Selection of a drainage solution for a tiled shower area offers a number of options to consider.

A point drain can look dated and create a tile layout effect that may not be visually pleasing. The cutting of tiles to the central waste is not always accepted by clients, and won’t give the finish they have seen in magazines and media.

The use of a stainless steel shower channel allows for a single plane of fall and various grating options to get the sleek modern look demanded by today’s clients

Design trends are moving towards finishes such as full stone linings and this is where a custom-made shower channel comes into its own. It starts with the floor waste gulley and VF80 flange which was pioneered in the early 2000’s. This was a breakthrough allowing the floor waste to be pushed back against the rear wall allowing a channel to butt up against the vertical tile linings and keep a good bonding flange area to terminate the waterproof membrane onto. The floor waste gulley removes the maintenance-heavy bucket style waste with the modern high pressure shower self-cleaning the water trap and flushing debris.

A full stone, or large format tile finish will often give a variance in the dimensions of the finished shower area from that detailed on the plans. The tile trade may need to ease the finished line to allow for build ups in corners, untrue walls or the actual thickness or finish of the linings may vary. In this situation the use of an off-the-shelf type of shower channel may inhibit the tiler from getting the best finish as the fixed size of channel will be the datum to work from, not the finished room. Plus or minus two or three millimetres can be the difference between the perfect finish and an unsightly, uneven silicone join to the channel.

The ideal finish can be simply achieved by just “giving the room” to the tiler and letting them do their trade to complete the linings to the best possible standard, leaving an 86mm wide reveal in the tiles for the shower channel. At this point the channel can be measured and the perfect length fabricated to suit the finished room.

Allproof recommend matching the number of outlets in the channel to the number of mixers installed to allow for extra flow rates. A cross break of 5mm in the base of the channel creates fall to these outlets ensuring that the channel dries when not in use. Allproof's channel outlets are formed in the fabrication process and fully welded spigots direct the surface water to the DWV waste outlets while the VF80 leak control flange will allow sub tile moisture to escape out the waste.

Allproof has online resources and nationwide sales support to make the custom fabrication easy. Offset outlets due to structure, exact lengths and coloured finishes are all managed from the Auckland manufacturing plant and shipped nationwide through the end users preferred merchant network.

All of these factors will allow the dream bathroom to be completed by the relative trades to perfection with the final icing on the cake being a locally made, fit-to-size shower channel that will stand up to the test of both form and function.