A linear shower drain suits a shower floor that slopes one way and carries large tile, and it can lead to a barrier-free entry. A center drain goes with smaller tile. So pick the drain while you’re still drawing the floor.
The order matters. Choosing the drain after the tile can mean revisiting the floor plan and the tile choice. As a general rule the drain, the tile and the entry move as one decision, so settle them with the design team before the shower floor gets built.
What Does a Linear Shower Drain Change About the Floor?
The drain decides how the floor slopes. One drain maker says water flows to a linear drain on a single slope. The same maker describes a center square drain differently: water flows to it on a conventional four-way, compound slope. So the floor falls one way, or it falls from every side.
Picture a shower floor that tilts gently toward one wall. Then picture one that drops toward a point in the middle from every side at once. As a general rule the first pattern is simpler to lay out than the second. That’s why the drain, the slope and the tile get planned as one piece of work. The tile has to sit flat on whatever shape the floor takes.
For a side-by-side look, read one drain maker’s comparison of linear and center drains. That maker sells both types, so read it as a maker’s view of its own products rather than as neutral advice.
A tub conversion puts the same question on the table. Guthrie’s post on why the drain moves in a tub-to-shower conversion covers that part of the job.
Does Your Drain Choice Limit the Tile?
It can. One building-trade article says a conventional shower drain’s four-way fall limits installers to tiles four inches or smaller, so the tile can cover the slope smoothly on all four sides. That same article says a linear drain’s one-way slope allows large-format tile. That’s a fork in the plan.
Both of those points come from one building-trade article on linear drains. It’s trade writing about custom shower work, so treat it as experience from the field and not as a rule for your bathroom.
So say it early if you’ve fallen for a big tile. Say it early if you want a small mosaic, too. Picture a floor in large squares running wall to wall. Then picture the same floor cut into small pieces that can turn in several directions. A designer can tell you how each drain, and the floor shape that goes with it, may suit the tile you have in mind.
Pick the tile last and the floor may have to be redrawn around it. Tile is easy to fall for first, so bring it into the drain conversation.
Does a Linear Drain Help With a Curbless Entry?
It can. One building-trade article says a barrier-free shower is easier to build when the linear drain sits at the entry, where a curb would otherwise divide the wet area from the rest of the bathroom. One drain maker says one slope and no barrier to cross lets the floor more easily take a freestanding bench or a wheelchair.
Whether a curbless entry suits your bathroom depends on the floor you’ve got and the plan you’re drawing. Ask the design team early. A bench can change the floor. So can a shower someone may use from a seat.
For a bathroom built around easy access, Guthrie’s choices include non-slip flooring materials, thresholdless or open shower styles and easy-to-access doorways. Who’ll use this shower matters as much as how it looks.
And if this would be the last tub in the house, that’s a separate decision. Guthrie’s post on whether to give up your last bathtub for a walk-in shower works through it.
Does a Linear Drain Cost More?
The maker and the trade article agree here. One building-trade article says linear drains cost more, and that the cost can be a barrier. One drain maker says a center square drain can usually be bought for less than a linear drain system. Neither one is pricing your floor, though.
The drain is one line in a floor plan. As a general rule it’s worth asking the design team to look at the tile, the floor and the drain together, instead of comparing drains on their own. Ask what each choice does to the tile you want. A drain that costs less can still change what the floor and the tile are able to be. And the reverse holds.
A floor you love may point you toward one drain and away from the other. Weigh the whole floor, not the one part.
Settle the Drain Before the Tile Goes In
As a general rule the drain, the slope, the tile and the entry are a single decision. The drain type sets what the others can be. The tile can follow the drain. The drain may not easily follow the tile. Settle it first and the rest of the floor has room to follow. The drain decision sits upstream of the rest. Leave it open and the floor plan can end up chasing the tile.
Come to the consultation with the entry you want, curb or no curb. Bring the tile you’ve got your eye on, or at least its size. Say what you want the drain itself to look like, since a long slot and a small square can read differently in a finished floor. And say who’ll use this shower, day to day, and whether that’s likely to change. Those answers tell a designer a lot about the floor.
Frequently Asked Questions About Shower Drains
What is a linear shower drain?
One drain maker describes it as a drain the water reaches on a single slope. The floor falls one way, toward the drain, instead of dropping toward a center point from every direction. That same maker describes a center square drain as taking a conventional four-way, compound slope. The shapes are different, so the floors are too. Your designer can tell you which one your floor plan supports.
What is a four-way fall?
One building-trade article uses that phrase for the shape of the floor around a conventional center drain. The shower pan has to be sloped toward the center from all directions. That article says installers are then limited to tiles four inches or smaller, so the tile can cover the slope smoothly on all four sides. Tile size is the real consequence.
Can a linear drain take large tile?
One building-trade article says large-format tiles can be installed with a one-way slope, and a linear drain is what gives the floor that single slope. That’s the direction the article points. Whether a particular tile works on your floor is still a question for your designer, who can look at the drain, the slope and the room together.
Does a linear drain suit a shower bench or a wheelchair?
One drain maker says so. With only one slope and no barrier to cross, it says, the floor more easily accommodates a freestanding bench, a wheelchair or another mobility aid. Read that as the maker’s view. A designer still has to check it against your bathroom and the people who’ll use the shower.
Will Guthrie help me choose a shower drain?
Guthrie’s experienced design team will help you get the most out of your bathroom layout, and the shower floor is part of that layout. You can visit the Pleasant View showroom to see materials in person, or schedule a consultation to get started. Bring the tile you like and the entry you want, and talk the floor through with a designer.
Bring Your Shower Floor Plan to the Showroom
At Guthrie’s Pleasant View showroom, you can see materials in person, from cabinetry and countertops to plumbing fixtures.
Seeing tile and fixtures in the same room, at the same time, can make the floor easier to picture. As a general rule, choosing the drain and the tile together makes a linear shower drain decision easier to settle.
Guthrie’s bathroom remodeling service includes an experienced design team that will help you get the most out of your bathroom layout. The showroom is there so you can see those materials yourself.
When you’re ready to draw the floor, talk with Guthrie’s design team about your shower floor plan.
