Shower service
Curbless & Zero-Threshold Showers
Level-entry showers built into the floor structure, with drainage planned so nothing leaves the wet area.
Short answer
A curbless shower has no step at the entry: the bathroom floor and the shower floor meet at the same level. Achieving that means recessing the shower floor into the structure or building the whole bathroom floor up, then relying entirely on slope and drain placement — not a curb — to keep water inside. It is the most structurally involved shower type we build, and the one that most rewards planning.
How a level entry is actually achieved
There is no product that makes a shower curbless. It is a structural condition, and there are only a few honest ways to get there.
- Recess the joists or sleepers under the shower so the sloped pan sits below the surrounding floor level. Cleanest result, most involved framing.
- Build the entire bathroom floor up to meet the top of the pan. Simpler structurally, but it creates a transition at the bathroom door.
- On a slab, saw-cut and lower the drain area. Practical in single-level Treasure Valley homes built on slab.
In a two-storey home the direction of the floor joists and what sits in the ceiling below often decide which of these is possible. That gets confirmed by opening up and looking, not by assumption.
Drainage does the work a curb used to do
Without a curb, containment comes from three things: how much of the floor slopes back toward the drain, where the showerhead points, and how far the wet zone extends past the glass.
- A linear drain at the back wall or across the entry lets the whole floor fall in one plane, which suits large-format tile.
- A center point drain needs four sloped planes, so the floor tile must be small enough to follow the shape.
- Extending the sloped area a little past the glass line gives spray somewhere to go instead of running to the doorway.
- A slight slope in the bathroom floor away from the shower is cheap insurance and invisible underfoot.
Aging in place, without a clinical look
Most curbless showers we are asked to build are about staying in the home. That goal is served by clearances and blocking far more than by visible medical hardware, and none of it has to look institutional.
- Solid blocking behind every wall of the shower, so grab bars can be added later exactly where they turn out to be needed.
- A hand shower on a slide bar alongside a fixed head, usable seated or standing.
- A bench or a folding seat with real structural support behind it.
- Slip-resistant floor tile — a smaller format with more grout joints gives better grip wet.
- A wide entry with no swinging door in the way of a walker or wheelchair.
Where we build this
We install curbless & zero-threshold showers across Idaho’s Treasure Valley. These city pages explain what we typically find in each area’s housing stock.
Frequently asked questions
Related shower reading
Thinking about curbless & zero-threshold showers?
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.