Accessible Showers
What a curbless shower actually requires
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Short answer
A curbless shower requires the shower floor to sit below the surrounding floor level, which is achieved by recessing the structure, raising the bathroom floor, or lowering a slab. It also requires a drain and slope arrangement that moves water faster than the showerhead delivers it, because there is no curb doing containment work.
Key takeaways
- Curbless is a structural condition, not a product you can buy.
- Joist direction and what sits below the bathroom decide what is possible.
- A linear drain lets a single-plane floor take large-format tile.
- In many small or shallow-framed homes, a 2-inch curb is the better answer.
Three ways to get a level entry
- 1Recess the framing: sister or notch the structure so the pan drops in. The cleanest result and the most involved carpentry.
- 2Raise the bathroom floor: build the whole floor up to the pan height. Simpler, but creates a transition at the doorway.
- 3Lower a slab: saw-cut and recess the drain area on slab-on-grade homes, common in Nampa, Kuna and other single-level Treasure Valley housing.
When we recommend against it
- Manufactured homes, where the floor structure is too shallow to recess safely.
- Upper-floor bathrooms over a finished ceiling that cannot be opened.
- Very small bathrooms, where the drainage area cannot extend past the glass line.
- Any situation where achieving level entry would mean compromising the waterproofing detail to save depth.
A well-built low curb is not a consolation prize. It removes the hard part of the problem — climbing over a tub wall — at a fraction of the structural work.
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Planning a shower project?
Tell us about the shower you have and the one you want. We will come back with questions, then arrange to see the room before anything is quoted.