Curbless Walk-in Showers

Luxury Primary Suite Conversions

Curbless Walk-in Shower Construction with Waterproof Membranes

A curbless shower is harder to build than a standard curbed shower because the floor has to slope correctly and drain efficiently without a curb to contain water. That requires lowering the shower floor relative to the bathroom floor — typically by recessing the pan into the subfloor framing — and building the drain and waterproofing system so water moves consistently toward the drain without pooling at low spots or migrating to the bathroom floor.

Our waterproofing approach uses Schluter KERDI or Laticrete Hydro Ban membranes applied in overlapping layers across the shower floor, walls, and transition zones. We run the membrane up the walls to at least 6 inches above the highest expected water contact and bond it at every seam, corner, and penetration. Before any tile goes down, we flood-test the pan for 24 hours and document that the water level hasn't dropped — that's the standard, not an extra.

Linear drains at the shower entry add a secondary barrier that catches water before it reaches the bathroom floor. They also allow single-direction slope across the shower floor, which matters for large-format tile — a 24x48 porcelain slab can't be sloped four directions toward a center drain without visible warping at the corners. Southeast Michigan homeowners choosing a curbless design get a system engineered to perform correctly, not just to look right on the day of completion.