Walk-In Shower Installation

Finding room for a walk-in shower

Most walk-in shower projects start with a space question. Some homeowners want a shower in a bath that only has a tub. Others want to replace a cramped thirty-two inch stall with something they can actually turn around in, and some want a shower added to a first-floor bath so a parent can stay downstairs. Each one starts with measuring what the room can give up.

An open walk-in shower without a door needs enough length that the spray stays inside the glass, and that depends on where the head points and how far the water carries. A shower with a door can be more compact. We mark the shower outline on the floor at the walkthrough so you can stand in it and see how it sits against the vanity and the door.

If the shower takes floor from a closet or the room next door, we check that wall for load and for what runs inside it before planning goes further. If it carries a load, you know that before anything else is decided.

It also helps to think about how long you plan to stay. A walk-in shower built for the next twenty years might get blocking for grab bars in the walls now, a bench at sitting height and a low or curbless entry, even if nobody needs those today. Adding blocking while the walls are open is far easier than opening finished tile later.

Shower pans, slopes and curbs

A shower floor has to slope toward the drain everywhere, with no flat spots where water sits. There are a few ways to build it: a traditional mortar bed over a liner, a prefabricated foam tray system, or a solid base. Each has trade-offs in height, tile choice and how forgiving it is, and we pick the one that suits your floor framing and the tile you want.

A curb is the simplest way to keep water in. A low curb or a curbless entry is easier to step into and better for anyone planning to stay in the house as they age, but it changes the framing. To keep the bathroom floor level while the shower floor slopes, the shower area usually has to be recessed into the joists or the rest of the floor built up. In an older house that depends on what is under the floor, and we look before promising either.

Large tile on a shower floor generally needs a linear drain, since a big flat tile cannot follow a four-way slope to a center drain without a lot of cuts.

A new shower almost always means a new drain, and the drain decides more of the layout than any other part.

Where the new drain goes

A new shower almost always means a new drain, and the drain decides more of the layout than any other part. It needs a trap, a vent and a run to the existing drain line with proper slope. Over a finished ceiling or on a slab, routing it is the main planning question.

A linear drain along the back wall or at the entry lets the floor slope in one direction, which suits large tile and curbless entries. A center drain is simpler to plumb but brings a four-way slope. The licensed plumber lays out the drain with us, it is inspected at rough-in, and the shower pan is flood tested before any tile goes on it, so a leak shows itself while it is still easy to fix.

In older homes the drain you are tying into may be cast iron, and near the stack sometimes lead. Connecting to it is common work but needs the right transition fittings, and sometimes the old section is worth replacing while the floor is open anyway.

The details at the drain body and at the joint where the pan meets the walls are where the most care goes. We check those before the flood test and photograph them, so you have a record of what sits behind the tile.

Waterproofing the whole wet zone

Cement board is not waterproof. Neither is grout. A tiled shower stays dry because of the waterproof layer behind the tile, either a sheet membrane or a liquid-applied one, carried continuously from the pan up the walls and around every corner, niche, bench and valve. Failed tile showers most often trace back to a gap in that layer.

With an open walk-in shower, the wet zone reaches past the glass, especially near the entry. We carry the waterproofing out onto the floor where spray lands and slope it correctly. Built-in niches and benches get the same membrane and a slight pitch so water does not sit on them.

We also think about what happens outside the shower. An open entry means some water will reach the bathroom floor now and then, so we choose a floor tile with grip when wet, pitch the area right at the entry, and place the exhaust fan close enough to the shower to clear steam before it settles on the ceiling and mirror.

Glass, valves and the last details

A fixed glass panel, a hinged door or a sliding enclosure each need solid blocking in the wall at the right height for the hardware, which means the glass is chosen before the walls close even though it goes in last. The glass itself is measured after the tile is set, because it is cut to the finished openings.

Valve placement deserves thought too. On a walk-in shower, putting the controls near the entry lets you turn the water on without stepping into a cold spray, and a handheld on a slide bar helps with cleaning and with anyone who prefers to sit. We settle these at rough-in, standing in the framed space with you, and confirm them in writing.

Lighting inside the shower is easy to forget until the glass is up. A wet-rated recessed light over a larger walk-in makes a real difference, and it has to be placed during rough electrical. So does a heated floor, if you want the warmth to reach the shower entry.

When the shower is finished, we run the water with you, check the spray against the glass and look at the entry from outside. If water is going where it should not, we fix it before we leave, and you get the care information for the grout and glass.

See the rest of our bathrooms work, or browse the gallery for rooms we have finished.