The enclosure seals against it, and the water drains through it. It takes your weight and keeps you safe every time you use it. None of that ever makes it onto a moodboard.
Shape and size are just the start. Material, finish, height and drainage position all vary too, and each one changes how the shower tray works in your bathroom.
This guide breaks down each of those decisions, from choosing a shape to what’s underfoot and how safe it feels, so you know exactly what to look for before you buy.
The decisions that shape everything else
Starting a bathroom from scratch means deciding the shower’s position and size yourself. Swap or upgrade an existing one, and that decision has often been made by what’s already installed.
Your own space and plumbing are the starting point when searching for a shower tray, deciding both the size you need and the shape that will work.
The waste position needs the same consideration. Once your plumbing is in, you’ll need a tray with a waste that is going to line up and match it.
Square and rectangular shower trays
When you have a corner available, a square shower tray is the natural fit. That leaves enough space for a hinged or pivot door to swing open, or bi-fold door, to fold back comfortably.
Square doesn’t mean small either. Sizes run up to one metre across, which makes a square tray a solid option whether you have a larger bathroom or a more compact ensuite.
A shower space that is naturally longer than it is wide suits a rectangular tray. This is a shape that can also fill the space where a bath used to be, with some ranges reaching up to 1800mm in length.
A longer tray also opens up more choices in shower doors, from a fixed screen with an open end for getting in and out, to a sliding door for wider access and a different look.
The real difference between them is where the extra space goes. A square tray keeps floor space free elsewhere in the room, while a rectangular one puts that space into the shower itself, giving you room to move once you're in it.
Quadrant and offset quadrant shower trays
A quadrant shower tray fits into a corner. Two straight edges sit against the walls, and a curved front faces out into the room.
Inside the enclosure, the curved front leaves more room to move, which is why it’s most often paired with a curved sliding door that makes the most of it.
Where a standard quadrant has two equal straight edges, an offset quadrant stretches one of them further along the wall. One side runs longer than the other, so you get extra room to stand and wash while keeping the curved, corner-fitting shape.
The Crosswater 45mm shower tray offers this offset quadrant shape in six different sizes with the option of a left hand or a right hand tray and it has a lifetime guarantee.
Walk-in and wetroom shower trays
Stepping over a raised lip isn’t the only way into a shower. A walk-in tray removes that edge altogether, so there’s nothing in the way, and no step to catch your foot on as you go in.
Even a large walk-in tray is often only a few millimetres thick. The same low profile shower tray also works well in a wet room, where the floor around it is finished to match, so it blends into the room instead of standing out as a separate unit.
Both styles suit anyone who doesn’t want to be stepping over something to get into their shower. They also open up a bathroom in a way that an enclosed cubicle doesn’t.
Some walk-in designs also include a separate drying section on one side of the shower tray, which is a useful space to dry off before you step out of the shower area.
Where the water goes
By now you’ll have an idea of shower tray shape, but the position of your shower waste pipe matters just as much, and it’s worth checking before you settle on a particular tray.
The waste can sit in different places on a tray. It could be in the centre, off to the side or along one edge as a channel that catches the water as it drains. Whichever position it takes, it needs to match your plumbing and drainage already in your bathroom floor for everything to work as it should.
The Crosswater Vito shower tray, for example, uses a linear waste running along one edge rather than a centred outlet. This moves the drainage over to the side and away from your feet, leaving the middle of the tray clear.
The rectangular trays that are sized to replace a bath do more than just fill the space. Their waste position is designed to line up with where most standard bath wastes sit, so the switch doesn’t mean moving a single pipe.
Shower tray materials
Material changes more than how a shower tray looks. It affects how it feels underfoot, how it copes with years of daily use, and how much weight the tray can take before it starts to flex.
Stone resin suits a busy bathroom well and copes effortlessly with everyday wear and tear. It’s usually finished with a tough gel coat that keeps it easy to clean and repairable if it’s ever knocked.
Acrylic is simpler to lift into place and low-maintenance once it’s in. A polymarble finish, like the one on the Ideal Standard Ultra Flat Evo, gives an acrylic tray some of the look of stone.
MineralStone sits between the two, a hybrid of polyurethane resin and an acrylic top layer designed to give you a resin feel without the resin weight.
| Material | Weight | Best Suited To | Durability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acrylic | Lightest | Straightforward like-for-like swap | Easy to install and clean |
| MineralStone | Medium | Walk-in and low-profile installs | Strong despite the lighter weight |
| Stone Resin (incl. gel coated) | Heavy | A shower that gets heavy daily use | Won’t bend, warp or crack. Gel coat is repairable if damaged |
Shower tray height and profile
How high a shower tray needs to sit often comes down to what’s underneath it.
Profile heights vary by type. A handcrafted gel coated stone resin tray typically starts around 25-28mm thick, while an acrylic capped stone resin shower tray runs a little deeper, usually nearer 40mm.
Our Drench MineralStone 40mm Low Profile Rectangular Shower Tray is acrylic capped, lightweight and easy to fit. It also comes in 35 sizes to make sure there’s a size to match what you’re looking for, and has a lifetime manufacturer’s guarantee.
On a timber floor, that extra depth matters even more, since the waste pipe can run hidden beneath the boards in the gap between the joists. A low profile or flush shower tray can sit right down at floor level with nothing in the way.
But on a solid concrete floor, that gap doesn't exist, and the pipe usually has to run above the floor surface instead. A riser kit can be used to make sure that pipework has the space it needs.
A riser kit is a set of adjustable legs that lift the tray clear of the floor instead of sitting it flat, with a panel that clips round the front to hide the legs and give a neat finish. Each leg adjusts individually, so the tray still sits level if the floor is a little uneven.
The same kit works well when you’re swapping an older, deeper tray for a slim modern one that no longer leaves room underneath for the existing pipework. A shower tray riser kit can lift a tray by up to around 125mm to give you that clearance back.
Grip and safety, without changing the look
The one place in your bathroom you will always meet with bare feet is your shower tray. And staying safe in the shower is always a high priority. Anti-slip texture doesn’t have to look the way it used to, all grit and no nice finish.
Modern trays like the Harbour gel coated stone resin range build the grip into the surface itself, so it won’t wear away over time.
DIN 51097 sets the safety rating for wet-area bare-foot grip, and Class C is the top level in that test. If your bathroom gets used by young children or anyone less steady on their feet, choosing a shower tray with this rating ensures it has the highest level of grip available.
When choosing a shower tray, match the shape, material and finish to your own space and your shower becomes a moment in your day you’ll look forward to.
Take a look through our full range, from compact square and quadrant trays for an ensuite to rectangular and walk-in formats built for a full bathroom. Whatever space you’re working with, there’s a shape and material to suit almost any bathroom.
