Shower tiling

[whereismyhammer]

Hi, I am fitting a new shower in the corner of a bathroom. The inside two walls of the shower will be tiled and I am fitting glass shower screens onto the other sides.

My original plan was to fix vertical battens onto the walls at the corners of the shower tray to tile against and when the adhesive is set, drill through the tiles into the wall to fix the metal U frame of the screen. I have seen it done this way many times.

However, it occurred to me that I could fix the metal frame directly onto the wall and tile on the inside of the shower up to the frame edge. No batten would be required and it would also hide the edge of the tiles. What problems are there doing it this way? There must be something obvious I have missed.

Cheers.

 

[pcaouolte]

There must be something obvious I have missed.

Water makes its way into the metal frame when you are using the shower and runs out of the bottom into the shower tray. That is why you only seal the outside of the metalwork to the wall. If there is no tile between the metalwork and the wall then the water can soak into the wall.

 

[whereismyhammer]

Thanks for your reply, and I accept it is more common to screw the frame onto the tiles. However, I think it may look neater from the outside if the frame is screwed to the wall as the tile edges will not be seen. Sealant between the frame and walls and where the tiles but up against the frame inside the shower would stop any leaks?