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A curbless shower breaks down the barriers between the bathroom and the bathing area.

What Is a Curbless Shower?

With a curbless shower, there is no floor barrier between the shower and the bathroom.

Curbless shower in a modern bathroom

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A zero-threshold shower pan base of PVC is installed in the recessed subfloor.

The pan can be tiled to match the look and the level of the surrounding bathroom floor.

Also, curbless showers tend to have fewer enclosure walls.

No Threshold

With most showers, ashower pancollects water and sends it down the drainage system.

The curb, or threshold, is one part of the pan.

To preserve the floor’s strength, the joists are strengthened.

Most curbless showers andshower kitswill have glass panels that contain some of the splashes in the shower area.

The panels typically do not form an entire enclosure.

Curbless showers usually do not have doors.

While curbless showers are eye-catching, they have a strong functional aspect that transcends trends: accessibility.

A properly designed curbless shower will not flood thebathroom floor, but stray water is inevitable.

For shared bathrooms, a curbless shower provides no privacy to the person using the shower.

One benefit of enclosed shower stalls and walls is that they contain heat from the shower.

Curbless showers expand the shower space.

With few or no walls, heat from the shower is lost.

The lack of a curb makes it easy for any person of limited mobility to get into the shower.

Side glass panels help contain splashes, as well.

Curbless showers are expensive.

The curbless component can cost anywhere from $900 to $4,000.

Curbless Shower: Build Up, Not Down.