Thanks Leela, Does yours go from floor to above the shower head height? That seems like a small opening for the shower and I take it the glass partial wall is not moveable? So you don't have a tub, just a shower stall? There is a threshold between the shower and the rest of the bathroom floor? Do you find it difficult to keep it clean?

praire-I just measured the opening to the shower and I was wrong-it's 28". The glass wall atop the partial wall is not movable. No tub (we removed it as we have one in another bathroom), and the glass partition does go above the shower head height. I will try to post a link to my "reveal":

MBR remodel

Leela - What a great job you did on the remodel. You have a nice large bathroom there and love the way you designed the shower so you didn’t need a door. That angle on the half wall with the glass makes it more interesting too.

We’re also thinking about putting one walk in shower in the downstairs bath and a tub and shower in the upstairs bath, instead of having both with tubs and showers. How did you like the change from a tub to a shower?

The metal strip in the floor of the shower is a drain and the shower floor slopes to it, according to your text in the reveal thread, why did you choose that over an average drain?

Nice to have enough room for a pull out hamper and the toe kick drawers are interesting. It all looks very functional and comfortable.

Is there anything you would do differently?

Yes, we have a linear drain since we decided to use a large format tile on the shower floor. Our tile has a slight texture, and has a COF of >6. Also, we did test those tiles with soapy water (a la Mongo's idea) to make sure we weren't going to get into trouble using that size on the floor.

Our original plan had that a straight wall coming off that back wall where the toilet is (vs an angled one). I started thinking about w/c accessibility to get to the toilet, and that's when we changed our plan to make that wall angled. It also (in retrospect) kept things more open and less cavelike. A straight wall would have blocked the window more too.

Note that this is NOT an ADA accessible bathroom. We had toyed with the idea of making it a walk-in shower but decided to not go that route for several reasons. We will stay in this house until we absolutely can't, so we can get into the bathroom and maneuver a w/c to the toilet and transfer, but we would not be able to wheel into the shower. We could transfer to a bath seat in there, however.

We don't miss the bathtub at all. Neither of us are bath people, and we do have one in another bathroom.

As far as what I would do differently the only thing I didn't really think about was how little space we would get from the toe-kick drawers. I really like them, and we can store things in there, but in retrospect I would have made the toe-kick deeper overall for more storage there, and also a little more recessed, which would also serve to make the vanity look like it was floating. But that is really no biggie at all. We are really happy with how it all turned out. It is WAY more functional for us than our old bathroom was.

HTH

Leela - I thought I already responded, sorry. I have too many threads going at once. [g]

I like the idea of testing the tiles at home.

I do like your angled wall, for both accessibility and openness. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough room in the bath or the hall leading to the bath for wheel chair accessible, so that is not going to be much of a consideration.

So are you saying, you don’t consider this a ‘walk in shower’?

As for a bath seat, I was considering installing a bench in the shower area, did you consider that?

Did you always have a pocket door? I’ve never had one in the house and wonder if it feels different to have one? Less substantial or secure? How does it latch?

You must have done a really good job planning for your bathroom to have so few regrets. I look forward to being finished!

Thank you!

prairie-I guess I've always thought of a walk in shower as one with no curb, that is-no barrier. We can obviously walk into our shower-at least currently (ha).

We never wanted a built in bath seat. If we need or want one in the future we'll probably get a teak moveable one.

Yes, we've always had a pocket door for this mbr. It was/is very functional for our space. Our old door was fine, but years ago it was left partially closed one night and I walked into it in the dark (grrr, DH) and it got off the track. After that it would routinely get off track. With this remodel, we moved the doorway to make space for the shower, and got a door that is solid wood-not hollow core. So I researched the heck out of heavy duty hardware to make sure we wouldn't have a problem with it tracking in the future. It's great.

Thanks for that information about the heavy duty hardware. Do you happen to remember what you bought and where you found it?

We have a glass panel like that and no door. No curb, either. Linear drain on far side, large format (non-slippery tile.) We do have a tub on the far side as well. We have a regular shower head on the wall and a rain shower. I was concerned about the splash potential, so we put in blocking in case we had to add a door. But it's fine, the water does not really get all that far. I put the bath mat down right at the entrance and it splashes onto about 3" of it. The shower is 3 x 5. (I'm not at that house now to measure anything else, and I haven't posted any pix of it yet, but it's working out well for us.)

Lori, how large is your bathroom overall? Where did you position the rain shower? It seems to me, that the floor should be able to tolerate some splashing from the shower and a towel on the floor to catch three inches of water, seems like a fair trade off.

I appreciate your post, because most examples I've seen are larger than our space. I just measured and I am about 4 inches shy of 5 ft on the long end. I wondered if we had more than 3ft the other way, but we don't. That surprised me. Three feet is the limit for us too. So our bath is smaller than yours. lol

Glad to know yours is working out for you.

So imagine standing in the door. The room is about 10 ft deep in front of you to the outside wall. The toilet is on the right. Walk past that (4 ft of the overall depth) and you'll be in the shower. Then 3 ft of shower and 3 ft of tub. Width of that part is 5.5 ft. Vanity is in a small alcove opposite toilet. 2 ft x 4 ft. So it's a little hard to describe because it isn't a rectangle.

The shower feels plenty roomy, but the fact that your elbows can stick out over the tub might help with that. But we have a 3 x 5 ft shower here in this house, and it's fine without that extra airspace. The only reason I bother with making sure the bathmat is right at the entry to the shower is that I don't want to step in a puddle later in my socks! We were mostly concerned about water splashing onto the vanity, but it really doesn't. It is floating maybe 8" above the floor.

I can't recall exactly where we placed the rain shower, maybe 14" out from the wall. I thought that might be a big splash factor, but it isn't. (Actually, although I like it, it doesn't feel all that radically different from the shower head on the bar, so if I were doing it again, I don't know if I'd bother.) Hope that helps. I really need to take some photos soon. A couple of things are still missing and it is hard to capture a small room anyway!

I am in the final stages of a shower that abuts a large bathtub. I am leaving the glass off the shower so it will be open to the tub. Hope I'm not making a mistake I'm figuring any stray water will land up in the bathtub, hope I'm right!

Lori - I see, you do have a larger bathroom but not a larger shower, really. Our bathroom is 8x5 and is a rectangle.

Yes, that was the reason I asked about where the rain shower was positioned, because I thought it would be closer to the opening of the shower and be more responsible for splashing. We weren’t planning on getting a rain shower, so maybe the splash factor would be smaller in a shower without one.

I would enjoy seeing photos of your bathroom when you feel it’s finished.

:-) Thanks

Shappy, did you discuss with your contractor or are you DIY?

I have a contractor

Shappy, that is how ours is. Some people here have expressed concern with that design for a couple of reasons. One said they didn't want to be wiping the water off the tub all the time. I don't do that. Another was concerned, I think, about relying on the caulk where the tub meets the deck to remain waterproof forever. I might have been more worried about that if our installation was on a second floor, but it is on the ground floor and on a slab. Our contractor did install a tiny air vent into an adjacent closet so that if a drop of water got through, it wouldn't be sealed up in the cavity under the tub, but he's a very cautious and meticulous guy. The water splashed area is overall just a lot less than I thought it would be. Good luck with your project! I really will post mine one of these days when the last few things are finished.

Mine is a most unconventional build!! My contractor did completely waterproof the area where the tub and deck meet. I will post pictures when it's all finished . . .I'm sure people will say 'why did she do THAT?' The shower was put in 35 yrs ago . . not on the original plan but an afterthought by the contractor thus the funky layout. This is just a guest bath, rarely used, so I didn't want to go to the expense of moving the toilet and shower so just dealt with it. Please post your pics when ready, looking forward to them.

our current shower project features frameless 3/8" fixed panel glass and a rainhead at 9' !

waterproofing = critical for these open concept bathrooms....

Praire, I very much like the look of the shower that you posted, but I do have one big concern about this layout: You can't place grab bars on both sides of that shower. If you're concerned about aging in place, the bathroom is the first place you want to direct your attentions, and grab bars are kind "rule #1" for elder-friendly building.

Will this matter to you in the future? None of us can possibly answer that question today.

If your elderly years are still decades away, I suppose a reasonable, middle-of-the-road answer might be, Build what you like /need now ... but make the shower wide enough that -- if you need to do so -- you could add a pony wall that could support grab bars. You wouldn't have to change the shape of the shower, just add a wall, if it becomes necessary in the future.

I definitely think you should go with a curb-free, or barrier-free doorway. Even a small step-over can be difficult for an elderly person, and that's harder to fix later (because it entails details about the floor /drain).

As for the shower seat /teak stool question, I come down solidly on the side of the stool. I like the idea that it's moveable. Today you can move it out completely if you're taking a two-person shower. In the future, if you're ill, you could place it in such a way that you can sit down while someone stands behind you and washes your hair. Or you could "sub in" a real hospital style chair with a back and hand holds, if necessary in the future. The stool is more functional than the built-in seat. Another option to consider: A fold-up seat.

Lori & Shappy - interesting the way you’ve adapted this concept. Shappy, I’d love to see photos of yours when you are finished too.

TFWorks - That looks like a very small space. In your photo, I’m wondering if the shower is a step down? Hard to tell. Not sure what that edge is in the lower R of the photo. Is the tile on the outside wall, textured and raised, or does it just appear so?

Thanks...

MrsPete - Good suggestion about the grab bar and you make a good point about being able to use a chair for an ill person, that can be placed where you want it. Easier to do without a built in bench getting in the way too. Thanks.

This is what our shower/tub/floor relationship is like. (Vanity is to left, opposite toilet.)

First try at embedding a Houzz image:

Pickering · More Info

We did use the same (non-slippery) large tile all the way across, to avoid breaking up the space visually and it's working fine. The linear drain is at the intersection of wall and tub front, so the slope is to the side if you face the shower head. I wondered if that might feel odd, but I don't notice it unless I'm thinking about it.

(I have to click or hover over the image above to see the floor.)

I wonder if anyone can advise on what length shower arm is best for this application? At first i thought a short arm is best but then got to thinking if the arm were a little longer theshowerhead could point down instead of spray to the side Any thoughts anybody?

I don't know if you'd consider it short or long, but we used the hansgrohe S120 on a bar and it does point more down than out. On the wall 5 ft away, I just notice water splashes on the bottom foot or so.

Priarie.

The glass is 36" partition. Leaving a 27" opening and yes there is a step down into the sunken shower ....

theres plenty of room in the shower @ 40"x 64" but yes its a small bathroom and we packed a lot into it... tough on the camera angles!

the tile is Porcelenosa oxo blanco . (client) she has a keen eye for her tastes......

Lori - Thanks for posting that photo of the tub shower combo. I was also thinking of using the same tile all the way across for the same reason.

You described your linear drain and I don’t see one in the Houzz photo you posted. I wonder where they put it?

TundraFW - Thanks for sharing the dimensions and the name of that tile.

I don't know where their drain is on that photo. I suppose it could be out of the photo to the left. But ours is on the far side of the shower and after it was tiled in, it pretty much disappeared. I can't tell if that could be what is shown here or not.