Tub-to-shower conversion
Remove a 15 in step-over without moving a wall
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Accessible bathing
Walk-in showers
A shower you walk, or roll, straight into. No lip, no lift, no moment where you are balancing on one foot with wet tile under you.
- Entry height
- 0 in
- Clear opening
- 36 in
- Pan fall
- 1/4 in per ft
- Floor DCOF
- 0.62
01Overview
What this actually involves
A curbless shower is a floor problem before it is a tile problem. The pan has to fall 1/4 in per foot toward the drain, and all of that fall has to happen inside the shower so the opening stays dead flat. That means either dropping the sub-floor between sistered joists or saw-cutting and re-pouring a slab, then running a linear trough against one wall so the whole pan falls in a single direction.
We do this about forty times a year in Sarasota and Manatee homes, most of them on slab. The slab work adds a day and a licensed concrete cut, and it is the only honest way to get a true zero-inch entry. Anyone quoting a curbless shower without mentioning the floor is planning to give you a small ramp instead.
Everything above the pan follows from the same thinking. Blocking goes in before the cement board so grab bars can move later without opening tile. The valve sits on the entry wall at 38 to 48 in so the water is warm before anyone steps in. The floor tile is a 2 in porcelain mosaic at DCOF 0.62, because grout joints every two inches are what your foot actually grips.
02Scope
What is in the price
Everything below is included as standard. Anything that is an allowance rather than a fixed item is named as one on your quote.
- Floor recess and linear drainJoist sistering or a saw-cut slab recess, a 36 or 48 in linear trough, 2 in waste to the existing stack.
- Pre-sloped pan at 1/4 in per footDeck mud floated by hand, checked with a 4 ft level in three directions before waterproofing.
- 40 mil bonded waterproofingCarried 6 in up the walls, 12 in out onto the bathroom floor, flood-tested 24 hours.
- Grab-bar blocking on every wall2x10 flat at 32 to 42 in AFF, plus a stud pack at the opening jamb. Load-tested to 250 lbf.
- Folding seat, 17 to 19 in400 lb rated, 16 in deep, bolted through six lags into double blocking.
- Thermostatic valve capped at 120 FASSE 1016 rated, with the stop set at the valve rather than only at the heater.
- Handheld on a 59 in hoseSlide bar doubles as a rated vertical grab bar, not a hardware-store rail.
- DCOF 0.42 and above underfootOur default floor is a 2 in unglazed porcelain mosaic measured at 0.62 wet.
03Sequence
How the days run
One lead carpenter stays with the job from the first zip wall to the final punch list.
- 01
Measure and stud-map
We find every stud, pipe and wire before quoting, so blocking is priced honestly.
- 02
Demolition and floor prep
Tub or old pan out, floor opened, slab cut or joists sistered. One to two days.
- 03
Rough plumbing and inspection
New valve, trough, waste and vent. County plumbing inspection.
- 04
Blocking, board, waterproofing
Blocking in, cement board, membrane, 24 hour flood test.
- 05
Tile and grout
Floor mosaic first, walls up, then a colour-matched joint at the curbless transition.
- 06
Fixtures, glass, walk-through
Bars, seat, valve trim, glass panel. We hand you the load-test sheet.
04Also relevant
Services that usually go with this
Accessible and aging in place
Clearances, blocking and comfort-height fixtures by the numbers
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Tile and flooring
Specified by coefficient of friction, not by showroom looks
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05Questions
About walk-in showers
Asked on almost every job like this
If your question is not here, put it to us on the phone. We answer the awkward ones the same way.
Ask a person instead(941) 555-0213All questions and answersNot if the pan is sloped properly and the trough is sized for the head. A 1.75 gpm head against a 36 in linear drain moves water faster than it arrives. We also carry the waterproofing 12 in past the opening so an occasional splash lands on membrane, not on bare substrate.
Yes, and most Sarasota homes are on one. We saw-cut roughly 1.5 in deep inside the shower footprint, chip it out, set the drain body, then re-pour with a fibre-reinforced mix. It adds about a day and a licensed cut to the schedule.
Usually not. A single fixed panel with a 36 in open side keeps a wheelchair path clear and gives a caregiver room to reach in. If splash is a concern we extend the panel rather than add a swinging door.
That is exactly what the blocking is for. With 2x10 flat blocking from 32 to 42 in AFF on every wall, a bar can be relocated in an afternoon with no tile cut beyond the anchor holes.
The last thing on this page
Ninety minutes, at your house, for nothing
Joaquin measures the room against every clearance, maps the studs so we know where blocking can go, and leaves a written report. If the honest answer is that your bathroom cannot do what you need, he will say so and the report is still yours.
- Call
- (941) 555-0213
- Office hours
- Monday to Friday: 7:30 am to 5:30 pmSaturday: 9:00 am to 2:00 pmSunday: Closed, messages answered Monday
- Workshop
- 2140 Cattlemen Road, Suite 4, Sarasota, FL 34232
We do bathrooms only. If you need a kitchen, an addition or whole-home work we will give you two names of people who do it properly.