Put a full piece of counter top material on the curb. No grout. The fabricator will measure and make the piece and your tile pro will install it.

I agree about minimizing grout on the curb. I just used a single piece of culture marble see photo. Make sure the curb has a slight slope into the shower as if you get shower doors it will see a lot of water and that needs to run back into the shower. Or you could use a curtain with minimizes water on the curb.

No to tile on the curb. Use a solid surface. That is often a repeat of the counter top material. Hard to say without knowing your selections, but NO to the tile. Forget what you "often see" in pictures. You aren't seeing the subsequent leaks.

thanku! I bought a vanity with a countertop included, so we didn't need to get a countertop cut. With that, I am not sure where to get a countertop or culture marble. I live in Phoenix, Arizona, so if anyone has any ideas that'd be great! There's a tile shop that I know of that may be able to do this but I imagine it'll take a while to get and we're ready to get the bathroom done yesterday as water got behind the wall. I'll also try floor and decor. Jeff, I really like your curb and my countertop is marble. You've been especially helpful with all of my posts. :)

Home Depot has engineered marble in long lengths to be uses on curbs and thresholds. Any tile merchant will be able to get lots of different types, but you might have to special order long lengths. I used it for the shower curb, window trim and door thresholds in my bathrooms.

just get a cultured marble backsplash in a 5'-6' long piece. if you can find one in the right depth (usually 4"-6") it should be fine.

the last shower I did we used a leftover quartz 6" backsplash piece for the curb. (the dark one in the back)

fabricator cut it to 5' long and 4" wide.

we chose that instead of the countertop material because of the color. the darker quartz color went better w/the shower tile. (the countertop was marble look quartz). the cost was $40.

check any of your stone yards where they fabricate countertops. you should be able to locate a remnant that works w/your shower tile. for instance, if you are doing a plain white subway tile, then look for a solid white leftover piece of quartz.

Home Depot--Siltech. 1/2" thick acrylic solid surface material in two widths and two colors--white and antique white.

The material is like Corian. No special tools to cut or shape. Ordinary woodworking tools all that is needed.

thanku! Beth, I see you left your drain under the shower head. How does the feel as far as elevation drop?

kim,,,this was the shower I did for my neighbors. they converted their bathtub into this 5' shower (which is why the drain is where it is) they love it. the floor is properly sloped and they have not complained of any issues.

if you are doing it from scratch, I'd prob move the drain back a bit.

Beth, we're doing the same; converting a tub to a shower. We're also pretty sure that we're going to move the turn on valve so to not get wet when turning on the shower since the fixtures were by the toilet side which is were the panel will be. I didn't think a drain in that spot would bother me but so many people have been telling me I should move it otherwise it might feel as if I'm standing in a hole or that kind of thing... It's not hard to have the price drastically increase with all of these details. I wish I had a tub to shower conversion that I could stand in to feel what it's like to leave the drain at one end, although I would've thought it would feel just like it does to stand in my tub now which doesn't bother me in the slightest. thx

" would've thought it would feel just like it does to stand in my tub now which doesn't bother me in the slightest" kimromen you are correct. Leaving the drain as is will place your feet no where near the steep portion of the slope which would be behind and to the sides of the drain. If you place the drain in the center then you will be standing at the greatest slope. Many manufacturers sell shower kits 32x60 with offset drains for your exact scenario.

Creative Tile Eastern CT, so r u saying that depending on how they do the tile it could be more uncomfortable to have the drain in the middle? Depending on if we went with the 8" tile, which we'd prob do a linear drain to the edge-the long side, (which we may feel an incline to our left if we are standing with our back to the showerhead) or a square drain if we do pebble tile and then we could decide where to put the drain. I think the tile guy wanted us to use a linear drain and place in that particular location due to the curbless shower but we haven't told him we're thinking of doing a curb, now, with potentially penny tile, which I imagine opens up lots of possibilities.

From what you are saying it almost sounds more comfortable to leave the drain were it is currently placed. I've been told by a realtor that the next buyer will look down on not having the drain in the middle because it will look like a cheap remodel but I'm not sure how much I'm worried about that, plus to me it seems to make more logical sense to keep it where it is to be further away from the door opening. Thoughts? thx!!

I try not to be blunt, but I think your realtor is wrong. Look at the photo Beth H uploaded. That doesn't look cheap to me :)

Kimromen..you aren't going to feel anything in a 5' shower. the slope is 1/4" per foot. I have an 8' by 43" shower in my home. the drain is in the upper portion, under the shower head. I stand right over it. I can't feel anything.

if you're on a slab, moving that drain to the middle of the shower will cost more. I hardly think buyers are going to pay that much attention to a middle drain or one towards the front. as long as the floor is properly sloped, drains well, the shower is waterproof and tile looks good, the buyer won't care. your realtor is crazy.

here's one that was prob a bathtub conversion. Looks like they went wider. drain appears to be hidden by the toilet.

Tough one to explain. Based on 1/4" per/ft. slope or 2%. Shower 10'x3' for example.

If the drain is 5' away from the far wall your floor will slope 1-1/4"" from wall to drain. If that same shower is 36" wide with drain in the center it will slope 1-1/4" in 18" as the height around the perimeter remains the same as the furthest distance.

mimommy, I don't think it looks cheap, either. I appreciate your confirmation.

BethH, I've seen a pic of your bathroom before and I love it! Thx, also for the confirmation. Yours looks to be a couple of feet from the wall? I'd be leaving mine a few inches from the wall, but if I can save money and it makes most sense to me to keep it there, why move it. I've got plenty of other places in the house where I could spend that money. :) The other pic u sent looks great, too. I've seen some other pics like that as well. I'll clarify with my tile guy but I think he wanted to move the drain due to tile size and curbless.

Creative Tile Eastern CT. You're right in that that is tough to explain. I have a friend who has a curbless shower that's prob 2' x 2' with a curtain. She uses a rain shower so it works for her. She loves it. I can see a bit of a drop but nothing that seems crazy. R u saying that the smaller the shower the bigger the drop will feel? I'll clarify with the tile guy and if the drop will feel like my tub currently feels I'll go with that. Now to decide if I'll stick with the linear drain I picked out for a little bit better drainage or take a closer look at the square drains with hair catchers to decide if I think they'll be comparable. There's so much info, but I think I was told that a linear drain may be more plumbing, or at least more cutting away of slab. (We have a ranch so bathroom is on a slab). thx!!

Doesn't a linear drain require a lot more cleaning? Seems like you have the top grid, then whatever plumbing is below that. Also, they just seem very commercial to me, but I think that's just a personal preference on aesthetics.

I do like the square/rectangular drains as they seem like they would work well with tile work (rather than a round). Just my thoughts!

"R u saying that the smaller the shower the bigger the drop will feel? " NO. It will be 1/4" per l/f from the furthest distance to the drain. Any shorter distances in that shower will be steeper. This applies to any shower.

mimimomy, I guess the linear drain would mean more cleaning. I was thinking of it for a bit of added space for drainage and since I was going to do the tile in where no metal was visable, that way if I switch out my champagne bronze fixtures some day as I'm sure they'll go out of style, I won't have to worry about switching out the drain cover. I am going with oil rubbed bronze for things that won't be able to be switched out easily like the shower door hinges and champagne bronze for showerhead, trim in the shower... I'll have to consider the cleaning issue, though, and I would say my feel is modern farmhouse, but definitely leaning more towards, but not country if that makes sense. So, yes, my style might be more of a square drain depending on what i find.

Regarding draining/drainage... if it helps in your decision making, my last shower was about 4' x 6' with one round drain. No problems at all with drainage. I'm sure whatever you choose will look great :)

Mimimomy, thanks. My worries have been because our tub regularly fills up with at least an inch or two of water due to my hair. Our hair catcher which is a cheap hair cutter from Home Depot that goes inside the tub drain hole. A shower drain will be 2" instead of one and a half " and the hair catcher will let more water through so I'm hoping things will be much better but when I was planning to have a curbless shower this was my bigger worry so I'm still stuck on that a little bit. Thank you!

kim, I got this drain for my shower. the brass piece lifts up and I clean the hair catcher every few days. piece of cake (I sprayed the blue strainer gold to match the cover)

I can't imagine you'll have a problem with the square drain, presuming the plumbing is all working properly. I absolutely never had that kind of water backup and I have had very long hair. Just cleaned the drain once in a while.

Love that drain cover Beth. Clever to spray paint the blue part.

Beth H, very pretty! That seems like an easy way to go. R u able to provide the website? Do they have differen designs? My color is champagne bronze and that looks like it's be close to the Delta brand champagne bronze. I saw this drain that I like but not many reviews and one person said it's an odd size. It's advertised in milimeters and the price is almost so low that it makes me wonder!: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AW3V74C/?coliid=I17960OKEW2J5T&colid=1IZ1CRHIE1LTT&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it 

I've heard Ebbe is good but I didn't fall "in love" with any of the drains particularly.

mimimomy, Yah, seems to be a prob that's not common which worries me, but should maybe make me feel better. We use mostly natural products/soaps, shampoos... I clean out hair each shower and as soon as I shower and all the hair falls to the floor when I'm conditioning my hair it immediately plugs. Maybe I'm losing a ton of hair? :( My hair used to be to my waste until I stopped having babies and nursing them 8 years later. Now it's only to my shoulder blade and not as thick as before. I definitely need a good drain that I can scoop hair up immediately and easily without needing a tool on a regular basis. I scoop up hair each shower during the shower.

mim,,,solid brass. $15. Alibaba. had to put it on an ebbe drain, but not a big deal to do. similar covers cost almost 10X the amount locally.

Beth H. Amazing. I turned away from that website when I saw that many things were meant to be bought in quantity but now that I know u bought from there I'll check them out, again. :) thx!

Beth, do u scoop hair up off the top each time or on the inside?

on the top. (the brass piece easily lifts up) every few days. I have long hair but don't wash it daily. my husband does so I end up scooping out his hair! eww. that catcher is great tho.

Kim,,,yes, a lot of things are bought in quantity, but some things you can order singles. (Alibaba or maybe it was AliExpress. try the latter one for singles) I've ordered wallpaper, cabinet hardware and these drain covers (I actually bought a second one just incase the first one doesn't last. but after 2 years, it still looks brand new).

I imported all of my marble tile for my bathroom from Alibaba.

here in the states, these crystal handles can cost anywhere from $20-80 a piece. I think I paid $6 each for them. They're not cheap either. the metal is heavy and well made with very nice crystals.

Hard water: This is what hard water means:

A thorough cleaning of a bath, three times per week. Why? The same spotting on the shower glass, is the same residue left behind around and on plumbing fixtures. I matters NOT what surfaces/plumbing you select. The residue, not cleaned away, dried away, will be left to turn to a CRUST.

That is the deal with hard water. Do it, don't do it. Or invest in a whole home water softener.

I will add that as one user of a bath, no hard water? Mine gets cleaned twice per week. Also a daily swipe off. An entire family using a bath? There you go. The crust is exponential.

And a drain COVER changes the pipe of water removal.................not one iota.

"Plumbing standards, such as the minimum size for the trap on a shower
drain, are designed to foster sanitary plumbing systems, free from
disease. The specific regulation you should follow depends on the local
plumbing codes where the shower drain is installed. These local codes
are usually based on major codes, such as the National Plumbing Code,
the Uniform Plumbing Code and others.

Video of the Day

Trap Size

The usual size for a shower drain trap is 2 inches, which is the
diameter of the trap. This size is the minimum size that is allowed,
which means that you cannot install a trap with a smaller diameter, or
the trap is not within code. Also, the drain pipe that the trap is
connected to must also be 2 inches to comply with the code.

Importance of Trap Size

The size of the drain's trap is important because it has to be large
enough to keep up with the amount of water that will drain through it to
prevent unnecessary clogs. Because the shower drain is also tied into a
home's overall drain-waste-vent system that connects to other fixtures,
such as the toilet and sink, improperly sized pipes in the shower
plumbing can cause clogging problems in the drains of the other
fixtures. The demand on the shower's trap is part of the total demand
needs of the overall plumbing system.

Identifying the Trap

The trap is the curved section of pipe that the shower drain connects
to. It is normally called either a "P-trap" or an "S-trap" due to its
shape. Every plumbing fixture, including the toilets and sinks, have a
trap. The trap itself is important because it prevents sewer gases from
entering the room through the shower drain. After all the water drains
out of the shower, a small portion of water remains in the trap's curved
section, acting as a seal against the sewer gas. This seal of water
also protects against insects crawling up through the drain.

Finding out Local Codes

Consult a local licensed plumber, and check with your local
government's building department to learn the local regulations on what
size a shower drain trap should be. You must follow these specific local
regulations to avoid having to do the work over with pipes of the
correct size. These local plumbing codes, adapted from major codes to
fit local needs, are enforced by local inspectors for the plumbing
systems in homes, schools, hospitals and other buildings."

Jan, great info on the trap size. I *think* my huge walk-in shower might have had a 2.5 or 3 inch drain? So maybe that's why it worked so well? I don't live in that house now, or I would go check! I couldn't even get a puddle of water to build up.

Beth H. Thx! Pretty handles! Glad to know they r legit. It's cyber Monday so hopefully I can figure a lot of this out and get some sales. :)

Jan Moyer, I have to say that's interesting about the P trap as far as insects, too. I looked under our bathroom sink and the P Trap is plastic and not to give anyone the heebee jeebees but I've seen a scorpian come out of that sink drain before. Some many details to consider! I might ask for PVC plumbing instead of copper since PVC is more slippery in general.

You'll get PVC on the drain side of things....some drians might still be brass, but below is going to be PVC. The supply lines might be copper, Pex or a combination. Everything should be inspected to make sure it is done to code.

Jeff, I was thinking we should do copper, though, in the valves that will move through the attic. It freezes in Phoenix a handful days out of the year and pipes would be under insulation, but I'd hate to take a risk. I'll have to bring this up to the plumber. thx!

I'm so confused. I made up my mind to keep the drain where it is and save money and I don't mind how it looks where it is and I called the tile guy and he said he'll come out to the house Friday but in a curbed shower linear drain isn't a good option and the drain should go in the middle otherwise it will not look good and will be too much elevation. I'm not understanding why the different opinions and there is a little bit of a language barrier but in the end I probably need to go with how my tile guy does things? I still can't understand why I can keep it where it is if I do linear drain but he said it's not recommended for a curbed shower and why would it be any different to keep a square drain where it is than standing in the tub. We have plumber set up to start next week and tile guy and when I think I'm almost ready comes more confusion.

It's the complexity of the slope. A small square /circular drain needs the shower pan to slope to it from all directions. The linear drain just requires a single slope. If you put a small drain at one end of the shower it makes it more difficult to get the shower pan gradient correct. It's not so much of an issue if you are using a premade shower floor like the Kerdi system.

I'm not sure what the code for supply lines is in AZ. In MA they can be copper or Pex and they should not be installed in unconditioned spaces.

thx Jeff! That makes sense although I had thought some of the pics that were shown here and on pinterest that I've seen were bathtub sized showers so I'll have to try to unravel that from my brain. The part that I'm even moreso confused about is that he said I can't do a linear drain in a curbed shower. Do u think that would be an issue with my 33" or so x 60" shower?

Creative Tile Eastern CT said:

"Tough one to explain. Based on 1/4" per/ft. slope or 2%. Shower 10'x3' for example.

If the drain is 5' away from the far wall your floor will slope 1-1/4"" from wall to drain. If that same shower is 36" wide with drain in the center it will slope 1-1/4" in 18" as the height around the perimeter remains the same as the furthest distance."

I reread this and looked at a pic of a walk in shower. I think I might get it. I keep focusing on the long part of the current tub/shower that will be a minor slope according to this explanation, but the issue would be that the other three sides would be a more steep slope so it wouldn't look uniform. that' more of the issue, right? It would potentially look like a tub inside of 4 walls (3 walls and a curb). The only thing is that I'm wondering how often tile guys use those exact dimensions because I've seen drains on one end and even fabricated showers with the drain on one side and I don't believe they end up looking like a tub. Maybe they don't drain well?

I just visited a friend's really pretty shower with 18" tile and in some spots her shower was level and other parts it was 1/2 a bubble. We looked at the water sit on top of the tile and never go down the drain. It's AZ but she is starting to see minor calcium deposits so will now have to squeegy the floor, too, which wouldn't be good.