Walk-in shower installation

Walk-in with a low curb or fully curbless

A walk-in shower keeps a short curb at the entry, while a curbless one has a floor that runs flush from the bathroom into the shower. The low curb is simpler: the Florida code wants it at least 1 in lower than the sides and back of the pan, and the drain sits 2 to 9 in below the top of that curb. Going curbless means recessing or rebuilding the subfloor so the shower floor can drop toward the drain while the bathroom floor stays level, which is more labor.

In a condo tower we never core or cut the slab without the association's written approval, an engineer's review and a concrete scan, so curbless is not a given there. Homeowners starting from a bathtub can read how we handle turning an old tub into a shower.

Linear drain or center drain

A linear drain lets the whole floor tilt one way, so we can use large-format porcelain on the shower floor and carry the same tile out into the bathroom. A center drain needs the floor sloped from four sides toward a point, and that works best with smaller tiles that bend with those planes. Big tiles also need a flat substrate and near-full mortar coverage in wet areas, which is why we back-trowel them.

The slope under your feet

Every shower floor we build falls ¼ to ½ in per foot toward the drain. The membrane goes under the tile and turns up the walls, and the pan is flood-tested before tile goes on. Our guide to waterproofing a shower has the layer-by-layer detail.

Minimum size, the valve and the glass

The Florida Building Code sets a floor for shower size: at least 900 sq in inside, no side shorter than 30 in, and a clear entry of 22 in or more. The rule matters most when we fit a shower into a small hall bath. Every new valve we install is pressure-balance or thermostatic, with its limit stop set at 120 °F.

Any glass in a shower enclosure that sits less than 60 in above the floor has to be safety glass. We use tempered frameless panels and measure for them only after the tile is set, since tile and thinset change the fit. South Florida water leaves mineral spots, so we suggest a factory easy-clean coating on the glass.

A bench and a niche

We frame the bench before waterproofing so the membrane wraps over it like any other wall, then tile it and give the seat a slight pitch toward the drain. A recessed niche goes into a wall that has no plumbing, at a height you pick at the visit. Both fit well in larger rooms, and our primary bath remodel page shows how a walk-in fits into a full redo.

Walk-in shower price

The walk-in price includes the frameless glass. The glass row below is for a second panel or a door added on another opening:

Labor and materials included, in US dollars, October 2026. Each bathroom job has one fixed price for the scope written next to it. A new vanity and frameless glass are added at a fixed price each. Plumbing and electrical work is done by licensed trades and permits are pulled when the job needs them. Rot, mold or old pipes found behind the walls are priced before we fix them.

Damage found behind the old walls and extra tile outside the shower are quoted apart. Our cost breakdown with the calculator lists what changes the total.

Frequently asked questions