Making a walk-in shower is one of the most popular choices in a bathroom renovation. No threshold, no shower tray, just a floor that runs through and a glass screen. It looks spacious and is easy to keep clean, also later in life. But a walk-in shower without a proper fall or waterproofing leads to puddles on the floor or damp in the wall. In this article you can read how to build a walk-in shower properly, which choices you make and what to look out for in a small bathroom.
A walk-in shower is a shower without a tray and without a threshold. The bathroom floor continues under the shower head and slopes gently towards a drain. A fixed glass screen holds back most of the water. There is no door, so you step in and out easily.
In our bathroom renovation we made a walk-in shower like this, with a glass screen, large tiles, black taps and a niche in the wall. You often see combinations like that: the calm, continuous floor shows large tiles off well.
Water only drains away if the floor slopes properly. As a rule the fall is around 1 to 2 percent towards the drain. Too little, and the water stands. Too much, and the floor feels crooked. The fall is made in the screed, before a single tile is laid.
With a concrete floor the fall can sometimes be made in the existing floor. With a timber floor, such as on an upper storey, more preparation is needed. Sometimes the floor is lowered slightly, sometimes the whole bathroom floor is raised a little. We look at that per situation.
A linear drain is a long, narrow drain, usually along the wall. The floor then only needs to slope in one direction, so you can use large tiles. A point drain is a square drain, often in the middle. For that the floor has to slope towards one point, which means more cutting of the tiles.
A linear drain along the wall is often the nicest and most practical choice for a walk-in shower, especially with large tiles. Do watch the capacity, though: a rain shower delivers a lot of water, and the drain must be able to keep up. Read in our step-by-step plan for renovating a bathroom where the drain fits into the schedule.
A tile is waterproof, the grout often not entirely. That is why a waterproofing system goes under the tiles across the whole wet zone: a liquid coating or a membrane with special tapes in the corners and around the drain. This is work you never see again after tiling, but it makes the difference between a dry and a damp bathroom.
The glass screen must be wide enough to keep splashes inside. As a rule a screen of at least 90 centimetres works well, a little less for a small shower. A screen with a heavy-duty profile or a stabilising bar to the ceiling makes sure it stands firm.
A walk-in shower is perfectly possible in a small bathroom too, and often even a gain. Without a tray and door the room looks bigger. You do need to think carefully about where the splash water goes, for example by aiming the shower head away from the opening or choosing a second glass panel.
If you want to know what such a renovation costs, look at the cost of a bathroom renovation. At Daal Constructions we handle the entire toilet and bathroom renovation, including plumbing and finishing. Prefer a price for your bathroom straight away? Request a tailored quotation.
Only make the final choice of linear drain once the tiles are known. A drain that falls exactly on the tile size saves a narrow cut strip along the wall.
Yes, but it needs extra preparation. The floor must be stiff enough not to deflect, and the fall is made with a separate build-up. Good waterproofing is extra important here.
A size of about 90 by 120 centimetres is comfortable, larger gives more room to move and less splashing. In a small bathroom it can be smaller, with a cleverly placed glass screen.
A little splash water is always possible, especially without a door. With a wide glass screen, a good fall and a shower head aimed away from the opening, it stays limited.
As part of a bathroom renovation the walk-in shower often takes a few days, including fall, waterproofing and tiling. The drying time of the screed and the waterproofing determines part of the schedule.
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