I have a concrete floored, plaster walled bathtub alcove that I want to remodel into a curbless shower or wet room.
The condo building was built in 1959, and my unit was gutted by building management in 2014. The tub had been removed and drywall installed in the lower 18″ of the alcove below the existing plaster which is on metal lath. (I have removed the drywall and replastered the area.) The alcove is 38″ x 59″ x 30 1/2″ x 74″H. Red Guard has been suggested as has truck bed lining. Tiling the whole room also, with “curb” transferred to between bathroom floor and hall concrete floor (hall floor will remain polished concrete). I don’t want a curb and I hate shower doors/enclosures. I can’t seem to find a tile guy and plumber combo to talk through the whole process – seems this is unserved market except for the companies that want to install prefab units! And wet rooms are seen by most as – well, too “different”. I know enough to know what I want to do is possible and have used wet rooms in other countries but I don’t know enough to feel confident in my ability to either really “spec” this or to build it to pass an inspection or approval of the condo board – tho the last is often done by other condo owners as an “ask forgiven later” procedure. I want to do it right cause i’m going to use this everyday and live with it. I’ve seen pictures on Houz and Pintrest but no technical support. Any help out there?
GBA Detail Library
A collection of one thousand construction details organized by climate and house part
Replies
Genevieve. See this video for how to create a curbless shower (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C1s3YNYnfc). A local tile shop that sells Schluter should be able to recommend someone for this type of project.
Genevieve,
In this case, there is no substitute for an experienced tile setter who has already installed several successful roll-in showers. You need to find such a local contractor, or it's unlikely that your project can move forward.
There are several complicating factors in your case, including the fact that the slab has already been installed without a shower recess, and the fact that you don't want to alter the height of the hallway floor. In most cases, a roll-in shower requires a shower pan at a lower elevation than the floor elevation in the adjacent room.
For a full discussion of the required work, see this document: Curbless Showers: An Installation Guide.
.