Can You Tile Over a Prefab Shower?

Prefab Showers

• A prefab or prefabricated shower is created primarily in a factory, and shipped in one piece for installation. For larger or more complicated shower patterns, different pieces are made in panels and combined during installation. These showers are usually made of plastic, with a fiberglass surface that is covered with a protective gel-coat layer and an acrylic layer of paint. They cannot be tiled over.

Major Problems

• There are two primary problems with tiling over a shower. The first problem is related to surface itself. The combination of acrylics, gel coats and fiberglass forms one of the worst surfaces for installing tile. Tile is designed to be bond with a surface like cement fiberboard or concrete. It cannot adhere to the surface of a prefab. Second, prefab showers are rarely made with the right angles and straight lines necessary to accommodate the flat backs of tile.

Prefab Bases and Pans

• There is an important difference between a prefab shower and a prefab shower base or pan. Sometimes these pans are designed to be used by themselves and cannot be tiled. But there is another class of shower pan that is designed to provide a base for tile installation and can be used if you are planning a tiling project.

Alternatives

• If you have a prefab shower but still want to tile your tub or shower area, you need to remove the tub entirely and start with its subfloor. You may want to compromise with a tile surround that leaves your shower in place, or a line of wall tile around your shower shell.