I had a 42 x 60 walk in shower with controls on the "dry" end of the shower placed at waist height. I never felt the need for a second control. My smaller current shower is 42 x 42 and also has a single control at waist height. I suggest you consider a pocket door to allow for a bit larger door and no issues with swing direction. Another option for the shower screen is a 36" fixed glass panel with 24" open on the other end for easy entry.

40” is too shallow to work for curbless without making the whole bath a wet room.

Curbless showers are difficult to retro fit and expensive for very little payback unless you need it for a wheelchair and if that is the case you don’t have enough room for a wheel chair anyway. You will need the door to out swing to the bedroom for sure Get a heat lamp , light and exhaust fan all in one to take care of the cold air from an open shower with just a shower screen at the wet end.

Thanks Patricia -

I really don't like the curb trip hazard and I have hip flexor issues so it would be nice though not REQUIRED to have curbless. Depends how much of a tradeoff/risk it is and I'm trying to get a sense of that.

Believe it or not the one thing the contractor has done on our gutted room is to install an exhaust fan - not that it's a huge deal to get another one but ... we were thinking radiant heat floors would be good but I'm still leaning toward shower doors because I really like the steamy feel. Are you just thinking open for the look and to avoid door swingout?

Sounds like a plan, Kim! I’d probably mount the shower controls on the bottom wall and have the door swing away from the bottom wall towards the vanity. By doing it this way you won’t get wet until you want to get wet AND you’ll be able to easily grab a towel or robe after showering if it’s hanging on that bottom wall. For the particulars on how you might construct this (which is not particularly difficult, btw), you might find the following to be a worthwhile read:Curbless Shower Retrofit

Thanks Sammy - I was actually thinking of having the door swing in and out only because my husband is worried about being whacked if he's brushing his teeth at the vanity. So default would be "in" and I could get to the towels/robes. But we'd have out available in case of emergency. Of course it won't really matter if both ways. We are thinking it will be easier to do the plumbing if control is on back wall if we go to a digital control - so no need to run pipes to that back wall. Is that correct? Is the DTV+ a good choice?

Disregard what I said about the door swing, please; my eyes were looking at your floor plan but they weren’t connected to my brain. :/

Before we go on, I just want to make sure we’re using the same words to describe the same walls! When I said “bottom wall,” this is what I was referring to:

So, is your back wall my bottom wall? ;)

Kim-if I needed to adjust, I just reached back. Don't forget that you're not standing all the way down at the wall with the shower heads, you're back a few feet and it should be easy to reach down to the bottom wall to make any changes. I had a simple hand control-no digital. If using digital gives you a more accurate flow rate and temp, you may find that after making adjustments a few times, you'll know exactly where you like it and won't continue to have to do so. The door on my current shower swings in and out, although I always tend to open it out.

If you're not able to do the pocket door, an outswing is definitely a better choice IMO.

Please reconsider not having a bench especially if you have "hip" issues. Also, super easy to shave your legs with one.

Position of toilet and door are pretty fixed although we may configure
the door to swing out

I get that moving a toilet is pretty expensive ... how fixed is "pretty fixed" when it comes to the door? Walking in and seeing the toilet first-thing isn't ideal ... if you could move the door to mid-room, I'd do it.

Swing out is no big deal ... I have that now, and I never think about it.

A 36" vanity is probably too tight, so looking at something just under that.

A 36" vanity is small ... and you don't have other storage in the room. I'd give up a bit of shower width to bump up a bit in the vanity. Also, most ready-made vanities have awfully small drawers ... if at all possible, I'd go custom so you can maximize drawer size.

Do I think giving up shower width is good? Of course not, but it's a trade-off between the shower and the sink ... and a 36" shower is better than a less-than-36" vanity.

I'm thinking right now of frameless glass for the shower with a door that can swing in and out toward the blank wall side of the room. Does this seem ok or do I need sliders

Why not eliminate the glass cleaning chore and bring in some color /softness with a shower curtain?

Clearly need lots of planning/engineering together for that to work but does anyone see any immediate red flags that mean I should abandon curbless from the start?

I thought you needed 4' of shower width for a curbless shower?

With your vanity already unreasonably small, I'd consider giving up the curbless shower ... and instead go with a 2" curb. Look at just how small 2" is. That's all you're required to have ... but most builders put in something much higher.

Don't neglect good grab bars too.

And seriously considered the pocket door but apparently there are heating ducts in that wall that make it a Big Pain to do :-) Having the door swing out is an easier option (and there is nothing currently obstructing the outswing into the master anyway.

No to pocket doors in bathrooms. They're harder to open, and they will fail ... especially in a humid environment. Perhaps worst of all for your specific situation, they require a slightly thicker wall, and you're not in a position to give up even an inch.

Please reconsider not having a bench especially if you have "hip" issues. Also, super easy to shave your legs with one.

Keep in mind that you don't have to have a built-in bench. You can find waterproof teak benches at Bed, Bath & Beyond. If you ever need a hospital chair, it's easy to move out the bench.

Wow - thanks all so much -

Sammy - yes - that is the bottom wall I thought you meant.

kat - I was only thinking digital because then it could use Wifi to talk to the pipes in the other (front) wall and i don't need to run at least wires and maybe plumbing around the three sides.

Catt - we are planning a teak bench - just not a built in. We've used them before in vacation homes and been fine with them.

Mrs. Pete:

Moving the door to the center of the bathroom room means I cut up wall space in my master into smaller relatively unusable pieces for furniture. It also means I don't swing the door into a wall in the bathroom but into whatever is in front of the toilet at that point. Or I swing it out into very usable master space. And while not idea, we're used to the toilet in front of the door at this point.

Also in terms of moving the toilet - I really don't want my insanely expensive Neorest next to the shower :-) [that trip to Japan had unexpected consequences in terms of toilet preference I'll tell you!!!]

I was hoping that the overlarge medicine cabinet will help with some storage. This bathroom currently had no vanity and a very small medicine cabinet previously so even a 32" is a step up. I think I can safely go 34.5 but will need to shop a bit more.

My references above say that curbless is possible even with 36". I kind of view 2" as a trip hazard - but maybe that's strange or maybe it's my bifocals at work? I do like the look of curbless - but if it's not possible of course I'll give up.

Where do folks think the showerheads should go? Should I do rainshower overhead? Bar on side wall near front?

Thanks again - it is good to have sane people to talk to.

Kim

Curbless that small is possible if you do the entire bathroom as a wetroom. That does mean increasing the threshold st the entry a bit too.

Hi Sophie - Sammy's article above seems to have accomplished it without a total wet room design. Can you help me with why it's needed? Can't I get the required slope to a linear drain in 40"? I'm not trying to be snarky - just would really appreciate info to feed into my tradeoffs.

Lots of incorrectly done curbless around, with the resultant water damage. Including the one just posted in this forum. I bless it’s so e as a wetroom, water damage will result.

You cannot get a 2” drop from the shower entry to drain in only 40” You need 48” for that. 40” will have spray into the room as well, necessitating using waterproofing for the remainder of the floor anyway, even for scofflaws. 95% of expense of a wetroom is already there.

Always waterproof the entire room when going curbless. The 2 key points to creating a wet room are a wall mount toilet (which you can set your preferred height) and a wall mount sink. The curbless part is easy without lowering joists. Normally these details are for a 1st floor bath. These are done all the time and I do get the building inspectors approval. Achieving barrier free is easier and less costly with a center drain.

Always check to see if a overflow drain is required.

Sophie - so you're saying the one Sammy posted is incorrect? Ouch. It's very hard to know what to trust. What is wrong with it? We were planning doors so spray should be minimal.

Creative person - This is a second floor bath. We are not planning on a wall mount toilet (retail price compare: $6800 vs. $12000). Wall mount sink is fine and planned.

Is a wet room possible with a floor mounted toilet?

Kim, the first thing you'll want to keep in mind when choosing your vanity size is the width you need for the toilet. Minimum code is 15" from the center of the toilet seat to any solid object. So that's a minimum of 30"-36" is best if possible. A full width medicine cabinet and as many drawers in the vanity as possible, even all drawers, will increase your storage. If you allow 36" for the toilet and 40" for the shower, that leaves you 33" for the vanity, allowing 1/2" for drywall on each side wall. That doesn't include tile thickness in the shower either. You could get away with 33" for the toilet and get yourself up to a 36" vanity but definitely no bigger than that. I hear what you're saying about the Japanese and their toilets. My son's tiny 1 bedroom apartment in Kyoto has a toilet with more options than my car! I definitely wouldn't go any smaller than 40" for the shower-it's just too tight. Mine is 42" square and is just comfortable enough.

Kim - You might find this to be an interesting read as it relates to curbless shower design.

https://ctasc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/CurblessShowerArticleTileLetterMarch2016.pdf

If you are planning on using a glass enclosure with a door then your proposed shower is not quite the same as a fully open curbless shower and it is unlikely that you would have any significant amount of free flowing water outside of the shower zone, however you should definitely extend the waterproofing beyond the shower and given the relatively small size of the bathroom you should just waterproof the entire floor and treat the entire area as a wet room. The toilet location is as far away from the shower as possible so there is not likely a need for a wall mount toilet, just make sure to have the toilet base sealed at the floor just in case.

What's most important is to have this properly designed and spec'd out and the trades must be top notch. Getting the floor slope correct, setting the drain, waterproofing and tile setting takes skill and experience. Really check them out, licensed is important but I've seen licensed trades who's work leaves a lot to be desired.