Making Sure Stylish Shower Drains Actually Drain

There are two types of shower drains, the point or center drain and the linear drain, notes Barbara Kratus, sales & marketing director for Infinity Drain. The former, the more familiar of the two, requires the shower floor to be sloped on four sides at 1/4 in. per sq. ft. to ensure proper drainage and tends to be less expensive. Traditional center drains come in multiple sizes to accommodate different flow rates from 8 gallons per minute (gpm) to 21 gpm and, because of the floor pitch, preclude the use of large-format floor tiles.

Linear drains work with a one-plane pitch of 1/4 in. to 1/8 in. per ft. and therefore allow tiling in a variety of formats. Available in different widths, lengths and flow rates, they should be installed wall to wall to prevent pooling in shower corners, according to Josef Erlebach, tech support for QuickDrain USA. To this end, some linear drains come in custom sizes while others are sizable on site. Longer lengths require multiple outlets for effective water evacuation.

An important consideration is whether the shower is barrier-free. According to Kratus, linear drains are particularly well suited to curbless installations where the flooring material inside the shower is continuous with the rest of the bathroom. Locating the drain at the point of entry creates a wet room, but necessitates waterproofing the floor on both sides of the drain. In addition, the floor area on the dry side of the shower should be slightly pitched.

The type of waterproofing to be used will influence the choice of drain channel and should be communicated when you’re purchasing the drain, Kratus says. Conventional waterproofing methods use a clamp down floor drain and include liners in different sheet materials, lead pans, copper pans and hot mop. Less mainstream but gaining in popularity, roll-on liquid membranes and fabric sheet membranes can be directly tiled without mortar and therefore require a flanged channel.