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Yes, we had to raise it up by about 8 inches from the sub floor to accommodate for the drain/trap - our tank had a special "notch" that allowed us to keep the platform pretty low, so you will want to factor that into your build.

Lightest way is to use FRP panels (fiberglass reinforced panels) available in large sheets at hardware stores. Cut to size for bottom and sides. Best to use a plastic or stainless steel shower pan below. If you want to tile just the shower pan floor area (very tiny in Sprinter) do the following: Subfloor is plywood. Paint it with anything. Use Schluter Kerdiboard instead of Hardiebacker board. Very light, pricey, but has a waterproof membrane covering both sides, great stuff! Check Youtube on application. They also have just the orange Kerdi membrane without the backerboard. But the Kerdiboard is much lighter than any other, so use it to save weight. Use MAPEI thinset mortar mixed with Polymer over the Kerdiboard. Get MAPEI (Italian) products from Lowes only. Apply thin coating to Kerdiboard or membrane and stick tile over it. Use small tiles with nonskid finish only. Size should not exceed 2 inches so there is no chance of cracking. Use 1/8” thickness to save weight. After mortar dries, mix MAPEI Grout with Grout Maximizer and fill in grout spaces. Wipe off, dry, done. MAPEI is an Italian brand and only Lowes carries it. The Polymer is a rubber compound that makes the mortar flexible. The Grout Maximizer is a rubber compound that makes the grout flexible and also has a built in sealant, so no need to use sealant. This makes the tile stick better, no cracking due to vibrations, and super flexible holding power. I did my RV bathroom and after 5 yrs not a single tile came out. Superb sticking power! I am sure you can use any grout or mortar with MAPEI products. Priced same as others. Kerdi is pricey but I don’t have other alternatives I know of. I don’t trust painted waterproofing on wood, I want a barrier there like a membrane. Or do both. Its really nice to walk on tile, I love it! I want to do the shower pan now, as I have only done the bathroom floor and raised toilet area. Looks great!

I think you could get away with no tiling if you had some sort of water proof material for the floor (maybe even something similar to what is used on the walls). I’m not sure it would look the most amazing, but functionally it should be okay :).

We were really happy with how the shower came out, and we had zero leaks the entire time we were out on the road! The only issue we ran into later on was with our tile installation – we didn’t put enough “mortar” and grout under the tile, and several of them started to peel up, which turned into a game of whack-a-mole after the second year. This was purely cosmetic, as the tiles were purely a decorative function and it was completely water proof under them, but still something that annoyed me – so on the last year out, while at an RV park I ended up scraping off all the tile, going to home depot and buying the same tiles (which were still available!), and redid it with a much more liberal base of flexible mortar/adhesive, and it held up fantastic after that.

Michelle, see my response to Robin. The trick with tile is to use small tiles not bigger than 2 inches, 1/4" thick for light weight, and use polymer instead of water in both mortar and grout. MAPEI makes it. At Lowes.