Planning Your Project
How long a shower remodel takes, stage by stage
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Short answer
A shower rebuild moves through demolition, rough-in, substrate, waterproofing, flood testing, tile setting, grouting and glass. Several of those stages involve cure or set times that cannot be shortened without weakening the assembly, which is why an honest schedule includes waiting as a scheduled activity rather than as slippage.
Key takeaways
- Cure time is not downtime; it is part of the build.
- Glass is templated after tile, so it always lands near the end.
- The biggest delays come from what demolition reveals.
- Selections made late delay the whole sequence, not just their own stage.
The stages in order
- 1Protection and demolition, including inspection of everything exposed.
- 2Plumbing and any electrical rough-in for the new drain, valve and lighting.
- 3Framing corrections and blocking for glass, bench and grab bars.
- 4Substrate installation, checked flat and fastened to specification.
- 5Waterproofing, with banding at every corner, seam and penetration.
- 6Flood test, held long enough to be conclusive.
- 7Tile setting, then a set period before grouting.
- 8Grout, sealant at change-of-plane joints, then plumbing trim.
- 9Glass templating and installation.
- 10Walk-through, punch list and care instructions.
What actually causes delays
- Hidden damage found at demolition — rot at the drain, an earlier failed remodel, undersized framing.
- Selections not finalised, which stalls ordering and therefore the tile stage.
- Inspection scheduling where a permit is required.
- Special-order tile or glass hardware with long lead times.
- Mid-project scope changes, which reset the sequence rather than adding to the end of it.
We will not compress cure times to hit a date. A shower that is dry on schedule and leaking in three years is not a shower that finished early.
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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.