I have built two curbless showers with in the past year and a half. Both where built using Ditra, Kerdi and Red Guard. I have been having more and more clients ask for trench style drains and have spend about 8 months researching these beauties. Quick Drain USA has a nice channel (trench) drain with excellent tech help and a wonderful website. ACO now imports to North America from the UK and I have found that their drain can fit on top of a Schulter drain rough in (this can not be done without modifying the stock unit and I'm sure it will void any warranty). All that said I should have much more answers to this specific question in roughly 3 months time. The more I look at the trench drains and the more we explore the options it creates it's no wonder the channel drain is the hottest look of any new shower. As far a a nice clean looking curbless shower with a simple Kerdi Drain the entire bathroom needs to be waterproofed. Toilets should not be placed too close to the shower entry because a typical floor mount toilet is the biggest weak link in a wetroom floor. A better option is installing a wall mount toilet or small covered curb (i.e. pony wall, glass block wall, frameless glass on low curb) that separates the toilet location from the wet zone. Make sure you pipe your new curbless with at least a 2" drain line (with properly sized vent line) your design and polumbing package might need a 3" drain line so even though you want the new channel drain you may need to install a standard drain in addition to the floor drain. It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks - Push your builder or tile guy to research harder. Be prepared for extra costs. Framing changes, concrete work and structural engineers may need to be used. I designed my last two around standard framing and raised the transition from the hallway to the bathroom to 3/4" - 1" (Solid hardwood reducer at doorway) and pitched everything back to a single Kerdi drain.

My goodness. This thread has gone off the deep end. First of all, simultaneous water sources are not allowed in CA. One at a time only. And even if I could, I wouldn't. I conserve water at every opportunity. I know that until very recently Texas was in a severe drought so I hope you only recently started wasting water with "SUPER long" showers and multiple water sources. These days this kind of behavior is frowned upon in much of the country even when there isn't a drought condition. None of the surfaces in the renderings are true. I said the colors are "generic" meaning don't pay attention to any of that. Maybe that wasn't clear but there is no wood in the bathroom so it's not a concern. As for completely undoable, you guys have lost your minds in terms of the drainage needed. There is one showerhead with a full four foot long linear drain under it. And for the next four feet away from the drain there is a downward slope aimed at that drain at 1/2" per foot for a total of 2" rise. The entrance to the shower is another good foot or two away from where the slope even begins. There is no way water from a low flow showerhead is going to travel four feet uphill, then traverse another foot or two of flatland and then follow that by making a sharp right turn to exit the shower. Not. Going. To. Happen. At least not on the planet Earth. I don't need two drains. I was not questioning if the shower design was OK. I was questioning whether or not a certain type of linear drain could be used in this design because the manufacturer's verbiage was unclear. I have spoken to Quickdrain and they assured me that the TileIn drain and WallDrain will be fine with this design. And these are their least capable linear drains. I suppose there is a question about whether or not code requires the entire floor surface to be sloped but the people working on my house have done curbless showers (one guy was brought in specifically to do the shower floor and drain because he is a curbless specialist) and they don't see an issue. I will still ask my inspector when I see him to be sure. I might actually prefer the entire surface to slope back towards the wall and away from the door just so that the floor of the shower is seamless. I hadn't considered that option but if I do it, it would be for aesthetic reasons not because what I have will not contain the water.

Hi Creative Tile! Thanks for looking at this post. I have no pictures of this 5 year old bathroom being built, just those in my memory. I am however taking pics of the new Mstr bath being built for this very reason. This" possible" leak is in a guest bath we are currently using full time. The water is on the tile just out side of the door threshold. Not much maybe 2-3 tablespoons, but it is still there in the evening after wiping it up in the morning. Like slow seepage. Our contractor thinks it is from water splashing on the glass door and then running under glass door. Maybe so but why does it return later in the day when no one has been using that bathroom? I will try to post a pic, not really sure how to do it. Okay well it posted but sideways, sorry. You can see the wet grout lines and the scale that has developed on the floor tiles. Any ideas? Next steps? Thanks for any input.

Curbless requires more- more time, more money, more waterproofing, more thought. When curbless is done right, it's great. When it's done wrong...well it's a very expensive mistake. Yes, as a long-time reader of this board, I've read more than one account of curbless-gone-wrong. Admittedly, people are sometimes quicker to share bad things than good things, but I'm convinced that the above statement is true. Putting in a curbless shower will definitely cost more, and good plumbers aren't easy to find. You need to be BEYOND SURE of your plumber's abilities before you start down this road. If that’s newly built construction, it’s too late for curbless. I'm no expert, but I think this is true. What we call "minimal threshold" can also be a nice alternative. This is exactly what I've decided to use! A minimal threshold only has to be 2" high. That's not much. A wheelchair or hospital bathing chair can easily fit over this small height. Don't neglect to pair it with grab bars. I don't live that way, in fear like that. The line between fear and wisdom can be awfully fine. I do think some things discussed on this board are a little "over the top", and lots of people worry about the wrong things ... but this discussion isn't one of them. A curbless shower will cost you big bucks, but a minimal threshold won't cost any more /less than the more typical 6"-ish model ... yet it could be helpful later on. When the gift-to-future-me doesn't require any more space or cost, it's an easy choice. Does a curbless shower increase home value more than one with a curb? I doubt it. I think it's one of those things that might make your house stand out from the crowd /might help it sell faster, but I don't think a future buyer would be willing to pay more for curbless. Curbless showers, the latest 'pot filler' being sold to homeowners. How in the world did anyone ever continue to live in a home after the age of 70 with a 4" curb in the shower? They fell and became statistics in study about "bathrooms are the most dangerous room in the house". After a couple falls, they "made do" with sponge baths when they could no longer step into the tub. By your logic, we could all build a pit-latrine out back -- it was good enough for great grandma. Yes so you can shuffle into the space without having to lift your feet and possibly lose your balance. My grandmother could walk all day long (with her walker), but "stepping up" was challenging for her.