Second, for owners with accessibility issues, these doors allow for a curbless design that eliminates the need to step over a rim. With a wide enough doorway opening, many walk-in showers are even wheelchair-friendly. And walk-in showers also have a wide range of design options. You can go wet-room style, with a tub and even sometimes the toilet right in the showering area. Or you use an enclosure alcove style with three walls, or a corridor-style with two walls facing each other, and openings on both sides. Some doorless showers even have no walls at all! Finally, a walk-in, or curbless, shower can be a decided selling feature when you put a home on the real estate market. A walk-in shower is regarded as a luxury feature and generally makes prospective buyers perk up.
Construction Considerations
However, walk-in showers tend to have more expensive design and construction costs, because they don’t come in standard sizes and frames, like the typical shower pans and shower surround panels you can buy at your local home hardware store. A walk-in shower generally needs to be customized for each bathroom, and they usually are somewhat more complicated to build. Curbless styles, in particular, must be carefully sloped to ensure that water empties down the drain, not out into the bathroom. This is work for a skilled craftsperson, and few DIYers are able to handle such construction. While shower walls can, and often are, completed by a skilled DIYer, a custom tile shower pan is a complicated project that most people will hire professionals to complete. Maintenance and repair can also be a little more involved than with a standard shower. Rather than using a prefabricated shower pan, these showers are generally built from ceramic tile, which will need to be regrouted and sealed from time to time. But with a little budget, some creativity, and inspiration from this gallery, you can plan the walk-in shower of your dreams. This style of mosaic tile with long narrow pieces attached to a mesh backing is sometimes known as pencil tiles. It is often installed horizontally, but for a striking appearance, it can be installed vertically so the pieces run up-and-down. Large tiles like the ones used here have fewer grout lines to get dirty, and thus reduces cleaning chores. Small-square mosaic tiles used for the shower base adds some underfoot texture that helps prevent slipping. With a center entry point, transparent glass walls on both sides maximize the design impact of the graphic tiled wall. Although this is not technically a “wet-room,” it has that appearance thanks to extending the same flooring tile throughout the bathroom. A single accent wall tiled in a dark color helps ground the overall white theme, which could be overwhelming without some contrast. Another tile option is porcelain tile, which is now available in styles that can closely resemble marble, granite, travertine and other natural stone tiles. Porcelain tiles are not only less expensive than natural stone, but also they are less porous and easier to care for. Note how the color of the subway tile used in the shower nook echos the color of the wood tones in the vanity cabinet. This tile pattern, classic for subway tile, is known as running bond or staggered brick. Multiple spray-head showers can use a lot of water and somewhat complicated plumbing, so make sure your water heater and plumbing are up to the task before having such a shower installed. As is often done in walk-in showers, a partial glass wall helps bring in light to the shower and prevents users from feeling claustrophobic. Glass block can be effectively used almost anywhere you might use clear glass panel walls in a walk-in shower, even quite small showers. Shiny glass tile can be bit harder to maintain, since the surfaces need to regularly polished to maintain the gleam and prevent water spots and mineral deposits. But the eye-opening effect of such a tile wall is undeniable.
