Linear drain or shower tray?

What are the Advantages of Drains Compared to Traditional Shower Trays?

Costs - nowadays, purchasing a good linear drain certainly does not exceed the cost of buying a decent shower tray and its installation. The times have passed when a linear drain was a novelty and when drain prices started from around 150 € and up. The prices of good drains today start from around 80 € and depend on the size (available in various lengths), manufacturer, design, and material. However, it is advisable to avoid purchasing easily available cheap drains, which, apart from their low price, apparently do not differ from renowned models. They are usually imported from Asia, inferior to European counterparts in terms of durability, mainly due to the use of a very thin layer of steel and many plastic elements, such as the sediment trap.

Design - certainly, a modern bathroom is no longer associated with a shower tray. Hotels, public facilities opt for drains. For many years, there has been a trend of avoiding shower trays. Drains have a fairly modern design - which can be easily matched to the tiles in your bathroom.

Practical approach - a shower cabin with a drain is much more practical, especially for elderly people, who may often have some difficulty lifting their legs when entering the shower.
In the case of a cabin with a drain, there is no height difference, which completely eliminates the possibility of stumbling.

Odpływ liniowy AZTEK 60cm

CLASSIC TILE

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Odpływ liniowy AZTEK 60cm

ORIENTAL

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Odpływ liniowy AZTEK 60cm

C16-80N

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What to Look for When Choosing a Drain?

Contrary to appearances, the design of the cover is not the most important here, although aesthetics are certainly important. However, attention should be paid to several technical details. First of all, we avoid the cheapest counterparts. Their low price usually results from the use of a thin layer of steel with a thickness of 1 or 1.2mm. This is clearly too little for the product to be durable, and we hope that we will not have to replace the drain after 2 or 3 seasons. The apparent saving in this case may result in us spending more in the end, dealing with an additional problem of replacement.
To ensure that the drain is durable, choose products made of steel with a thickness of at least 1.5mm. Often, sellers of cheap drains provide exaggerated warranty terms (e.g., 10 years), but upon checking, it turns out that the selling company was registered only last year - which should make us think about the possibility of realizing such a warranty in practice.

The second important element is the sediment trap - the so-called element inside the trap, which serves to trap impurities. We remove it and clean it from time to time during use.
Therefore, avoid plastic sediment traps, as after a few months, they look terrible and become a breeding ground for bacteria. Look for only stainless steel sediment traps (see photo).

The drainage capacity, specifically the trap. Avoid drains that have less than 50 l/min. Although a typical shower does not exceed 30l/min, in the event of a clogged trap, drains with a capacity of less than 45-50 l/min do not perform well.

The construction of the elements, we have already mentioned avoiding plastic sediment traps. Additionally, it is worth mentioning the plastic leveling legs that each drain has on the sides. As we know, plastic is not a durable material, which does not contribute to the stability of the drain after installation. In this case, steel legs are a much better solution. Also, remember not to buy drains that have plastic channels (or made of PVC). They are outdated, and although they can still be found on the market, they have long lost the competition with drains
made entirely of stainless steel. Their lower price does not compensate for the loss of quality.

The length or size of the drain - is crucial for installation in our bathroom. Choosing the right length is a matter of aesthetics; most people believe that longer drains look nicer. It is not always the case that a longer drain collects water better, as the trap always has the same capacity. If the slopes are properly modeled by the tiler, a shorter drain will work just as well in terms of water collection.
However, we are limited by the size of our shower cabin. From practical considerations after many conversations with installers, we recommend purchasing a drain shorter than our cabin, i.e., if the cabin is 90cm wide, it is best to choose 80cm or smaller. Choosing a size equal to the cabin size poses significant difficulties in installation and creates sealing problems in subsequent seasons.

Feel free to check out the catalog of Nordic Tec shower drains.