of those plastic angles which seals against the tray, so that there is *no* route for water down the tiles and under the tray.

[Cursitor Doom]

What I do is lay the tray to the bare wall, then seal around it. Then tile above the tray AND seal around that as well, so you effectively have a double sealant barrier.

[dennis]

The only shower trays I have installed had up stands to go against the wall that you tiled over so you have to tile after fitting the tray.

[ss]

Thanks for all the replies. I ask because the last time I did this was around 12 years ago and not quite sure what I did or know what I was doing as I was making it up as I went along. I do remember the shower tray was approx 2 inches short and I made a frame (for the 2 inch part) and sealed that then had a very slightly sloping 2 inch shelf which I then sealed and then tiled and sealed it all again against the tiles.

It was live by the seat of my pants but it held up.

This time I thought best to ask for those that have experience in what is actually correct.

[Rednadnerb]

If I ever do a shower again I will make sure that it is entirely waterproof before tiling (using tile backer board and sealant). The tiling should be considered to be decorative only, water will always make its way eventually through pinholes and hairline cracks that form over time.

[newshound]

My strategy for the same reason is never again to use tiles in a shower, only one of the melamine faced plywood boards (Mermaid, etc).

[Huge]

When I replaced the shower in our en-suite, the lower 18" of plasterboard had completely disintegrated behind the tiles, so I replaced it with Aquapanel and used an upstand on the edge of the shower tray, then tiled over the whole lot. Seems OK so far - must be ~10 years since I did it.

[ss]

Thanks for the comments, other half was talking about panels for the shower, I may give that another look as I am still a couple weeks away from tiling. One concern other than accuracy how do you get the holes for shower pipework accurate for one of those sheets.

[Huge]

With a great deal of careful measuring.

[ss]

Ha, I didnt think anyone would have a magic method, careful measurement it is then. :-)

[Chris French]

when I had to do something similar, getting a cutout in the right place in a board, I used a sheet of hardboard as a dummy run, got that right and used it as a template.

A large sheet of cardboard might do as well if you happened to have one

[ss]

Yes I should be able to get a sheet of something to make a template, Should be a load of cardboard coming with the packing for the shower enclosure.