The importance of the bathroom within modern day living & households has changed. To many it is representative of investment, status, reflection of personality, and is central to home life, the bathroom no longer only serves a single purpose. Many use their bathroom to relax after a busy day, to get time to think away from distractions, a place of reflection, and sometimes used as a central family area. Whilst this new perception of the bathroom space is an increasing trend, when designing or renovating a bathroom space, many people forfeit style, functionality, and durability, over price, particularly when choosing a shower tray.
Naturally most focus and budget is spent on the central features of the bathroom, but the shower tray has a very important role, particularly if your focus is showering over bathing. Having a floor seated shower can give a contemporary look the whole shower area and can be more practical for cleaning.
Everyone has to work to a budget of course, but think about how long you would like your shower tray to last and maintain pristine condition. If you are in need of a quick fix solution then an Acrylic shower tray may be more suited, as a general rule they are cheaper to manufacture therefore cheaper to buy.
Standard Acrylic shower trays being the less expensive of the two have a comparatively short shelf life compared to it steel counterparts. The material between the two is self explanatory; steel is a solid metal that conducts heat well and is naturally more durable, Acrylic is usually an ICI vacuum formed acrylic sheet reinforced with fibre glass.
The two react very differently to different things. Acrylic shower trays as a general rule will sun bleach quite quickly, where as steel trays will not. This is of course dependent on the material used in the shower trays finish. Both types of shower tray are easy to clean and acrylic is a none-porous material so will wipe clean very easily.
Heat distribution is worth consideration; some Acrylic shower trays are filled with heat conducting material that distribute the heat evenly, whereas steel, although being a successful heat conductor, can lose temperature rapidly and is more responsive to subtle variants.
Most Acrylic and Steel shower trays are warp resistant but it is always worth checking the manufacturer notes and sales documents to check for these nuances in performance. Features like warping, slip resistance, scratch resistance, and lengthy guarantees are viewed as a positive product sales features so will be mentioned in catalogues or websites.
Another important aspect in making your choice is safety. If you have elderly people or young children in the household, or are likely to trip on a step then a practical solution would be to have a floor level shower tray. A floor level shower tray is recessed into the floor of your bathroom surface. Kaldewei provide various steel enamel shower tray solutions in this style, they use an ESR frame that the shower tray is installed into. The main advantages of this system are, firstly, a very easy installation, an ESR provides durable protection against damage caused by water seepage, as can occur when a silicone seal is not intact, and this type of damage is an avoidable expense if ESR systems are used.
All in all there are many manufacturers producing some exceptional products that suit all budgets and all design needs. The best advice is to buy a good quality shower tray first and save yourself having to replace it in a few years time.
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