Shower trays confusion

[WiltingWallfower]

We’re having a ground floor shower room fitted and the more I read the more I am confused about what type of shower tray we need.

It will be fitted on a hard floor, currently quarry tiles, but the tiles are being removed/changed as part of the refit.

I prefer the look of low profile or wet room styles to having a step up, but am I right in thinking we would need to have a step to accommodate the pipework/drain? I’m guessing this is the case, as it’s not going on floorboards, so there’s no sub-floor void to accommodate the pipes?

Dh thinks we’re better off having a raised tray anyway to avoid water spreading across the floor, as with three teenagers (two of which seem to lose a disproportionate amount of hair!) he’s convinced the drain will inevitably block at some point, but if you do this, I assume you still can’t access the pipework without a lot of dismantling anyway as it will all be sealed?

I think you can pull the side off to access some of them, the actual tray has legs, you could with the one that was fitted here when we moved in.

I ordered all my fittings from the same shop and the salesman was excellent - had a brilliant knowledge of all that was available.

I didn't want a step in either (not getting any younger) but am not keen on the wet room idea, so we opted for a very low one. Can't put my hand on it now but it's probably only a few centimetres in depth.

@TwoFourSixEightNeverTooLate thank you that’s really useful. Lots of the ones I’ve seen have the sides of the tray tiled, which is why I think dh thought it would be a pain if there was a problem later on.

@allmyliesaretrue having read up a bit more, unfortunately, I don’t think I can have a low profile one, due to the shower room being on a solid floor.

For anyone else who has the same issue/confusion, I just read this guide and found it really helpful.

@WiltingWallfower that article is interesting - I can see why a low tray won't work for you. Mine is an upstairs ensuite. It's exciting! Almost all of the 'bits' have come into the showroom and it's being fitted the last couple of weeks in July.