Regardless of a shower being curbless or not, code still requires a minimum of 2" elevation between the top of the drain and the top of the curb (or beginning of flat floor for curbless).

Curbless showers are usually right at this minimum, curbed showers often exceed it.

I have never seen a residential or city septic backup through a shower, but have seen city septic backup through toilets in garden or basement bathrooms.

Mongo

Thanks so much formula1, that was an excellent website! However, how can I locate the 'Third Time Lucky' episode? Do you know which cable network it is?

Mongo, I am so glad to know that the minimum elevation is 2". I will be certain my contractor knows it, too. Thanks for the info. I guess what I am afraid of is a slow performing drain that might take a long time and cause water to spill over past the door, even though it will have a protective sweep.

The other thing is my neighbor has his pool drain tied directly into the sewage line. (I am not sure that this meets code, but we are in the unincorporated part of Harris County, and there are no stringent city inspections.) It's kind of a foggy memory but one time when he drained his pool (directly into the sewer line) water backed up into my tub (in both bathrooms, and out unto the floor through the tub access door in one of them). I don't remember what the source of the water was, but I don't remember any foul odor. I do remember discussing it with him, and my water back-up coincided with his pumping water out of his pool. I think this memory is what has me a little skeptical about a curbless shower in my remodel.

Any thoughts, Mongo?

Here is a picture of our new curbless shower.We've been using for about 2 months without any problems.

Vern

Vern,
Nice shower! Do you have a blog someplace? I would like to see how the shower was built...

I have a curbless shower left over from the previous owner that was handicapped.

It is a royal pain. I cannot tell you how many times we have ended up with a soaked rug. Perhaps it's the person - it seems to happen more to my wife than me - maybe I am just more concious of it. Either way we are redoing it and the first thing the shower gets is a curb of some sort.

Vern,
That is truly a fabulous shower! That is how I hope mine may look, even to the corner bench. It's just that I am something of a 'fraidy cat' because of the possibilities of leakage. I remember your saying earlier that your shower slab was poured 'below grade', or I think you said that. My shower was not recessed, so my contractor will have to 'saw out' the indention. Something I am also wondering if will work. Any thoughts on this? Cost of sawing; additional $300 plus $245 for more glass (5"x38") to go all the way to the floor on the door and sidelight wall if curbless. Is it worth it?

Gabedad,

What you describe is just what I have been fearful of because of the experience I described at the beginning of the thread. I am wondering if anyone else has had 'leakage or 'spit-up' nightmares', as I must make my decision by Monday. Today is Friday. "Helppp, Folks!"

pharaoh-
Thanks for the compliment, but no I do not have a blog.

mommielady-
Your memory is correct, out shower slab is below grade. We enlarged the shower so they did have to jack hammer out some concrete from the floor. The only advice I can give is to be sure your contractor is familiar with or has done what you're wanting to do. I do love how our shower looks and I'm happy with the end result. It's easy to clean and I can even run the vaccuum in there. Two issues that I didn't forsee in my planning process that aren't huge issues but are a little bothersome is 1)because of the sweep on the bottom of the glass the rug gets pushed away from the shower door so I have to lay a bathmat down so I have something to step on when exiting the shower.
2)One of my shower valves is to close to the door which prevents me from being able to swing the door in and out, I can only swing it out. If you want to see pics of this let me know, I can take some but it won't be til this evening.

The only other thing I can say is we haven't had any drainage issues even with both shower heads running except when my DS decided to sit on the shower floor and cover the drain. The water did build up pretty quickly but I was there to prevent any disasters from happening.

As far as your additional costs go, I personally don't think that sound like alot of money in the whole scheme of thing if that's what you want.

Good luck with your decision.

Vern

Vern,

The vision of your son sitting on the drain and covering it up brings a smile to my face this Saturday morning. Yes I would love to see more pics, and this evening is fine. I agree that in the grand scheme of things $545 is not that much more for the sharp looks of curbless and future convenience if anyone in my family were ever disabled, if I can just get past my memory of that previous overflow probem. It's just that I have no control over when or if my neighbor drains his pool. Additionally, I can't remember if we totally determined that the draining is what caused it. I probably need to begin with solving THAT mystery.

Now, a few questions. What are your shower dimensions? How wide is your door? My glass guy suggested putting a metal channel on the floor and on the adjacent glass wall (channel acts as a sleeve, has a gasket in the bottom of it and holds the glass securely) to hold my glass. The metal is slim and attractive (in Brushed Nickel) and is sealed with silicone after the glass is inserted. The channel looked nice in the pictures he showed me.

Your pictures seemed to indicate that your glass goes all the way to the floor with no such metal channel. Does anything secure it besides the silicone? Thanks for the tip about the door swinging in or out. My door will hinge on the opposite wall from the fixtures so I won't have a problem with it hitting a showerhead, but I will need to see if the hardware will allow it to swing in or out. I think it does.

Thanks so very much for your comments.

Anne

mommielady

The shower dimensions are 52in x 48in, the shower door is a 28in opening with a 23in fixed pain. My glass enclosure is semi-frameless so the header on top is what supports the glass. I personally didn't want to put a u-channel on the floor due to the nasty buildup of gunk I had in my last shower. That being said my last shower was a framed shower so the channel was much larger than what you're refering to.

Thread on before and after pics of my shower and near the bottom in a post by suero is a guide to ADA shower instalation that is excellent.

Best of luck with your decision
Vern

Here is a link that might be useful: before and after pics

You might be able to incorporate a check valve of some sort into the waste line.

It would have to be in an accessible spot, like in the basement prior to the waste line exiting the house.

Not on the main 4" main line, but perhaps on the 2" drain/waste line coming from that bathroom?

It all depend on how your house is plumbed, so it may or may not be feasible.

Mongo

Thanks so much for the pics and I am sorry that I could not get back to you sooner. They are excellent photographs and I have several more questions starting with "Who keeps that shower so CLEAN??" THAT certainly doesn't look like a shower that someone has been using for 2 months! Especially a little son capable of sitting on top of the drain and stopping it up!

I re-read your thread on "Before and After Pics" and I have scanned (not absorbed) the ADA shower installation guide, as well. I realize that my decision will be personal, but by looking at the example you posted of the threshold, you obviously did some soul searching, as well. What swayed your family to go curbless?

Also, do you think, or does anyone know if a channel on the floor is likely to collect 'gunk', more than the 'glass directly to the floor' application? I must confess that I am new to the Forum, and new to the internet, and I have spent the last hour trying to figure out how to post images. I had some photos to show of my remodel, but I can't figure how to get to the screen that allows my pictures to connect to this message. When I went to "Galleries" that still got me nowhere. I'll get my 'whiz kid' daughter to help me tomorrow.

Now, if all you veterans out there can manage to quit laffin' at the 'rookie' long enough, maybe together we can solve the 32 questions on my remodel that I need help with. :) One more of which is I am torn between completely enclosing my shower seat (as you did, Vern) and leaving it open because it makes my shower appear larger, and gives me a place to swing my feet. But then there is the question of the floor drying underneath after finishing your shower, and squatting under there to keep it clean and mold-free. Any thoughts?

If I could have posted my pictures, it would have illustrated this! :))

Mongo,

As usual, you save the day. I will look into the 'shut-off' device using the link you provided, but I don't know if it will work. We have no basement; we live in a single-story in Texas. But don't relax yet, I have more questions for you, too. Just give me time.

I just tried to post the images. The layout posted successfully 'somewhere' in Gallery, but I have no idea where. I'll try tomorrow on the photographs.

Let's see if this works.....

Here is a link that might be useful:

Why not have the door replaced with one 4" smaller in width and add a 4" fixed panel on the non hinged side?

The layout is poor by design since the door swing should have be factored in when planning the layout of the plumbing fixtures.

When the entire floor is waterproofed and the room truly is a wetroom that little plastic divertor on the bottom of your door is not needed and you could have ordered a door an 1" shorter and left your matt as is.

For such a nice reno these are simple points to fix and make right.

Good Luck.

John Whipple

"When it's perfect. It's good enough."

It is possible for a curbless shower to get blocked or for solid home waste to enter into your bathroom if your own sewer connection gets blocked. My own basement flooded when a Bounce Dryer Sheet got hung up like a dam in my 4" solid waste line 50' from my home.

I was racing to Soccer with my daughter and after flushing the basement toilet heard some gurgling sounds and noticed a couple of air bubbles. I thought "That's weird" I better pull the toilet and snake the line after the game and before half time my wife called in a panic that water was gushing out the toilet (She had being using the dishwasher).

A back up like this will happen regardless of curb or curbless. Keeping your drain lines clear is key and owning the right emergency floor plugs is a wise investment.

My buddy's basement flooded when his main connection was blocked and I pulled his toilet and installed a 3" plug so we could pump the water out. His main line was taking in ground water (huge rain fall combined with massive snow melt) and we noticed water pouring in from the toilet connection. We plugged the basement lines and the following day removed the plug and snaked the line 110'.

This is the fun in owing a home. Regular maintence, common sense and being prepared can save the day.

Good Luck

I have a curbless shower and use two shower heads simultaneously. We have no problems whatsoever with water leaking outside the shower, even when I spray water directly on the shower door (to rinse the shower cleanser off the door). We have silicone seals and a silicone sweep at the bottom of the door. The door is 34" wide.
I do use a q-tip to clean any gunk from the door sweep.

An old old thread. Long since dead. Now revived. It lives! Sort of.

This just happen to me. The sewer pipe clogged. I was able to block bedrooms with laminate flooring with towels and do the big cleanup. had the plumber out he cleaned out the sewer line said possible tree branches but it was working for one day. this time I wasn't so quick and the water came up the shower and because it's a roll in handicap shower it came out went under the door got on the laminate and called the laminate to start cupping where the seams are. the room size throw rug 12 inches around got soaked and is now stained on the bottom. I'm searching now to convert that roll in pan into a standard shower pan so this won't happen again. I had this put in for my senior dad who now is in Long care facility. and I no longer need a roll in especially if it's going to flood out the floors. I never give this a second thought before but I'm actually sorry I converted it.