I had the same dilemma. I used a 48 " shower pan from swanstone, solid surface, not flimsy at all. I build the side wall up to it and used that space inside the shower to build a seat and a nice niche.. the opening was fitted with a standard shower door, the shower feels large but the floor is only 48" with that great seat. Hope this helps. We love it and it was very inexpensive to do.

here is the niche, I made the wall deep enough to make a usable niche. I highly recommend the swanstone pan. Make sure it is the solid surface.

Marleycat24, thank you for the pictures! How did you make sure the seam between the wall and the pan is waterproof? And were you able to build the wall right on top of the threshold itself? Are you able to nail or screw into it?

Thank you so much :)

Not exactly sure what you are asking. The shower pan itself has a lip on 3 sides, u build the walls down to that lip and the wall overhangs the pan so the water flows down not behind. The front of the pan has the threshold, you don't have to nail anything to that. A bead of caulk around the whole base keeps it waterproof. (BTW...I am a 60+ woman, and did it myself. Can't be too hard!) I believe they tell you NOT to nail into the pan itself. Go on Swanstone website and pull up the specs. It might be easier to see the flange and threshold there. The threshold sits up at least 4 inches so the water stays in. I ordered it from http://www.buyandlargeinc.com/ They had the Best price! Good luck!

We did ours similar to marleycat, only we did a half wall by the seat, and used a shower curtain.

marleycat25 - how did you build the bench outside of the shower base? Was it framed with lumber? How did you waterproof the bench. We are also using a SwanStone base and are not sure how or what steps to take to go about building the bench and waterproofing it.

enigmaquandry - did you figure out a design for your bathroom? How did it turn out?

Hi mkzmom and enigmaquandry,

If either of you have product or installation questions about the Swan shower pans, we'd love to help you out! Feel free to email us at help@swanstone.com. Our support guys really know their stuff. I'm sure they can help you out if you need it!

Hope this helps.

Chelsie Hellige, Swan Social Media Coordinator

Enigmaquandry, are you asking about building on top of the threshold itself, to reduce the opening size? That's how I interpreted your question, and I was wondering the same thing. I'm going to have the same basic configuration as Marleycat, but I wanted to extend the wall by the seat further onto the threshold. I wanted the door to be only 36" wide. The toilet will be next to it, and I want to be able to mount a tp holder on that wall. I would appreciate any advice from others about whether or not it's possible to retrofit the threshold to accommodate a tiled wall. We're planning to use a cast iron pan, but the issue is the same, I think.

I'm wrestling with this exact problem! I thought I had the answer when I found this page from Houzz:

https://www.houzz.com/photos/cedar-park-residence-13-contemporary-bathroom-seattle-phvw-vp~92378-Park-Residence-13-modern-bathroom-seattle

If you read the questions and answers, they say that this is a shower pan with 4 flanges, ie you can build a wall or curb on each side. Great, I thought - problem solved!

HOWEVER, I have since read on the internet that terrazzo shower pans are hard to keep clean and that is why they are no longer popular. Also writersblock mentioned, here on GWeb, that they are slippery.

So I'm still trying to figure it out. Current plan is to have a Kohler cast iron pan, but then I'll need to have a glass panel and a glass door on the opening side. I really want to build a half wall over half of the front opening, so that I can have the vanity next to the shower with no gap between them. But I can't figure out a way to make that happen if I use a cast iron or a Swanstone pan.

Any ideas, anyone? Or is a 10-inch gap between the shower and the vanity OK and not weird-looking?

I have the exact delima. I want this built. We have removed our old tub and surround and now are looking for a waterproof pan to fit the space with 1/2 of one side to have a flange, regular flanges on other 3 sides.

I am too afraid to build my own tiled shower pan and too cheap to pay someone. Enough will be spent on the custom glass.

Please reply with ideas.

cjarw and c_____6, you may need custom shower pans. Two sources that I know are Grifform Innovations

and The Onyx Collection.

Now, I understand that there is a natural substance related to marble that is called Onyx. This is not what these are made of. These are a man-made plastic or acrylic type material.

A solid surface pan is often set into mortar to strengthen it. It has flanges that go up the wall a few inches behind the wall substrate. You can buy solid-surface walls either from the shower pan people or from Corian, Swanstone, Marbleite, or whomever; or you may put up a substrate like Durock and then waterproofing and then tile the walls. If you are going to have a bench off to one side (or back) of the shower pan, my above explanation of how that works holds for these custom pans, too. The bench is not "in" the shower, but is next to the shower pan and is part of the wall system above the shower pan.

cjraw, enigmaquandry - did you ever find a solution?! I have the same issue currently - we need essentially 4 walls along a pre-made shower pan with just a door on the one side (half wall/half door on one side). The cost for a custom shower pan is absurd. Please let me know if you found a solution! Thank you!!

Jennifer, cjraw, enigmaquandry...Having the same issue...DId you have any luck? i want to use an enamel base and half wall on the 4th side...searching for a solution!!

Hi, I'm having the same struggle discussed in the thread. I need a pan with the flanges on 3 1/2 sides so I can have a half wall. I've only found that possibility at Grifform, with is pretty spendy. I found the picture below and wondered how the fabricator was able to put such a nice threshold on a shower pan. It would seem it would have flanges on all 4 sides? Any help is appreciated. thankss

pattn1.. The pan in the photo probably has flanges on two sides. Pans are available with one or more thresholds. For example, MTI Baths makes acrylic pans that can be specified for 1,2or 3 flanges. Here’s one that I’m considering:

https://mtibaths.com/assets/product-specs-2018/MTSB-4236MT.pdf

Refer to the section on Construction features ar the bottom of the spec sheet. It says, “Factory-installed tile flange on 1, 2 or 3 sides to facilitate installation.

PLEASE SPECIFY WHICH SIDES WHEN ORDERING.” It’s not inexpensive, but quality seems to be better than other brands.

I’ve also looked at soapstone and quartz pans. They don’t have flanges at all and I don’t know how the walls are constructed to prevent leaks. Maybe one of the pros will chime in.

pattn1.. I just saw this discussion about adding a flange to a portion of a base:

http://forums.jlconline.com/forums/forum/jlc-online-expert-forums/ceramic-tile/14881-adding-tile-flange-to-shower-base

If you have to go with a pan my suggestions are Mincey Marble or Swanstone

Great find, Beaniebakes! People have been discussing this in so many threads. I know you were involved and will probably post in all of them , but I wonder if this does not merit its own thread, where it will be easy to google in the future and where pros might jump in with their $0.02

Nancy.. because I’m so OCD about this stuff, I found the following thread on waterproofing a base without flanges—basically, how to make your own flange with Kerdi. I agree a separate thread would be helpful, and I’ll try to start one this week.

http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=82171

Designer — according to Mincey Marble’s web site, the product is only available to the commercial market, such as hotels.

Thanks for the links to the discussions about adding a a tile flange. That has been a good solution for me when I have needed a partial edge on the curb side of a shower pan. I have found a couple different tile flanges:

https://www.houzz.com/products/duravit-790112-d-code-tile-flange-white-prvw-vr~123569864

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Comfortflo-Tile-Flange-CF015/308051311

Most companies that sell shower bases sell the loose tile flanges. You just have to look at he right base. You can also look into companies that sell tubs- they often sell tile flanges separately.

@enigmaquandry & @c____6

hello did either of you ever get this problem fix cause im at this crossroad now 😢

thanks

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