Shower base

[SbergeronMG]

Hi,

Juste though I should post this.

Slab is 2'' thick, about 5 hours on our cnc and 15min by hand. All Nicolai tooling.

That one is already sold, i'm really wondering if there's a market for this kind of work.





What do you guys think about it?

[Alex_Bores]

Looks Great!

edited by Dan R.

[Dave.Scott]

We mill 2 to 3 of these bases each month.
Develop your market by finding a plumbing house that will show the shower pan in their showroom and be sure that they know that they can be made in custom sizes.
Be sure to understand your market; how much are the tile guys getting for a custom masonry pan, and don't forget to figure in the tile and setting cost as well.

Remember that there are a few companies out there that have them available off-the-rack right now, I don't think that they will do custom sizes.

http://www.pibamarmi.it/en/products-cat ... _41_72.htm

[Aladd1n]

I am interested in purchasing one of these. I need it approx 8' wide x 5' deep. Please PM me a price. I am looking for a white marble, maybe carrara.

Thanks
Aladdin

[Dave.Scott]

The problem with that size and the material that you are asking for, to have a 1/8th inch/ foot drop to drain you will not have enough "meat" at the drain hub-- only 3/16 inch in a 3 cm slab, so I'd ask for a laminated base and a pan liner under the unit plus a built up curb. This will necessitate some professionals on your end who understand what is going on.
Where are you? Who would be installing it?

[Mark Smith]

I need to have one of these made for my shower as well. Curious to how rough you want to have it in order to prevent slipping as well as how it needs to be sealed. Need to find a local sfa member with a cnc. I'd provide the diamond tooling. Scott instead of laminating what are your thoughts on starting with a 4" or 5" thick piece of stock?

[Dan R.]

Why wouldn't someone just use a slab with a trench drain at one end? Any size, up to a full slab, pitch it at installation. They make shower base trays in every size imaginable, if you do not want to do a built up floor pan.

Don't get me wrong, the pan looks ok. It just seems to solve a problem that doesn't exist. Isn't that type drain kind of hokey, from a design standpoint?

[SbergeronMG]

I don't like the drain either but what client bring is what we make for.

I agree with Dan, with doing the pitch on installation although the finish of the slab should be worked on, not to be deadly slippery.

I just found that shower base was nice, for a certain group of people and was really wondering if you guys sell some of those around north America.

[Dave.Scott]

I need to have one of these made for my shower as well. Curious to how rough you want to have it in order to prevent slipping as well as how it needs to be sealed. Need to find a local sfa member with a cnc. I'd provide the diamond tooling. Scott instead of laminating what are your thoughts on starting with a 4" or 5" thick piece of stock?

That would work as well, we have made them from 3cm material and then laminated a another piece on the bottom on site so it doesn't weigh so much.

I also like the linear drain option -- I have 2 in my own house-- much cleaner look. We diamond brush the surface for grip.

[Dan R.]

The rougher the texture, the more difficult the cleaning.
We leave them polished. I have had several natural stone showers, never textured one of them.

I feel as though I am missing something, by seeing no value in the milling portion of this base. To have an expensive machine process this for 5 hours seems a little unproductive, imo. My other concern is the drain, it causes more issues (expense) than it is worth. I would wager, the client was never given a trench option by the designer.

If someone wanted it thicker, a mitered apron could be easily done in the field, scribed to the floor.