When you're measuring how wide your threshold or wall cap is, make sure you aren't just measuring the width of the drywalled wall -- you have to add to the width the thickness of tile and the thinset which will adhere the tile on both sides. (Because of the lead time you may need to get your pieces cut, you typically will order the threshold or wall cap once the structure is built but before it's been tiled.) Your tile installer may want to have the finished pieces on-hand before tiling; there can be some wiggle-room adjustments made if everything is available before the tile or caps are installed. In this picture, you can see some of the granite pieces (same granite used for the vanity top) we used in our shower. Our contractor suggested using the solid granite pieces for the top of the curb, the top of the two half walls, and the door jambs (the vertical walls) and it both looks and functions very well. (Sorry I don't have a picture handy which shows the whole thing -- just imagine the curb across the door opening in the same piece of granite.) -- Eric

Didn't see your post until now. Although you now get it, let me hit on the "ADA" thing just a bit. Once you bring "ADA" into it, it's a whole new ball of worms. Or you're opening a can of wax. Something like that. A true ADA shower doesn't need to comply with the typical residential code requirements for a residential shower. I'd recommend you get a copy of the ADA guidelines from your local building department, because they can vary so much, even from one town to another. In one town hear here, a true ADA shower has to be curbless, or what is referred to as a "flush entry". The floor slope can be from 1/8" per foot to 3/16th" per foot. There is no 2" depth-of-water over the drain restriction. The shower has to be 60" square. No larger. No smaller. The next town over you can either have a flush entry or you can have a small (1/2" vertical over 1" horizontal) ramp up or down at the shower entry. No more, no less. Once past that little ramp and in the shower, the floor slope is restricted to 1/8" per foot. Again, no 2" depth-of-water restriction. Minimum size is 30" by 60", there is no limit on increasing the shower. ADA showers also have grab bar restrictions, and restrictions on where the shower controls can be placed. Prefab pans can get you in trouble. About 3 or 4 years ago some elder-housing was built near here, a 24-unit complex. All showers were required to be ADA-compliant. The architect spec'd out, and the builder installed, pre-fab ADA shower pans. Which were actually NOT compliant, because they all had 1/2" curbs molded into the floor. State funds were involved in the financing. Since the pans were not compliant (true ADA had to be a flush floor entry in that town) they all had to be ripped out or the project would lose state funding, be non-certified as elder-housing, and lose tax breaks too. So there are differences between having a true ADA-compliant shower and simply having a curbless shower in your residence. This post was edited by mongoct on Mon, Dec 3, 12 at 12:07

Wow, that's beautiful! I was asking because we are remodeling and it does seem to be a trend. It is a second story bathroom, though so there is probably not a lot of room to recess into the floor. It definitely looks like something that requires a lot of experience and skill to do. I am not understanding if it is primarily a style trend or serves a purpose....definitely showers are easier to get into than a tub, but seems if one was trying to use a wheel chair, for example, curbless helps, but one still has to fit through the opening? It started as I was looking into cast iron shower pans, well, because stuff like what you have shown requires a very skilled tiler. I am so thankful for the wealth of knowledge and experience people share on this site!

I agree, they messed up. However, to fix this would require ripping out the entire thing and this small remodel project has already spanned over three months. We’re ready to be done with the whole experience, not drag it out for another three months. We’ve already negotiated discounts to the final project cost based on issues with the shower, so while I’m not 100% happy with the shower, it is something that we can live with. It’s functional and we realize that our space was challenging to work with. The pan is solid everywhere except this one corner and the water drains properly. The entire shower enclosure was a sloppy install from a cosmetic standpoint, there is no way that I would want the same plumber to redo it. We are very happy with how the rest of the bathroom turned out, the shower is the only problematic area. It’s annoying but not worth the hassle of forcing the contractor to rip it all out and start over, especially if we can level the threshold enough to install the shower door. All of the weight is supported by the walls and crossbar, I just need a level surface to rest the skinny little threshold piece on top of to guide the doors and have them open/close properly.